West Bank settlers see Gaza war as vindicating their stance

Tamal Sikurel pats her belly, swollen with her sixth child, and smiles.

- Jason Burke

"It is part of the war effort," she said. Behind her is a school empty of pupils and homes empty of their former inhabitants. Beyond the buildings are dry hills sloping down to the Jordan valley

"For thousands of generations we have always had to fight to justify our existence... I feel the power of that history every day. We have all the biblical rights, historical rights and moral right to keep ourselves safe here."This 35-year-old, and the other 500,000 Jewish settlers on the West Bank, are now at the centre of a growing storm of violence and controversy as the war between Israel and Hamas moves into its seventh week.

Some are motivated by religious or nationalistic reasons, others by the lower cost of living. What was once seen as a pioneer lifestyle is now often very comfortable: some early settlements, once tiny rudimentary "wildcat" outposts, are now well established and wealthy, with security guards at the entrance and fences topped with cameras and barbed wire. Their population has surged 16% in the last five years.

Israeli human rights groups say settlers, already empowered by the most rightwing government in Israel's history, have exploited the conflict to intensify efforts to force Palestinians out of their homes on the West Bank.