View source for Place:Palestinian territories

{{Short description|Occupied Palestinian territory in the Middle East}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Palestinian territories
| native_name            = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|الأراضي الفلسطينية}}}}<br />''{{transliteration|ar|DIN|al-Arāḍī al-Filasṭīniyya}}''
| common_name            = Palestinian territories
| linking_name           = the Palestinian territories
| image_flag             = 
| image_coat             = 
| image_map              = File:State_of_Palestine_(orthographic_projection).svg
| map_width              = 220px
| image_map2             = Occupied Palestinian Territories.jpg
| map_caption2           = Palestinian territories according to a Green Line based definition
| demonym                = {{hlist |Palestinians |Israeli/Jewish settlers}}
| languages              = {{hlist|[[Social:Arabic language|Arabic]]|[[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]]|[[Social:English language|English]]}}
| languages_type         = Languages
| largest_settlement_type = cities
| largest_settlement     = {{hlist |Gaza |[[Place:Hebron|Hebron]] |Nablus |Khan Yunis |East&nbsp;Jerusalem<ref group=note>Israeli [http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_11x&CYear=2012 documentation] provides population figures for the whole of Jerusalem without specific information on East Jerusalem being provided.</ref>}}
| area_km2               = 6,220
| area_sq_mi             = 2,402
| percent_water          = 3.5
| area_label2            = West Bank
| area_data2             = 5,860&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref name="CIAwe">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=28 November 2012}}</ref><br />{{nowrap|(of which [[Earth:Dead Sea|Dead Sea]]: 220&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)}}
| area_label3            = Gaza Strip
| area_data3             = 360&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref name="CIAgz">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=28 November 2012}}</ref>
| area_footnote          = 
| ethnic_groups          = {{hlist |Palestinians|[[Religion:Jews|Jews]]|Samaritans}}
| population_census      = 3,719,189 (Pal.)<ref name=Ref_pop>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_Rainbow/Documents/gover_e.htm|access-date=20 April 2023|website=State of Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics|title=Estimated Population in the Palestinian Territory Mid-Year by Governorate, 1997–2016}}</ref><ref name=pna_rel>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/population_dE.pdf|access-date=20 April 2023|website=pcbs.gov.ps|title=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). On the Eve of International Population Day 11/7/2009}}</ref>
| population_census_year = 2007
| population_label2      = Palestinians (2016)
| population_data2       = 4,816,503<ref name="Ref_pop"/>
| population_label3      = Settlers (2012)
| population_data3       = 564,000<ref name=PCBS_settlements_2012/>
| population_density_km2 = 654<ref name="pna_rel"/>
| population_density_sq_mi = 1,694
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_rank           = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = 
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 
| Gini_year              = 
| Gini_change            = <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini                   = <!--number only-->
| Gini_ref               = 
| Gini_rank              = 
| HDI_year               = 2010
| HDI_change             = <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI                    = 0.645 <!--number only-->
| HDI_ref                = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/Lets-Talk-HD-HDI_2010.pdf |title=Human Development Reports |publisher=Human Development Reports |access-date=2016-06-10 |archive-date=15 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115032934/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/Lets-Talk-HD-HDI_2010.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| HDI_rank               = 97th
| currency               = {{unbulleted list |Egyptian pound<sup>a</sup> ([[ISO 4217|EGP]]) |Israeli new sheqel<sup>b</sup> (ILS) |[[Finance:Jordanian dinar|Jordanian dinar]]<sup>c</sup> (JOD)}}
| iso3166code            = PS
| time_zone              = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
| utc_offset             = +2
| time_zone_DST          = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
| utc_offset_DST         = +3
| drives_on              = right
| calling_code           = +970<sup>d</sup>
| cctld                  = {{unbulleted list |.ps |فلسطين.}}
| footnote_a             = Used in Gaza Strip since 1951.
| footnote_b             = Used since 1985.
| footnote_c             = Used in West Bank since 1950.
| footnote_d             = +972 also used.
}}
The '''Palestinian territories''' are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupied by [[Place:Israel|Israel]] since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its [[Social:Advisory opinion|advisory opinion]] of July 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-07-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706021237/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2010 }} "International Court of Justice Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders  – Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 ". Retrieved 11 August 2013</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Orna|last1=Ben-Naftali|first2=Aeyel M.|last2=Gross|first3=Keren|last3=Michaeli|title=Illegal Occupation:Framing the Occupied Palestinian Territory|journal=Berkeley Journal of International Law|volume=23|issue=3|year=2005|page=552|url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1299&context=bjil|quote="gradually substituting the terms....Palestinian occupied territories|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=7 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207231728/https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1299&context=bjil|url-status=dead}}</ref> The term '''occupied Palestinian territory''' was used by the {{wipe|United Nations}} and other international organizations between October 1999<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iso.org/iso/newsletter_v-2_palestinian_territory_occupied.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722001642/http://www.iso.org/iso/newsletter_v-2_palestinian_territory_occupied.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2011|date=22 July 2011|title=RE: Inclusion of new country name and code elements|publisher=International Organization for Standardization}}</ref> and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name [[Place:State of Palestine|State of Palestine]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Le More |first=Anne |title=International assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo: political guilt, wasted money |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-45385-1 |series=Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict |volume=1 |location=London and New York |page=27}}</ref><ref name="UNOCHADec2009">{{cite web |date=December 2009 |title=December Overview |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2010_01_18_english.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216063443/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2010_01_18_english.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2010 |access-date=3 January 2010 |publisher=UNOCHA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=30 August 2016 |title=Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem: Report of the Secretary-General (UN Doc. A/71/364) |url=https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/71/364 |access-date=29 November 2016 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Le More |first=Anne |title=International assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo: political guilt, wasted money |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-45385-1 |series=Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict |volume=1 |location=London and New York |page=29}}</ref> The [[Social:European Union|European Union]] (EU) also uses the term "occupied Palestinian territory".<ref>{{cite web |date=4 November 2016 |title=European Union, Trade in goods with Occupied Palestinian Territory |url=https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/isdb_results/factsheets/country/details_occupied-palestinian-territory_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528064232/https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/isdb_results/factsheets/country/details_occupied-palestinian-territory_en.pdf |archive-date=2019-05-28 |url-status=live |access-date=29 November 2016 |publisher=European Commission / Directorate-General for Trade}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=18 January 2016 |title=Council conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process |url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/01/18-fac-conclusions-mepp/ |access-date=29 November 2016 |publisher=Council of the European Union |quote=The Council highlights the importance of unhindered work of civil society both in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and follows recent developments in this regard with concern.}}</ref> The government of Israel and its supporters use the label "disputed territories" instead.<ref>{{cite web |title=Occupied Territories or Disputed Territories? |url=https://jcpa.org/article/occupied-territories-or-disputed-territories/ |website=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref>

