Speaking at the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) on Tuesday, Guterres expressed deep concern over Israel’s recently published tender for 3,401 housing units in E1, coupled with ongoing demolitions. “If carried forward, it would sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermine territorial contiguity, and strike a severe blow to the viability of a two-state solution”, he said.
The E1 project, approved by Israeli authorities in August 2025, plans to construct 3,400 new settlement units primarily near the existing Maale Adumim settlement, extending over approximately 12 square kilometers east of Jerusalem. Critics warn that the settlement corridor would fragment the West Bank into isolated enclaves, leaving Palestinian communities, including Bedouin villages like Khan al-Ahmar, vulnerable to forced displacement.
Guterres highlighted that over 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank in 2025 alone, a year marked by record levels of settler violence. “In the occupied West Bank, relentless illegal settlement expansion, demolitions, displacement, and evictions are accelerating”, he said.
The UN chief described Israel’s plans to appropriate Palestinian land for projects such as the Sebastia Archaeological Site as “deeply destabilizing” and illegal under international law. He recalled the July 2024 International Court of Justice ruling declaring Israel’s prolonged occupation of historic Palestine unlawful and calling for the removal of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Guterres also condemned the recent Israeli attack on the UNRWA compound in occupied Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in which forces confiscated equipment, forcibly expelled staff, and demolished buildings. He criticized Israeli laws restricting UNRWA’s operations and the revocation of licenses for at least 37 international organizations, effectively banning humanitarian aid activities in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied territories.
The UN chief’s remarks come amid growing warnings from human rights groups that Palestinians face an increasing risk of ethnic cleansing, as ongoing settlement expansion, demolitions, and displacement threaten their basic rights and the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
