Israel has authorised a controversial settlement project in the West Bank called the E1 project, which includes around 3,500 housing units near Maale Adumim.

E1 project aims to split West Bank into 2 parts, cutting off northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and Hebron in south - Anadolu Ajansı

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations.