Israel Approves Controversial West Bank Settlement Plans
Israel's planning committee approved a controversial plan to build nearly 3,500 new apartments in the West Bank's E1 area, expanding the settlement of Maale Adumim. The move has been widely condemned internationally as illegal and as a threat to the two-state solution, with critics arguing it would divide Palestinian territory and make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. Israeli far-right officials support the plan, framing it as a rejection of international pressure and a step against Palestinian statehood ambitions.
