JERUSALEM, Sept 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - An Israeli court on Tuesday rejected a bid from rights groups to halt development of a settlement in the occupied West Bank that would severely undermine the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

The Jerusalem District Court said in a ruling it had dismissed the motion, which aimed to stall the publication of tenders for the settlement east of Jerusalem.

Israel's construction and housing ministry opened a tender for construction of more than 1,200 housing units in July, leading NGOs to file motions against it.

The E1 plan, approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations, would further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Six European countries including the UK and France called on Israel to halt the project in August.

The Israeli judge ruled Tuesday that "no irreversible physical changes are imminent, and adequate legal safeguards are in place", for the development project.

It argued that courts could bring a permanent ruling on the project as a whole, well before physical construction begins on the ground.

The petitioners, including Israeli NGO Peace Now, had argued that the project would lead to the eviction of hundreds of Palestinians.

"The court's decision plays into the government's hands, allowing it to use the final months of its term to establish facts on the ground that will create a destructive reality which will be extremely difficult to reverse," the NGOs said in a statement reacting to the ruling.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where more than 500,000 settlers live alongside about three million Palestinians.