The Gaza Strip and the West Bank had been occupied by Egypt and Jordan, respectively, since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 and has since maintained control. In 1980, Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and proclaimed the whole of the city to be its capital. The inclusion, though never formally amounting to legal annexation, was condemned internationally<ref name=j-pbfb>{{cite book|author1=Jonathan Kuttab|author2=Claude Klein|title=Jerusalem:Points Beyond Friction and Beyond|date=2000|publisher=Kluwer Law International|isbn=9041188436|page=68|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9evpVS_ackwC&pg=PA68|chapter=5. Access to Jerusalem and the Holy Places}}</ref> and declared "null and void" by the United Nations Security Council.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barahona|first=Ana|title=Bearing Witness – Eight weeks in Palestine|publisher=Metete|location=London| isbn= 978-1-908099-02-0|year=2013|page=12}}</ref> The Palestinian National Authority, the United Nations,<ref>Resolution 446, Resolution 465, Resolution 484, among others</ref> the international legal and humanitarian bodies<ref>{{cite web|title=Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory |publisher=International Court of Justice |date=9 July 2004 |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAl.NSF/85255e950050831085255e95004fa9c3/3740e39487a5428a85256ecc005e157a |access-date=27 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828174856/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAl.NSF/85255e950050831085255e95004fa9c3/3740e39487a5428a85256ecc005e157a |archive-date=28 August 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention: statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |date=5 December 2001 |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/5fldpj.htm |access-date=27 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207175611/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/5fldpj.htm |archive-date=7 February 2011 }}</ref> and the international community<ref>{{cite web|title=Applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories |publisher=United Nations |date=17 December 2003 |url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/97360ee7a29e68a085256df900723485/d6f5d7049734efff85256e1200677754 |access-date=27 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603050844/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/97360ee7a29e68a085256df900723485/d6f5d7049734efff85256e1200677754 |archive-date=3 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/2004/12/22/%7B3FA161D9-6DA6-408F-85CE-20D0EC68DDFF%7D.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907194012/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/2004/12/22/%7B3FA161D9-6DA6-408F-85CE-20D0EC68DDFF%7D.pdf |archive-date=2009-09-07 |url-status=live |title=EU-Settlements Watch |date=1 February – 31 July 2002}}</ref> regard East Jerusalem as part of the West Bank, and consequently a part of the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area, although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests.<ref>Shlomo Slonim, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YfVPnuMVxbUC&pg=PA332 ''Jerusalem in America's Foreign Policy: 1947–1997''], Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998 pp.332–333.</ref><ref>Menachem Klein, ['Jerusalem: The Contested City,'] C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2001 pp.189ff., passim.</ref> Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the International community, on the grounds that the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ueDO1dJyjrUC&q=territorial+annexation+through+conflict+Jerusalem&pg=PA257|title=The Right of Conquest: The Acquisition of Territory by Force in International Law and Practice|first=Sharon|last=Korman|date=31 October 1996|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=9780191583803|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dugard |first=John |title=Recognition and the United Nations |year=1987 |publisher=Cambridge: Grotius Publications Limited |isbn=0-521-46322-X |pages=111–115}}</ref> The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades (1967–2007) is estimated to amount to $50 billion.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3410537,00.html 'Cost of occupation – over $50 billion,'] Ynet, 9 June 2007</ref> The [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]] estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $3.4 billion.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/10/occupation-costs-palestinians-billions-20131086759480736.html 'Occupation costs Palestinians 'billions','] [[Engineering:Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]], 9 October 2013</ref>

