Activists rally in support of the Bedouin communities of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank, June 12, 2026.
(Beirut) – The Israeli government on August 18, 2026, opened a new tender for the construction of 1,234 housing units in the illegal E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, about a third of the 3,401 housing units approved for construction, Human Rights Watch said today. The government set a deadline for bids just days before Israel’s October 27 elections.
The E1 settlement would deliberately fragment the occupied West Bank by severing its northern part from its southern part, forcibly displace over 18 Bedouin communities, and further entrench apartheid. Businesses submitting a bid risk complicity in human rights abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity and open themselves to legal and reputational consequences.
“Behind housing units in E1 are Palestinian families facing displacement. Companies bidding to build those houses are bidding on complicity in a war crime,” said Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Other countries have a duty to prevent companies under their jurisdiction from profiting off illegal settlement construction.”
The E1 Project includes housing, roads, and industrial and commercial zones in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, east of Jerusalem. The project intends to create demographic, territorial, and transportational contiguity between Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
The project was challenged in court by Israeli organizations PeaceNow, Bimkom, and Ir Amim together with Bedouin Palestinian residents. The groups said that in July, the State Attorney’s Office informed the petitioners the tender would not be published for two months, and they would be notified in advance if the government decided to proceed. The groups said
