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Gush Etzion (Hebrew: גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן‎‎, lit. Etzion Bloc) is a collection of Israeli settlements founded in the 1920s, that were destroyed following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, leaving the area outside the 1949 armistice lines. The settlements were rebuilt following the 1967 Six-Day War, along with new settlements that have expanded the area of the Etzion Bloc.[1] The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2] According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the population of Gush Etzion in 2008 was more than 55,000.[3]

Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎‎  (audio) (help·info), Yerushal?yim, ISO 259-3 Yru?alaym, "Abode of Peace"; Arabic: ??????  (audio) (help·info), al-Quds [al-Sharif], "The Holy Sanctuary")[ii] is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such.[iii] If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city[1] in both population and area,[2] with a population of 763,800 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi).[3][4][iv] Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City.