@Walter Hinteler,
Walter Hinteler wrote:I do wonder, though, that you don't complain about the destroying of these Israeli homes ...
You need a good topographical sense of the area to understand why it is so important that Israel develop the E-1 Area.
The West Bank can be divided into two zones: the Jordan River Valley to the east, and the highlands to the west.
The Jordan River Valley is an inhospitable desert wasteland. The only significant population center in the entire valley is Jericho. It is also at a much lower altitude than the rest of the West Bank, and reaching it means taking a winding road down the side of a mountain.
The significance of Israel developing the E-1 Area is that it would block all
highland links between the northern and southern West Bank for the Palestinians.
So instead of making a quick drive north or south while staying up in the temperate highlands, if a Palestinian wanted to travel between the northern and southern West Bank, they would have to make a much longer journey, traveling down the side of a mountain, driving through the desert, then going back up the side of another mountain.
Because of that, even if the Palestinians were given West Bank territory in one contiguous block, Israeli development of the E-1 Area would still result in the effective separation of the northern and southern Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
Therefore the question of whether Israel develops the E-1 Area is of great importance. Simply by building in this one area, Israel can strike a devastating blow against the Palestinians.