AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Financial Times, in a report, warned that the Zionist regime, taking advantage of the international community's focus on the Gaza war, has accelerated the process of settlement and de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank, and by changing realities on the ground, is further erasing the possibility of the formation of an independent and unified Palestinian state.
According to the Financial Times report, the occupied West Bank, in the shadow of escalating settler violence, settlement expansion, and the passivity of Israeli military forces, is on the brink of a dangerous transformation, a transformation that could make the creation of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state more difficult.
The British publication, in a report referring to the situation of Palestinian villages in the West Bank, emphasized that residents of these areas are under siege and Palestinian farmers have been deprived of access to their lands. At the same time, daily attacks by settlers are forcing more families to leave their homes.
Unprecedented Increase in Settler Attacks
According to the Financial Times report, since the beginning of this year, over 1,400 attacks by Israeli settlers have been recorded, while the number of attacks throughout 2025 reached 1,836, the highest recorded figure since the UN began recording this data two decades ago.
The newspaper added that the Israeli army, as the occupying force responsible for maintaining public order in occupied areas, in many cases acts passively or arrives late at the scene when settler attacks occur.
The Financial Times also described the response of Western countries to this situation as insufficient. According to the newspaper, although countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and some European countries have imposed sanctions against two extremist ministers in the Israeli cabinet, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, and some settlement-related entities, these measures have not been sufficient to prevent the alteration of realities on the ground.
Project E1; A Plan to Disrupt West Bank Contiguity
The Financial Times went on to refer to one of Israel's most important settlement plans in the region, known as E1, and wrote that the Israeli cabinet this month has issued tenders for the construction of about 1,200 housing units for Jews in this area.
This plan holds particular significance due to the geographical location of the E1 area; its implementation could disrupt the connection between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, thereby eliminating the possibility of a unified and territorially contiguous Palestinian state.
This project had previously been proposed by various Israeli governments but had been stalled due to political and international sensitivities. The Financial Times cited the reactivation of this plan as a sign of Benjamin Netanyahu's and his allies' efforts to consolidate new realities in the West Bank ahead of the October elections.
Using the Gaza War to Change Realities in the West Bank
According to this report, following the October 7, 2023 attack, and simultaneously with the focus of public opinion and the international community on the Gaza war, Israel has more rapidly pursued its policy of preventing the formation of a Palestinian state and developing Zionist settlements in the West Bank.
The Financial Times also reported that since then, over a thousand Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces, and over the past 18 months, more than 41,500 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes.
The newspaper concluded by warning that the continuation of settlement, settler violence, forced displacement of Palestinians, and Israeli government actions to alter the territorial structure of the West Bank are creating realities that make the return to the two-state solution and the creation of a unified Palestinian state increasingly difficult.
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