A conglomeration of Jewish Israeli settlements in the West Bank (and before the 2005 disengagement, in the Gaza Strip). Their borders are left undefined by the Israeli government for two reasons: 1) to allow for gradual expansion of the settlements within them, referred to as “natural growth,” and 2) to expand outward to include peripheral settlements not previously designated as within the bloc. Neither Palestinians nor the international community confer special status to settlements within settlement blocs, maintaining the view that all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegally constructed on occupied land. The largest settlement blocs in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are the Ariel bloc, the Jerusalem bloc, the Modi’in bloc and the Etzion bloc. For details, see Ofran, Hagit and Lara Friedman. ”West Bank ‘Settlement Blocs’.” May 2008. Peace Now. 24 August 2011. http://www.peacenow.org.il/eng/content/west-bank-”settlement-blocs”.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/settlement-bloc