More than 440 former European officials and diplomats, including ministers, ambassadors, and prominent figures such as Josep Borrell, led a widespread diplomatic movement through an open letter addressed to the leaders of the European Union. The letter calls for immediate and deterrent steps to confront the accelerating settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, warning of the repercussions of continued international silence regarding Israeli expansion.
The European warnings focused on the seriousness of the (East 1 - E1) project, which received approval from the occupation authorities last August. This plan aims to construct about 3,400 settlement housing units on an area estimated at 12 square kilometers east of occupied Jerusalem, which will effectively isolate the northern West Bank from its south and undermine any possibility of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.
The letter called on the European Union institutions, ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting scheduled for May 11, to move beyond verbal condemnation and transition to actual sanctions. Proposals included imposing a ban on entry visas for those involved in settlement expansion, and preventing any commercial activities within EU countries for individuals and institutions promoting the (E1) project, coinciding with the occupation's intention to issue implementation tenders early next June.
These pressures come amid an unprecedented escalation in the pace of settlement, with reports indicating the approval of 54 new settlements last year, and the allocation of huge budgets exceeding one billion shekels for paving new settlement roads, at a time when the number of settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has reached nearly 750,000 settlers.
The (E1) project aims to divide the West Bank into two isolated sections, completely eliminating any chance for geographical contiguity of a future Palestinian state.
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Widespread European move to impose sanctions on the occupation due to the 'E1' settlement project