Ranging from plywood shacks to large suburban housing complexes, 300,000 Israeli settlers now occupy outposts along Palestine's West Bank, increasing tension and grinding the two-state solution to a halt.

"Jewish people have been here for 5,000 years. We were given the opportunity to come back," one settler states. Originally a temporary occupation of Palestinian territories, illegal Jewish squatting outposts are on the rise, causing the fragile peace process to grind to a halt. At a thriving "counter-terrorism" shooting range, Jewish settlers can easily get their hands on guns, unlike their Palestinian neighbours. "We've got to be alert: Arabs infiltrate our settlements to steal and get information." As tensions escalate, the stand-off looks unlikely to change. "Settlers have learned that if they squat a site long enough, Israel will give them its approval, its infrastructure and its security."

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