Gush Etzion ( , '' '' Etzion Bloc ) is a cluster of Jewish settlements located in the Judaean Mountains , directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank . The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1940 – 1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s , and destroyed by the Arab Legion before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , in the Kfar Etzion massacre . The area was left outside of Israel with the 1949 armistice lines . These settlements were rebuilt after the 1967 Six-Day War , along with new communities that have expanded the area of the Etzion Bloc . , Gush Etzion consisted of 22 settlements with a population of 70,000
Kfar Etzion massacre
Kfar Etzion massacre
Gush Etzion