An Israeli flag flies in front of the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the West Bank, not far from Jerusalem, on Sept. 7. A settlement is any residential area built over the Green Line, the 1949 cease-fire line between the newly established Jewish state and its Arab neighbors. After Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, settlements were meant to seed Israeli 'pioneers' and extend the Jewish state's defense. Now numbering 121, their purpose and legality draw varying definitions and fuel relentless debate.

Bernat Armangue/AP