Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Wednesday said that Israel's plans to pave a road between the E1 area and Jerusalem reflected the start of Israel's "annexation and apartheid plan," the Jerusalem Post reported.
The E1 area, which stretches across 7 kilometers (4 miles) just east of the Jerusalem municipal boundary, between Jerusalem and the suburb of Maaleh Adumim, has been the focus of conservancy as the Palestinians claim it is essential for their future state.
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Earlier this week, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said he plans to advance plans of the road to facilitate the construction of some 3,500 homes in Ma'aleh Adumim.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Bennett himself spoke of the project as the "sovereignty road." It would link the Palestinian village of az-Za'ayyem outside of Jerusalem with the neighboring villages and towns of Anata, Hizme and A-Ram.
Israel's new Apartheid Road on the eastern gateway to occupied Jerusalem advances the E1 colonial plan and the expansion of Ma'alee Adumim settlements towards severing the territorial contiguity of the State of Palestine
Link https://t.co/1MD0U8LZA4
Tweet https://t.co/6f090zG8Mk https://t.co/b3DX4dPfmd— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) March 11, 2020
Palestinians and the international community have argued that E1 makes their future state non-contiguous and therefore unviable.
