Yemen condemns Israeli E1 settlement tender and Gaza escalation
Yemen Herald News 
ADEN, Yemen — Yemen’s foreign ministry condemned Israel’s decision to advance the E1 settlement plan in the occupied West Bank, calling it a violation of international law.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said the plan threatens the geographic contiguity between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, according to a statement carried by the state news agency Saba on Saturday.
The plan undermines prospects for establishing an independent Palestinian state, the ministry said.
It described the decision as a breach of international law and of United Nations Security Council resolutions, naming Resolution 2334 in particular.
The same statement condemned what the ministry called continuing Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip, including attacks on civilians, women and children among them.
Those actions are worsening the humanitarian crisis and undermining efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and advance de-escalation, the ministry said.
Yemen reaffirmed its support for the right of Palestinians to establish an independent state, according to the statement.
The ministry called on the international community to protect civilians, halt settlement expansion and support efforts toward a lasting peace.
The statement was issued from Aden, seat of the internationally recognised government.
The account of Yemen’s position rests on the ministry’s own statement as carried by Saba. No independent confirmation of it has been published.
E1 is an area of the occupied West Bank east of Jerusalem, lying between the city and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim.
Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing published a tender for 1,234 housing units there on Aug. 18, Haaretz reported.
The tender covers seven residential complexes, according to reporting by Xinhua and the Irish Times.
It forms part of a wider plan for 3,401 units that received final approval in August 2025.
Bids are due by Oct. 19, the same reports said.
Israeli elections are scheduled for Oct. 27.
Reported figures for the first tranche varied between outlets, from about 1,200 units to 1,400. The 3,401 total for the wider plan was consistent across reports.
A European Union assessment said construction in the area would divide the West Bank into two disconnected parts and sever the link between its northern and southern sections.
Israel disputes that account and maintains that building in the area is lawful.
Britain summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires in London on Aug. 19 and asked Israel to withdraw the tender, according to reports published that week.
Leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway described the plan as unacceptable in statements reported on Aug. 20 and Aug. 21.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar and Egypt issued a joint condemnation of the plan on Aug. 21.
That statement rejected settlement expansion across the occupied Palestinian territory.
Jasem Albudaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, separately condemned the continuation of Israeli settlement plans in the West Bank, including E1, Saba reported.
European outlets reported that the tender revived discussion of possible EU measures against Israel.
Resolution 2334 was adopted by the Security Council in December 2016.
It states that Israeli settlement activity in territory occupied since 1967 has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.
The resolution passed 14-0, with the United States abstaining rather than using its veto.
Israel rejected the resolution at the time and has continued settlement construction since.
Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the 1967 war.
The United Nations and most states regard the territory as occupied. Israel disputes that designation for East Jerusalem, which it annexed in 1980.
The Muslim World League also condemned the tender, its secretary-general describing the plan as a threat to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Yemen’s government has issued a series of statements on Israeli actions this month.
Saba reported a separate ministry statement on Saturday condemning an Israeli attack on a civilian vehicle in the Damascus countryside.
The government is based in Aden and is headed by a Presidential Leadership Council chaired by Rashad al-Alimi.
The council was formed in April 2022, when Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi transferred his powers to the eight-member body.
Aden has served as the government’s temporary capital since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014.
Yemen has been divided since then, with the Houthis holding the capital and much of the north and the recognised government controlling Aden and areas of the south and east.
The Houthi authorities who control Sanaa take a separate line on the war in Gaza.
The group has attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea and fired missiles and drones toward Israel since late 2023, describing the campaign as support for Palestinians.
Shipping traffic through the Bab al-Mandab strait fell sharply during that campaign, and naval missions from the European Union and other states have escorted commercial convoys through the corridor.
The European Union’s Operation Aspides began escorting merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in February 2024, and its mandate has been extended since.
The United Nations says more than 22 million people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance.
The March 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan recorded 18.3 million people as acutely food insecure and 5.2 million as internally displaced.
More than 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished, 516,157 of them severely, according to the plan.
The plan seeks $2.16 billion to reach 12 million people.
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