In pictures: Maale Adumim

Hundreds of new apartments are being built in Maale Adumim, the largest settlement in the West Bank. A billboard advertises flats with five bedrooms, balconies and gardens.

The apartments are being built on land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. Israel says it will hold on to Maale Adumim forever.

Most of the construction workers are Palestinian. Mahmoud Ibrahim, 42, from the West Bank village of Anata, says he does it because he needs the money to feed his wife and five children.

Thirty thousand settlers live in Maale Adumim, enticed by its proximity to Jerusalem and concessions from the government, such as cheap mortgages and free kindergartens.

The settlement has a large shopping centre, petrol station, and other amenities found in a regular city.

Security in Maale Adumim is very tight because of a fear of attacks by Palestinian militants. Here, a female guard checks the boot of a car.

Construction work at a controversial site, known as E1, has been suspended. Palestinians fear building here will prevent a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank, but the foundations for a police station have already been laid.

There are plans to link E1 and east Jerusalem, six kilometres away, severing it from the rest of the West Bank. A dirt track between E1 and east Jerusalem is already in use and could form the basis for a future road.

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