---
title: 'Australia, 8 Others Warn Contractors Against Israel’s E1 Plans in Occupied West Bank'
url: 'https://thediplomaticinsight.com/australia-8-others-warn-contractors-e1-west-bank/'
author: 'News Desk'
date: '2026-05-23T14:21:51+05:00'
categories:
  - 'Europe'
  - 'Middle East'
  - 'North America'
  - 'Oceania/Pacific'
---

# Australia, 8 Others Warn Contractors Against Israel’s E1 Plans in Occupied West Bank

Australia’s Prime Minister has signed a joint statement alongside the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands, calling on Israel to end its expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The statement, issued on Friday, represents one of the broadest coordinated rebukes of Israeli settlement policy from Western allies in recent years.

It arrives amid a particularly tense moment in European–Israeli relations, coming just days after Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, publicly shared footage showing European activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to kneel with their hands tied while in Israeli custody.

At the heart of the joint statement is the E1 corridor, a 12-square-kilometre tract of land east of Jerusalem where Israel has advanced plans for 3,401 new settler housing units.

**
Statement by the leaders of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom on the situation in the West Bank. [https://t.co/72icmeiQW9](https://t.co/72icmeiQW9)

— Prime Minister of Canada (@CanadianPM) [May 22, 2026](https://twitter.com/CanadianPM/status/2057866682329071711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The signatories warned that the project “would divide the West Bank in two,” effectively severing the northern and southern parts of the territory and cutting off Palestinian access to East Jerusalem.

“Construction projects in the E1 area would be no exception” to the international legal prohibition on settlements, the statement declared, calling the development “a serious breach of international law.”

The nine nations issued a direct warning to the private sector, saying that businesses “should not bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments” and cautioning them of potential “legal and reputational consequences” for participating in projects that could constitute serious breaches of international law.

Beyond the E1 project, the statement cited “unprecedented levels” of settler violence against Palestinians. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had documented at least 49 settler attacks causing casualties or damage in a single week in May alone, including arson attacks on homes, farmland, vehicles and a mosque.

Read More: [Australia Designates BLA as Terrorist Group, Imposes Sanctions](https://thediplomaticinsight.com/australia-designates-bla-as-terrorist-group-imposes-sanctions/)**

The signatories called on Israel to ensure accountability for settler violence, investigate allegations against Israeli forces, respect the Hashemite custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites, and lift financial restrictions on the Palestinian Authority.

They also said they “strongly oppose those, including members of the Israeli government, who argue for annexation and forcible displacement of the Palestinian population;” a pointed reference to ministers such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has openly described settlement expansion as part of a plan for de facto Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

The statement pressed for a negotiated two-state solution, calling for “two democratic states, Israel and Palestine” to “live side by side in peace and security within secure and recognized borders.”