Vehicles wait behind an earthen barrier at the entrance to the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 6, 2026, after Israeli authorities closed entrances to the village. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
More than 400 former diplomats, ministers, and senior officials on Wednesday urged the European Union to "act now" against Israel's "illegal" settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The open letter comes as Israel intends to move forward with E1, a new construction project covering around 12 square kilometres (4.6 square miles) with some 3,400 housing units in the occupied West Bank.
The move would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank.
"The EU and its member states, together with partners, must take immediate action to deter Israel from further advancing its illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank," said the letter signed by more than 440 figures, including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
The signatories called for targeted sanctions, such as visa bans and business restrictions, on "all those engaged in illegal settlement activity", calling for measures against those promoting or implementing the E1 scheme.
The Israeli government plans to publish an initial tender on June 1 for the construction of housing for up to 15,000 "illegal settlers", the letter said, urging the EU and its member states to "act now".
The plan has been condemned by international leaders, with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesman saying it would pose an "existential threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state.
Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.
In 2025, the expansion of Israeli settlements reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking data, according to a UN report.
There has been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
