Occupied West Bank (Quds News Network)- The Israeli government has revived plans to expand illegal settlements in the sensitive E1 area east of occupied Jerusalem, Haaretz reported Monday. The move threatens to cut the West Bank in half and destroy any future prospect for a geographically connected Palestinian state. For the first time since 2021, Israel’s Supreme Planning Council is set to discuss the E1 plans. A public hearing is scheduled for August 6, where Palestinian residents and rights groups can submit formal objections. The project had been frozen for years due to international pressure, especially from the United States. E1 covers around 12 square kilometers and connects the illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement to occupied Jerusalem. Israeli authorities aim to link major settlement blocs and isolate Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Critics warn this will kill the two-state solution. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed in May that the government intends to approve the construction plans. Speaking at a settlement conference, he called E1 development a “de facto end to the Palestinian state,” and called for one million more settlers to be brought into the West Bank. He said Israel is proceeding “professionally” and aims to impose sovereignty on the ground. Earlier in March, Israel’s security cabinet approved a bypass road for Palestinians south of E1. The road would physically separate Palestinian traffic from the main Highway 1, which links Jerusalem to Ma’ale Adumim, and would be reserved for settlers only. The Israeli group Peace Now warned that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is using the genocide in Gaza and global distraction to push forward irreversible facts on the ground. The organization said these steps destroy any hope for a political solution and fuel endless bloodshed. “If implemented, this plan will be a crime against future generations,” Peace Now said. Analysts note that the E1 project would eliminate the last open land corridor between Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, an area home to nearly one million Palestinians. The goal is to create a continuous belt of settlements from central West Bank to Jerusalem, leaving no room for a viable Palestinian capital or state. The revived E1 plan is viewed as one of the most dangerous settlement projects in decades. It threatens not just peace prospects, but also the survival of Palestinian villages in the heart of the West Bank.