In 1988, with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) intention to declare a [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestinian State]], Jordan renounced all territorial claims to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.<ref>Human Rights Watch, 1 February 2010; [https://www.hrw.org/en/node/87905/section/4#_ftnref39 ''Stateless Again&nbsp;– II. International and Jordanian Law'']</ref> In 1993, following the Oslo Accords, parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority (Palestinian enclaves, technically known as Areas A and B). Israel still exercised full military control and, civil control over 61% of the West Bank (Area C). The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore. In the context of the Gaza–Israel conflict, Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to {{convert|12|mi|0|abbr=out}}. In October 2006, Israel imposed a 6-mile limit, and at the conclusion of the 2008–2009 Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit, beyond which a no-go zone exists. As a result, in 2012 more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen were denied access to 85% of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995.<ref>[https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/GazaIn2020.pdf 'Gaza in 2020: A liveable place?'], UNRWA, August 2012</ref> The majority of the [[Earth:Dead Sea|Dead Sea]] area is off-limits to Palestinian use, and Palestinians are denied access to its coastline.<ref>[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_jordan_valley_factSheet_february_2012_english.pdf  'Humanitarian Fact Sheet on the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea Area,'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107131229/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_jordan_valley_factSheet_february_2012_english.pdf |date=7 November 2012}} OCHA, February 2012.</ref>

Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically. Abbas's Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian (National) Authority.<ref name=alarabiya0701>{{cite web |author=<!--[if IE 6]> <![endif]--> |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/07/186930.html |title=Hamas leader's Tunisia visit angers Palestinian officials |publisher=Al Arabiya |date=7 January 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref> In 2009, the UN considered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to still be occupied by Israel.<ref name=UNOCHADec2009 />

