How Israel is expanding settlements in drive to reshape West Bank - BBC

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu signalled his intent to prevent a Palestinian state during a September ceremony at a West Bank settlement in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, declaring "this place belongs to us."
Recent tenders for around 1,200 settlement homes in the strategically located E1 zone have drawn widespread international condemnation, with Israel having held off for decades under global pressure.
The UN secretary general called the plans an "existential threat" to a future Palestinian state, while the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada jointly labelled them "unacceptable," warning they would "drive a wedge through the West Bank."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the criticism and urged signatories to take "concrete measures" to halt E1, which critics say would split the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem.
All settlements are illegal under international law; captured in the 1967 war, the West Bank now holds about 160 settlements housing roughly 700,000 Israelis, with construction accelerating since Netanyahu returned to power in 2022 and further after the Gaza war began following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack.
BBC Verify satellite analysis shows around 185 new buildings at Tzofim since 2022 and expansion around Kochav Hashahar, while hundreds of outposts—illegal under both Israeli and international law—have been set up since the 1990s, with dozens retroactively legalised.