By David A. Graham
Since Israel’s then-prime minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the West Bank has become the biggest obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. The kidney-shaped plot of land, bordered by Israel to the west and the Jordan River to the east, will comprise most of an expected future Palestinian state. But intractable questions remain about the many Israeli settlements that still exist in the area, which was occupied by Israel in 1967. It was hardly the region’s first conquest. Here’s a brief history of the West Bank, from prehistory to the present day.