On 29 November 2012, UNGA 67/19 reaffirmed "the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967" and decided "to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations". The next month, a UN legal memorandum recognized Palestine's preference of the name "State of Palestine" with Mahmoud Abbas as its current leader.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://palestineun.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/012-UN-Memo-regarding-67-19.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331023840/http://palestineun.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/012-UN-Memo-regarding-67-19.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-31 |url-status=live |title= Issues related to General assembly resolution 67/19 on the status of Palestine in the United nations |last= O'Brien|first= Patricia |date= 2012-12-21|publisher= United Nations|access-date= 2018-10-09}}</ref> It was noted that there was no legal impediment to using the designation 'Palestine' to refer to the geographical area of the Palestinian territory. It was also explained that there was also no bar to the continued use of the term "Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem" or such other terminology as might customarily be used by the UN General Assembly.<ref name="Gharib">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|title=U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"|last=Gharib|first=Ali|date=2012-12-20|access-date=2013-01-10|website=The Daily Beast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101145115/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|archive-date=1 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Organization:International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] adopted the name change in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_3166-1_newsletter_vi-14_name_change_state_of_palestine.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103041628/http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_3166-1_newsletter_vi-14_name_change_state_of_palestine.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2013|date=3 November 2013|title=Name change for State of Palestine and other minor corrections|publisher=International Organization for Standardization}}</ref> The UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity,<ref name=IBN-UNSC>{{cite news|last1=McHigh|first1=Jess|title=Israel-Palestine Conflict: French UN Security Council Resolution Off The Table in Favor of Palestinian Statehood?|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/israel-palestine-conflict-french-un-security-council-resolution-table-favor-2059816|access-date=22 October 2015|work=International Business Times|date=19 August 2015}}</ref> preventing its admission to the UN General Assembly as a full member state.<ref name=UN-CHARTER4>{{cite web|last1=United Nations |title=UN Charter |url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml |publisher=United Nations |access-date=21 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926204054/http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml |archive-date=26 September 2011 }}</ref> Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute.<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/FAQ_Peace_process_with_Palestinians_Dec_2009.htm FAQ: The Peace process with the Palestinians – Dec 2009]. Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved 2012-01-15.</ref><ref>[http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp470.htm From "Occupied Territories" to "Disputed Territories," by Dore Gold]. Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2012-01-15.</ref>{{bsn|date=October 2023}} The extent of the territories, while subject to future negotiations, have frequently been revendicated by the Palestinian (National) Authority as the Green Line. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, 135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine. It has not been recognized by Israel and most Western nations, including the {{wipe|United States}}.

In 2014, Fatah and Hamas agreed to hold elections and form a compromise Unity Government.<ref name=jPostUnity>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/Politics-Fatah-Hamas-unity-talks-breed-Likud-harmony-351723|title=Politics: Fatah-Hamas unity talks breed Likud harmony|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=21 June 2014|first=Herb|last=Keinon}}</ref> The government survived the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict,<ref name="PLOun">{{cite news|title=Set 'timetable' to end Israeli occupation, Palestine to UN|url=http://www.arabherald.com/index.php/sid/225199125|date=28 August 2014|access-date=28 August 2014|work=Arab Herald}}</ref> but dissolved on 17 June 2015 after President Abbas said it was unable to operate in the Gaza Strip.

==Name==

The {{wipe|United Nations}}, the [[Social:European Union|European Union]], International Committee of the Red Cross, and the government of the {{wipe|United Kingdom}}, have used for many years{{when|date=April 2022}} the terms the "Occupied Palestinian Territory" or "Occupied Palestinian Territories".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/report/palestine-report-131207.htm |title=The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |date=13 December 2007 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/world/the-occupied-palestinian-territories |title=UK and The Occupied Palestinian Territories |website=GOV.UK |access-date=29 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmintdev/230/230.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040209234649/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmintdev/230/230.pdf |archive-date=2004-02-09 |url-status=live |title=House of Commons International Development Committee – FINAL REPORT Vol I 26 January 2004 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

The phrase "occupied Palestine" has been used by Palestinians to mean Israel although Professor Julie Peteet also says that this usage diminished with the advent of the peace process and PLO recognition of Israel.<ref>Julie Peteet (2005) Words as interventions: naming in the Palestine–Israel conflict, Third World Quarterly, 26:1, 153–172,  {{doi|10.1080/0143659042000322964}}</ref> A parallel exists in the aspirations of David Ben-Gurion,<ref name="Britlabour and Zionism">{{cite book |title=The British labour movement and Zionism, 1917–1948 |year=1983 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7146-3162-2 |page=138 |author1=Joseph Gorny |author2=Yosef Gorni |quote=The Jewish people have always regarded, and will continue to regard Palestine as a whole, as a single country which is theirs in a national sense and will become theirs once again. No Jew{{dubious|date=May 2013}} will accept partition as a just and rightful solution.}}</ref> Menachem Begin,<ref name="Avi Shlaim">{{cite book |last=Shlaim |first=Avi |title=The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World |year=2008 |publisher=Paw Prints |isbn=978-1-4352-9513-1 |page=670}}</ref> to establish Jewish sovereignty over all of Greater Israel in trust for the Jewish people.<ref>See, for example, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3596946,00.html Open a Bible]</ref><ref>The [https://www.knesset.gov.il/elections/knesset15/elikud_m.htm Likud—Platform] states "The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River. The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state."</ref>

