Will the West Bank Be Annexed, Leading to the End of Palestinian Statehood?

Writing today for the Boston Globe, Klara Vlahčević Lisinski asks Is this the end of Palestinian statehood? The article’s subheading is an adequate summary: “The Netanyahu government’s approval of a huge West Bank settlement fits into a broader push toward annexation.” The settlements on Palestinian land violate international law, and any reaction against them will, no doubt, be labeled “terrorism,” a term the Zionist regime uses very liberally.

If readers are wondering why this is a matter of interest to Catholicism.org, here is a reminder: The Christian village of Taybeh, which has seen a rise is settler violence recently, is in the West Bank.

The Globe article is behind a paywall. Here is an AI summary.¹

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Klara Vlahčević Lisinski’s article argues that Israel’s newly approved E1 settlement plan—3,400 housing units east of Jerusalem linking Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem—advances de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank and violates international law. The author emphasizes that E1 would bisect the West Bank, isolate Palestinian communities into enclaves, and render a contiguous, viable Palestinian state virtually impossible—outcomes repeatedly warned against by European states, the UN, and the Palestinian Authority.

Key factual claims of illegality and international condemnation include:

• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Aug. 21) called E1 “another grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation of the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law.”
• A UN statement labeled E1 “another unlawful step” that would restrict Palestinian movement and escalate displacement.
• Israel’s settlement expansion is accelerating: NBC reportedly tallied 25,000 settlement housing units approved in the West Bank this year, more than double the previous record (12,000 in 2020).

The piece situates E1 within a broader policy trajectory:

• Expansion of settlements alongside talk of rebuilding settlements in Gaza.
• A surge in settler violence aimed at pressuring Palestinians off their land.
• Infrastructure (highways, security zones) and legal steps that extend Israeli governance deep into occupied territory, cumulatively entrenching annexation.

Politically, the article attributes momentum to far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who explicitly frame the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza as nonnegotiable Israeli land and describe E1 as the “burial” of Palestinian statehood. While annexation isn’t official Israeli policy, the author argues that public statements, approvals, and on-the-ground changes indicate intent to achieve permanent control irrespective of international strictures.

The conclusion: E1 and parallel measures contravene international law (as per UN bodies and long-standing resolutions) and are designed to foreclose Palestinian statehood by making it physically and administratively unworkable—pushing the conflict beyond the reach of a negotiated two-state solution.

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