In Ma'ale Adumim, a sprawling Israeli settlement overlooking the West Bank, BBC Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson reports that Israel has opened tenders for the construction of 1,200 new houses at the controversial E1 site.
The E1 site sits next to the existing Israeli settlements of Ma'ale Adumim and Alon, in an area that Israel claims is part of its pre‑1967 borders while Palestinians see it as land for a future state.
On Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned that the government would impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank to deter further expansion, pledging to ban the import of goods from those settlements and to highlight the alleged “ethnic cleansing” carried out by settlers.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel would close the British consulate in Jerusalem and accused the UK of hostility, calling its move a “unilateral” attempt to influence Israel’s domestic politics.
The clash underscores the enduring dispute over the West Bank and the international community’s struggle to balance diplomatic interests with the enforcement of human‑rights standards.