==Boundaries==

[[File:1947-UN-Partition-Plan-1949-Armistice-Comparison.svg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Map comparing the borders of the 1947 partition plan and the armistice of 1949.|{{Partition Plan-Armistice Lines comparison map legend}}]]

The Palestinian territories consist of two distinct areas: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. Although the boundaries are commonly referred to as the "1967 borders", they are historically the armistice lines under the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which brought an end to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and are commonly referred to as the Green Line. The 1949 armistice lines were expressly declared to be armistice lines, and not international borders. Some Palestinian negotiators have claimed a return to those lines as the borders of a future Palestinian state, while Hamas does not recognize the State of Israel at all.<ref name="untreaty1">{{cite web|url=http://legal.un.org/ola/Default.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928083906/http://untreaty.un.org/unts/144078_158780/11/6/4045.pdf|url-status=dead|title=United Nations – Office of Legal Affairs|archive-date=28 September 2011|publisher=United Nations}}</ref> The Arab League has supported these boundaries as the borders of the future [[Place:State of Palestine|State of Palestine]] in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

The eastern limit of the West Bank is the border with Jordan. The Israel–Jordan peace treaty defined that border as the international border, and Jordan renounced all claims to territory west of it. The border segment between Jordan and the West Bank was left undefined pending a definitive agreement on the status of the territory.<ref name="untreaty1" />

The southern limit of the Gaza Strip is the border with [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]. Egypt renounced all claims to land north of the international border, including the Gaza Strip, in the Egypt–Israel peace treaty. The Palestinians were not parties to either agreement.

The Gaza Strip is bounded by the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]]. The natural geographic boundary of the West Bank, as the name implies, is the Jordan River. To the Territories belong the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip and the part of the [[Earth:Dead Sea|Dead Sea]] between the West Bank and the Jordan border-line (see adjacent CIA map),<ref name="CIAwe" /> which are also completely controlled by Israel.

===Palestinian state===
{{Main|Place:State of Palestine}}

The Palestinian territories are part of the area intended by the United Nations to become the territory of the future [[Place:State of Palestine|State of Palestine]].<ref name='Res 58/292'/> Originally, a larger area was allotted to the planned Palestinian state in Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, but the Arabs rejected it and in the 1948 Palestine war, the Israeli army conquered major parts of it. While in the ''Partition Plan'' about 45% of historic Palestine was destined for the Arabic state, the Palestinian territories constitute only some 23%.<ref name=CIA>Based on figures of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501100605/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_mde.html CIA World Factbook]. The Factbook estimates the land area of Israel (excluding the Golan Heights) 20,330 square kilometer, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem, but excluding Mt. Scopus) 5,640 and the Gaza Strip 360.</ref> The last figure is including all space occupied by Israeli settlements, walls, and roads.

In the UN, nearly all countries voted in favour of Resolution 58/292 of 17 May 2004; namely, that the boundaries of a future Palestinian state should be based on the pre-1967 borders, which correspond with the Green Line. The Resolution affirmed, in connection with the Palestinian right to self-determination and to sovereignty, that the independent State of Palestine should be based on the pre-1967 borders.<ref name='Res 58/292'>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/A2C2938216B39DE485256EA70070C849 ''Resolution 58/292. Status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806133025/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/A2C2938216B39DE485256EA70070C849 |date=6 August 2012 }}; 17 May 2004 (doc.nr. A/RES/58/292)</ref> In Resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988, the declaration of independence of the [[Place:State of Palestine|State of Palestine]] was acknowledged by the UN General Assembly,<ref>UNGA; [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25 ''Resolution 43/177. Question of Palestine''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101093630/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25 |date=1 November 2011 }} (doc.nr. A/RES/43/177)</ref> but it was not admitted as a member state. In the same resolution, their sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory was recognized.

