Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank: Road project, part of blueprint for new illegal settlement in E1 area east of Jerusalem, is considered a tool of annexation

Bedouin houses in the E1 area. If the new Israeli settlement is built, it will in effect sever the north and south of the occupied West Bank for Palestinians. Photograph: Jim Hollander/EPA

Emma Graham-Harrison

Tue 13 Jan 2026 04.37 EST

 

Israel plans to start work next month on a bypass road that will close off the heart of the occupied West Bank to Palestinians and cement the de facto annexation of an area critical for the viability of a future Palestinian state.

The road is a key part of the blueprint for a vast illegal new settlement in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which would fragment the occupied West Bank. The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the plans were intended to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.

Designed as a sealed transit corridor for Palestinian vehicles, the bypass will provide Israel with a pretext to bar Palestinians from existing roads in the planned settlement area, where only Israeli vehicles will be permitted.

The bypass was nicknamed “sovereignty road” when initial construction was approved in 2020 by the then defence minister, Naftali Bennett, who celebrated the project’s role as a tool of annexation. “We’re applying sovereignty in deeds, not words,” he said at the time.

The current defence minister, Israel Katz, said last year that road construction and settlement expansion would strengthen Israel’s “hold” on the occupied West Bank.

The E1 area... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/13/israel-start-construction-bypass-west-bank-illegal-settlement

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