LONDON, August 20, 2026 (WAFA) — UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has condemned the Israeli government's publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project, describing it as an "unacceptable and destructive act" and warning that it threatens the viability of a two-state solution.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Miliband said the E1 project would cut across the heart of Palestine and risk separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, endangering the prospects for a two-state solution.

He reaffirmed the UK's opposition to the E1 project and its support for a two-state solution as the only way to ensure long-term security and peace for Palestinians and Israelis, stressing that all Israeli settlements damage those prospects and constitute a "flagrant breach of international law."

Miliband said he had made clear to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar that the Israeli government must immediately halt its E1 plans, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion.

He added that the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires had been summoned to the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where British officials conveyed their "profound objection" to the move by the Netanyahu government and demanded an immediate reversal.

The British foreign secretary also warned of the catastrophic impact of settler violence and terrorism on Palestinian communities, saying that settlement expansion and attempts to create irreversible divisions on the ground threaten peace, security and the prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

"Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution," he said.

Miliband further announced that the UK would set out, in the coming weeks, a comprehensive package of measures in response to Israeli government policies, aimed at protecting the viability of the Palestinian state, imposing sanctions on those participating in illegal settlement expansion, and supporting a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

K.T