Who funds the new settlements? Why? The guide points out a couple of caravans/sheds on a hill. This is the first outpost, he says. Building will follow soon. We pass slopes covered with the stumps of olive trees: these were cut down by Israelis, he said, as part of the settlement process. There is constant tension between Bedouins and settlers.
My only point of reference at the moment is an (excellent) Lonely Planet Guide.
"Some 296,700 Israeli settlers currently live in more than 100 Jewish settlements in the West Bank....There are a variety of reasons cited by settlers for their choice to live on the West Bank, most commonly, cheaper housing prices than in Israel and, among the religious, the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and an extension of the will of God.
Under most interpretations of international law, which forbids the transfer of civilians to land under military occupation, all Israeli settlements on the West Bank are illegal."
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