On a cold, cloudy morning, days after an unprecedented storm wreaked havoc across the West Bank, about 250 Palestinians set up some 20 tents in an area Israeli authorities had earmarked for settlement building. The area — which is part of the E1 corridor Israel is planning to flood with illegal settlements — was quickly dubbed "Bab al-Shams" or "Gateway to the Sun."
The torrential rains and snow which had swept the area earlier did little to prevent many from setting up the nascent village in the stony hillside, complete with white tents, a makeshift village council, clinic and a press room. Many joined in on foot from the nearby village of Za’yyim and from places as far north as Nazareth and as far south as Hebron.