{"id":378,"date":"2026-06-08T19:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:38:21","slug":"uk-to-sanction-israel-over-settlement-project-that-would-cut-west-bank-in-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378","title":{"rendered":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Administration Urges Legal Aid Groups to Give Up Migrant Children\u2019s Sensitive Data<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The U.K., France, and other European states are preparing to announce sanctions on Israel this week in an attempt to prevent companies from becoming involved in Israel\u2019s E1 settlement project. <\/p>\n

According to reports by The Guardian<\/em> and Reuters<\/em>, the U.K. in particular aims to prevent U.K. companies from becoming involved in the E1 settlement, which, if completed, will split the occupied Palestinian West Bank in half between north and south, making a contiguous Palestinian West Bank impossible. <\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s far right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees Israeli settlements in the West Bank, said that the E1 settlement is \u201cZionism at its best \u2013 building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty over the land of Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how we effectively kill the Palestinian state,\u201d Smotrich said, making Israel\u2019s intentions for the settlement clear. <\/p>\n

E1 \u2013 or East 1, as it is directly east of Jerusalem and occupied East Jerusalem \u2013 plans to link the illegal mega-settlement of Ma\u2019ale Adumim with occupied East Jerusalem. This entails uprooting and displacing Bedouin villages in the area, and building some 3,400 planned settlement units. According to the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), E1 is also \u201cpart of an Israeli plan to cement control over occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem by cutting it off from the West Bank\u201d with settlements around the city\u2019s eastern perimeter. <\/p>\n

The E1 settlement project would make a two-state solution, which the U.K. and other European countries support, impossible. <\/p>\n

But the two-state solution has been criticized by Palestinians as long dead, and as a mistaken approach that puts forward the farce of a peace process and continues to enable Israel\u2019s crimes. <\/p>\n

Read more As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2024, amidst the genocide in Gaza, European states \u2014 including Ireland, Spain, Norway, Slovenia, France, and the U.K. \u2014 began recognizing the State of Palestine. But Palestinian political analysts have called this \u201csymbolic\u201d and \u201cpolitical theater.\u201d <\/p>\n

Writing in 2025, Palestinian analyst Yara Hawari said, \u201cI would rather see states recognize the genocide than recognize a Palestinian state,\u201d as recognizing the genocide carries clear obligations, whereas recognizing a Palestinian state \u201ccreates the appearance of action without the burden of meaningful consequences.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2018, Palestinian political analyst Diana Buttu wrote that \u201cThe actual problem is that the two-state model ignores the root cause of why there is no peace: It is because of Israel\u2019s ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population; its conquest of Palestine; [and] its colonisation of Palestine\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

Last June, the U.K. imposed sanctions on Israel\u2019s far right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. However, the U.K. government has not acknowledged that Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, has dismissed South Africa\u2019s genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and failed to act in a meaningful way based on \u201cits duties under the Genocide Convention.\u201d <\/p>\n

The E1 settlement project was first proposed decades ago. In 1994, Israel\u2019s then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin proposed E1 a year after he signed the Oslo Accords, which were ostensibly meant to initiate plans for a Palestinian state but effectively enabled more Israeli land grabs across the occupied West Bank. Plans for the development have been frozen in the decades since due to international pressure from European states and from the U.S. <\/p>\n

Key to this was U.S. opposition. Former U.S. President Obama and even former President George W. Bush pressured Israel to stop advancing plans for E1 in 2012 and in 2005. But Trump has not discouraged Israel from expanding settlements, drawing the line instead at annexation of the occupied West Bank \u2013 even though building settlements takes steps on the ground assisting Israel in its path towards annexation. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has published tenders and building plans for the area ahead of construction of its project. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump Storms Off After \u201cMeet the Press\u201d Host Asks for Proof of \u201cRigged\u201d Races<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The settlement project would make a two-state solution, which the UK and other European countries support, impossible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nUK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The settlement project would make a two-state solution, which the UK and other European countries support, impossible.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378\"},\"wordCount\":719,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378\",\"name\":\"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=378#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"The settlement project would make a two-state solution, which the UK and other European countries support, impossible.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half","datePublished":"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378"},"wordCount":719,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378","name":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-08T19:38:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dce48e78f20c703ce5df6ed6990c8ec4.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=378#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UK to Sanction Israel Over Settlement Project That Would Cut West Bank in Half"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}