On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly passed United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 changing Palestine's observer status at the UN from "entity" to "non-member state" by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-statehood-idUSBRE8AR0EG20121129 |title=Palestinians win implicit U.N. recognition of sovereign state |date=29 November 2012 |work=Reuters|access-date=29 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/LIVE-STREAM-Palestine-asks-United-Nations-for-a-birth-certificate-ahead-of-vote/tabid/417/articleID/278702/Default.aspx |work=3 News NZ |title=UN makes Palestine nonmember state |date=30 November 2012 |access-date=29 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116091340/http://www.3news.co.nz/LIVE-STREAM-Palestine-asks-United-Nations-for-a-birth-certificate-ahead-of-vote/tabid/417/articleID/278702/Default.aspx |archive-date=16 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===East Jerusalem===
[[File:2018 OCHA OpT map East Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|2018 United Nations OCHA map of the area, showing Israeli occupation arrangements]]
Immediately after the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israel effectively annexed East Jerusalem, an area comprising the much smaller prior Jordanian municipality of east Jerusalem and a surrounding area of the West Bank, as far as Kalandia to the north and Har Homa to the south. Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration were applied to this area, which was also made part of the Israeli [[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] municipality in its entirety. East Jerusalem residents became Israeli residents with blue Israeli ID cards. In 1980, the Knesset elevated the issue of the unity of Jerusalem to constitutional status by enacting Basic Law: Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, an act which was condemned by much of the world community, the few, mainly Latin American, embassies maintained in west Jerusalem promptly moving to [[Place:Tel Aviv|Tel Aviv]]. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem lacks international recognition by any country. Seven UNSC resolutions, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared it "null and void" and required that it be rescinded, stating that it was a violation of international law (the Fourth Geneva Convention). The United Nations never explicitly recognized Jerusalem as part of either Israel or Palestine, as Resolution 181 (1947) was never revoked. In Resolution 181, Jerusalem was intended to become a ''corpus separatum'' under international regime. Most countries do not recognize either West Jerusalem or Jerusalem as Israel's capital.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jcpa.org/the-status-of-jerusalem-in-international-and-israeli-law/|title=The Status of Jerusalem in International and Israeli Law |year=2018|website=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs|access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012730225848752676.html |title=Palestinians accuse Romney of 'racist' remark |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=31 July 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/romney-calling-jerusalem-israel-s-capital-is-unacceptable-says-erekat-1.454662 |title=Romney calling Jerusalem Israel's capital is 'unacceptable,' says Erekat |work=Haaretz |date=30 July 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. East Jerusalem is generally recognized as part of the Palestinian Territories. In UN resolutions concerning Israel, East Jerusalem is routinely referred to as a part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<ref name='Res 58/292' />

According to the Israeli Supreme Court, the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits unilateral annexation of occupied territory, does not{{dubious|date=May 2013}} apply to East Jerusalem, as there was no{{dubious|date=May 2013}} "legitimate sovereign"{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} recognised by Israel and its allies previously exercising control over the territory. In Israel, there has always been large support for retaining all of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, although opinions differ regarding the large number of outlying Palestinian villages and neighbourhoods annexed to Jerusalem beyond "core" East Jerusalem (the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah and the large post-1967 Jewish neighborhoods such as Ramot, Ramat Eshkol, French Hill and Gilo). 

A few times, there were Israeli or U.S. proposals to divide East Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. In the 1995 Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement, Israeli negotiators proposed Palestinian sovereignty over some Arab neighborhoods within an expanded Jerusalem that would include annexed Israeli neighborhoods and major settlement blocs. In 2000, U.S. president Bill Clinton offered a similar proposal in his Clinton Parameters. In more recent years, the Israeli position has strongly been favourable to keeping all of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.

