As the world still tries to grapple with Israel’s Gaza genocide, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has bluntly declared that he feels a connection to the vision of a “Promised Land” and “Greater Israel.” This offensive statement led to condemnation from several Arab countries. However, Netanyahu has begun a systematic plan to realize this vicious vision.

While media attention is focused on the planned starvation of Gaza and while analysts are busy talking about Netanyahu’s plans to resettle Gazans, the West Bank is being quietly eaten up by settlements and settler violence. The settlers’ terrorism has brutally increased, with cover from the Israeli army, with the clear objective of driving Palestinians away from their homes in a new Nakba.

In addition to the systematic aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank, a new settlement, E1, is set to be approved in the Knesset on Wednesday. It is known as the “doomsday settlement” and will be the final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution. The plan is only one pen stroke away from becoming reality. In an Aug. 6 hearing, the planning committee rejected all the petitions presented by civil rights groups and activists to stop its construction.

E1 is dangerous because of its strategic location. If it comes to fruition, a two-state solution would be practically impossible.

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

The plan for the E1 settlement was proposed 29 years ago, but no prime minister — not even Netanyahu — dared to approve it. Successive Israeli governments bowed to the international community’s pressure. Now, however, Israel does not even pay lip service to the international community. It does not even pretend to be willing to allow the Palestinians to have a state of their own, nor it is willing to offer citizenship to those in the Occupied Territories. Its plan is clear ethnic cleansing, forced displacement and genocide if needed.

E1 is dangerous because of its strategic location. If it comes to fruition, a two-state solution would be practically impossible. E1 would drive a wedge between the northern West Bank of Nablus and Ramallah and the southern West Bank of Bethlehem and Hebron, with no connection between the two. The plan allows for the construction of thousands of residential units in a 12.5 sq. km area between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.

It would mean there would be no possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state. This would limit the Palestinians’ existence to several isolated camps, Bantustans, human islands or whatever you want to call them, surrounded by Israeli settlements. Basically, it would confine Palestinian existence to a set of open-air prisons inside Israel.

Even though the plan has been frozen for so long, Netanyahu has never given up on it. He has always been waiting for the right moment to realize it. This is not his first attempt to bring it to fruition. In November 2012, Netanyahu retaliated to the UN General Assembly’s decision to recognize the state of Palestine by giving the go-ahead for the plan. After Netanyahu gave the green light, the international community pressured Israel to stop and the plan was put aside. However, since then, the Israeli government has been quietly working toward garnering approval.

The international community should act quickly and take punitive action against Israel. Condemnation alone does not work.

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Advancing the E1 settlement is a sign of Israel’s defiance of the international community, as it comes while Saudi Arabia is using its political and diplomatic weight to push for recognition of a Palestinian state. France, Malta and Australia have announced they will recognize Palestine at September’s UN General Assembly. Canada and the UK have stated they will do the same if Israel fails to meet certain conditions.

In response, Israel hopes that advancing E1 will “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state, as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week. “After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem,” Smotrich said. “This is Zionism at its best — building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.”

The international community should act quickly and take punitive action against Israel. Condemnation alone does not work. The more statements the international community issues, the more Israel realizes they are just empty threats, the more defiant it becomes and the more it doubles down on its criminal policies. This is a test of the international community’s claim that it is committed to the two-state solution.

Israel is now blatantly rejecting all UN resolutions. It is blatantly saying it wants to conduct ethnic cleansing and drive Palestinians out of their homes. The fig leaf has fallen. In addition to the issue of credibility, Israel’s policies are likely to result in another Nakba. Another Nakba would likely mean another wave of refugees that will ultimately reach European shores. This is why Europe should act now. The EU should suspend its trade agreement with Israel. Only when there are direct consequences will Netanyahu and Israel stop; otherwise, they will continue to act with impunity.

• Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II