Ammon News - Eighty-five members of the US House of Representatives have called on the Trump administration to use all available diplomatic tools to halt the Israeli settlement project known as E-1 in occupied East Jerusalem.

They warned that implementing the project would create a permanent reality on the ground and undermine the chances of a two-state solution.

The call came in a letter addressed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, led by Democratic Representatives Mark Pocan and Jan Schakowsky. The letter emphasized that the settlement project has reached a critical stage as the Israeli government nears completion of the tendering process and the signing of construction contracts.

The signatories explained that the E-1 settlement area, spanning approximately 12 square kilometers east of Jerusalem, is one of the most sensitive areas in the West Bank.

Settlement construction there would effectively sever the northern West Bank from the south and strengthen the geographical contiguity between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement, thus consolidating Israeli control over a strategic area in the heart of the West Bank.

Members of Congress noted that the Israeli government approved construction plans in the area during 2025 and issued tenders for the construction of 3,401 new settlement units, in addition to commercial and infrastructure projects linked to the plan.

They described this as a move paving the way for a permanent change in the geographic and political reality of the area.



They also pointed to other Israeli actions related to the project, including plans to construct the so-called "Sovereignty Road," along with measures targeting the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar. They considered these actions part of an accelerated process aimed at imposing new facts on the ground that would be difficult to reverse in the future.

The representatives emphasized that implementing the E-1 settlement project would undermine the possibility of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state. They called on the US State Department to clearly inform the Israeli government that proceeding with the project contradicts the declared US positions on the future of the West Bank.

The letter cited previous statements by President Donald Trump affirming his opposition to the annexation of the West Bank, as well as official statements issued by the White House stressing the rejection of any unilateral steps that would alter the final status of the Palestinian territories.

This letter is one of the most significant congressional initiatives in the US this year concerning the settlement issue, reflecting growing concern within Congress about the political and geopolitical ramifications of the E-1 project on the future of the peace process and the possibility of reaching a political settlement based on a two-state solution.

The list of signatories includes several members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, among them Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jasmine Crockett, Jamie Raskin, Jim McGovern, Rosa DeLuro, and Betty McCollum, in addition to dozens of other representatives.

WAFA