OTTAWA – 17 September 2026 – Today the Global Sanctions Coalition (GSC) submitted a formal ”Stop the E1 Settlement” Sanctions request to Governments in Canada, Australia, the European Union and the United Kingdom calling for emergency sanctions to urgently prevent Israel's planned East 1 (E1) settlement expansion. The E1 project dangerously threatens to sever the occupied West Bank into two disconnected enclaves and “bury the idea of a Palestinian State.”
“The Israeli officials driving this project have made it clear that it is their intent to use E1 construction to extinguish the possibility of Palestinian self-determination,” noted Yara Shoufani, President of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), a member organization of the Coalition. “Now, the clock is ticking for Canada and its allies to act - the time for words has passed.”
GSC’s sanctions submission comes on the heels of Israel’s announcement that it is doubling down on its effort to establish the controversial new E1 settlement. Just today, the Israel Land Authority added a second tender for the remaining planned 2,167 E1 housing units. This second tender process is open for bidding until October 25, 2026, two days before incoming Israeli elections, suggesting a plan to finalize contracts for all E1 housing construction before Israeli elections this fall. The first tender still remains open until October 19, 2026.
Once the bidding process closes and contracts for E1 construction are awarded, experts warn of a point of no return. The E1 construction will proceed and the illegally occupied West Bank will be bisected on two separate axes, irrevocably undermining its territorial integrity and creating facts on the ground that extinguish the possibility of an intact and connected landbase for Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Coalition’s proposed emergency E1 sanctions package finally provides an enforceable policy framework to implement the international community’s repeated warnings against the project and offers options for imposing “legal and reputational consequences” on those companies and individuals involved in building E1. The Coalition has provided Canadian authorities with a sanctions policy proposal setting out immediate measures to deter participation in E1 before the project advances further and the resulting harm becomes irreversible. Canada has also issued an advisory to Canadian businesses, warning of “legal, financial and reputational risks” to engaging in economic and financial relations with Israeli settlements more broadly. Implementing this package would give concrete effect to these warnings.
“Canada has threatened legal and reputational consequences for involvement in E1 construction. But with this new October deadline, time is running out,” said Karen Rodman of Just Peace Advocates. “By implementing this package, Canada will finally take action instead of repeating empty threats that Israel no longer takes seriously.”
The Coalition calls on Canada to commit to a comprehensive sanctions regime targeting Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation with consistent, successive sanctions measures. These measures must include meaningful rounds of designations, for so long as serious violations and abuses continue. Additionally, Canada must regularly review and expand sanctions in response to evolving Israeli government policies. Most importantly, Canada must properly finance and enforce all sanctions measures to ensure continued compliance. Ultimately, it must maintain pressure even if the E1 tender is withdrawn as settlement expansion is a systemic issue requiring a systemic response from the international community.
“If Israel is going to double down, so too should governments like Canada in response,” asserted Corey Balsam of Independent Jewish Voices, another Canadian member of the GSC. "If coordinated with other jurisdictions, the proposed emergency actions will serve to disrupt E1 construction. At the very least, it would prevent Canadian complicity in this illegal project.”
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The Global Sanctions Coalition (GSC) is a nonpartisan international alliance that mobilizes civil society and allies to promote the effective and ethical use of economic sanctions. GSC’s mission is twofold: to ensure sanctions are precisely targeted to halt atrocities and malign conduct, and to drive the recalibration of programs that inflict harm on civilians or are otherwise inconsistent, biased, or counterproductive. Visit GlobalSanctionsCoaltion.org to learn more.