Two peoples (one of whom is decimated) and a state: so Israel is definitively erase Palestine

A project remained for years in the drawer and which now becomes reality: Israel has definitively approved the so -called E1 plan, the expansion of the colony of Maale Adumim towards Jerusalem Est with the construction of about 3,400 new houses for settlers. At first glance it might seem “only” a new neighborhood, but the consequences are of historical reach: the West Bank, the heart of the future Palestinian state, is cut in two.

The map that closes

The settlement of Maale Adumim, already among the most populous of the West Bank, will be connected directly to Jerusalem Est, occupied by Israel from 1967. The Palestinian territorial continuity is thus interrupted between Ramallah to the north and Bethlehem to the south, two cities just 22 kilometers away but which already today, due to the checkpoints, require long and unpredictable trips. With the E1 plan, that road becomes almost impractical.

According to the Israeli organization Peace Now, which monitors the expansion of the settlements, the goal is not urban but political: “The settlement in E1 has no other purpose than sabotage a political solution”.

A buried idea of ​​state

The words of the Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, religious and ultra -annualist leader, have been clear: “The Palestinian state is being canceled from the map not with the slogans but with the actions. Every settlement, every neighborhood, each house is a nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea”. Declarations reported by the Associated Press who leave no room for interpretations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has always rejected the perspective of a Palestinian state and has reiterated his intention to maintain control over all the West Bank, Jerusalem Est and the Gaza Strip.

Colonists towards a million altitude

Currently about 700,000 Israeli colonists live in the West Bank and Jerusalem Est. With the new plans the number could rise up to a million, effectively consolidating a silent annexation. This is not a detail: according to international law, Israeli settlements in those territories are illegal. But for the Netanyahu government the strategy is clear: the more houses it means less space for any future Palestinian entity.

The role of the international community

The E1 project is not new. It had already been presented in the nineties, but frozen several times due to pressure from the United States and Europe, aware that it would have made any peace negotiation impossible. This time, however, the reactions have been weak. The Trump administration has not raised objections and, according to the US ambassador in Israel Mike Huckabee, the two -state solution “is not an absolute priority”.

The European Union reiterated the opposition to the settlements, but without concrete measures. Meanwhile, the infrastructure works could start already in the coming months.

Daily life between walls and blocks

For the Palestinians of the West Bank, the new colony means even more fragmentation. In addition to the evictions and attacks of the settlers, mobility is already limited today by hundreds of checkpoints and roads reserved for Israelis. With E1, the movements between the main cities will require even longer deviations, with serious economic and social consequences.

As various groups for human rights point out, the plan accelerates the “cantonization” process: villages and Palestinian cities isolated from each other, surrounded by Israeli settlements and infrastructures, without the possibility of developing an independent urban and political fabric.

Gaza City, the first phase of employment

While the E1 plan advances in the West Bank, another front opens in Gaza. The spokesman for the Israeli defense forces, General Effie Defin, confirmed that the first phase of Gaza City’s terrestrial invasion began: “Our forces already control the suburbs,” he said in an official press release.

Defense Minister Israel Katz approved the call of 60,000 reservists and an operation that, according to military radio, could last months. Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General António Guterres has asked for an immediate ceased for fire, warning that an assault on the city risks causing “death and mass destruction”.

An increasingly closed future

If the West Bank was broken from north to south, the hypothesis of a Palestinian state with a contiguous territory would completely vanish. The perspective would remain only that of small enclaves under Israeli military control, while the colonies would become an integral part of the Jewish state.

The risk is that what for decades was presented as an open question – two peoples and two states – becomes a un one one way closed match: only one state, with a fragmented Palestinian population and increasingly reduced in rights and spaces.

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