===Gaza Strip===

In 2005, Israel pulled all its remaining forces out of the Gaza Strip and dismantled its settlements. Nevertheless, according to the international community, the Gaza Strip is still considered to be occupied by Israel.<ref name=UNOCHADec2009 /> Israel has denied that it occupies the Gaza Strip, but two of the three border sectors of the Gaza Strip, together with the coast and airspace, are controlled by Israel (the third border sector near Rafah is controlled by Egypt).<ref name=ai-gaza>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/israel-gaza-blockade-must-be-completely-lifted-2010-06-17 |title=Israel Gaza blockade must be completely lifted |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref><ref name=ips-120309>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/03/mideast-border-areas-bombed-again/ |title=MIDEAST: Border Areas Bombed Again |publisher=Ipsnews.net |date=12 March 2009 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref> The UN ''Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967'' stated in 2007:
<blockquote>Israel remains an occupying Power in respect of Gaza. Arguments that Israel ceased its occupation of Gaza in 2005 following the evacuation of its settlements and the withdrawal of its troops take no account of the fact that Israel retains effective control over Gaza by means of its control over Gaza's external borders, airspace, territorial waters, population registry, tax revenues and governmental functions. The effectiveness of this control is emphasized by regular military incursions and rocket attacks.<ref>UN Special Rapporteur, [http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/463/16/PDF/N0746316.pdf?OpenElement ''Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110130530/http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/463/16/PDF/N0746316.pdf?OpenElement |date=10 November 2013 }} (p.2; see also pp. 8–12). 17 August 2007 (doc.nr. A/62/275)</ref></blockquote>

==Governance==

The political status of the territories has been the subject of negotiations between Israel and the PLO and of numerous statements and resolutions by the United Nations. (See List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel.) Since 1994, the autonomous Palestinian National Authority has exercised various degrees of control in large parts of the territories, as a result of the Declaration of Principles contained in the Oslo Accords. The United States government considers the West Bank and Gaza as a single entity for political, economic, legal and other purposes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-03-14/pdf/97-6434.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515014333/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-03-14/pdf/97-6434.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-15 |url-status=live |title=Department of the Treasury, Customs Service, T.D. 97–16, Country of Origin Marking of Products From the West Bank and Gaza |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref> 

The State Department and other U.S. government agencies, such as USAID West Bank and Gaza,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/home.html |title=USAID West Bank/Gaza |publisher=Usaid.gov |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009120535/http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/home.html |archive-date=9 October 2009 }}</ref> have been tasked with projects in the areas of democracy, governance, resources, and infrastructure. Part of the USAID mission is to provide flexible and discrete support for implementation of the Quartet Road Map.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/ane/pdf/294-001.pdf |title=West Bank and Gaza&nbsp;— Strategic Objective: 294-001 |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727093624/http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/ane/pdf/294-001.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2009 }}</ref> The Road Map is an internationally backed plan that calls for the progressive development of a viable Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza. Participating states provide assistance through direct contributions or through the Palestinian State account established by the World Bank.<ref>{{cite web |author=Embassy of France |url=http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article1037 |title=International Donors' Conferences for the Palestinian State |publisher=Ambafrance-us.org |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Gaza City.JPG|thumb|Gaza City in 2007.]]
Hamas won a majority of seats in elections for the Palestinian Parliament in 2006 and formed a government in Ramallah for the entire PA largely shunned by the United States and Israel. The Fatah movement continued to dominate the PA security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force, executing PA officers and removing its officials, many of whom, such as Muhammad Dahlan, escaped the Gaza Strip with their families.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950381.htm|title=British Jewish group sparks outrage with Gaza blockade criticism|access-date=21 December 2008}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Gaza's Future, Henry Siegman, London Review of Books |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n03/sieg01_.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509082132/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n03/sieg01_.html |archive-date=9 May 2008 |access-date=30 June 2010 |publisher=Lrb.co.uk}}</ref>

Mahmoud Abbas promptly deposed the Hamas-dominated PA government, and two rival administrations were created, a Fatah-controlled one in the West Bank, with which Israel, the US and the EU resumed business, and a Hamas-controlled one in the Gaza Strip which was largely shunned by the world community. After Hamas intensified rocket and mortar fire on Israeli civilian centers from the Gaza Strip, the United States and Israel instituted a military and economic blockade of the Gaza Strip.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/> When that failed to topple the new government, a covert operation was launched to eliminate Hamas by force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/964058.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401074617/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/964058.html|url-status=dead|title=Bay of Pigs in Gaza, Tom Segev, Haaretz|archive-date=1 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/04/usa.israelandthepalestinians |title=US plotted to overthrow Hamas after election victory|newspaper=The Guardian |date= 4 March 2008|access-date=10 June 2022 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=104 |title=Rabin Made Mistake Arming Arafat – Olmert Makes Same Mistake Arming Abbas |publisher=Zoa.org |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511060042/http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=104 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The covert initiative was exposed when confidential State Department documents were accidentally leaked by the U.S. envoy. The talking points delivered to the Fatah leadership said:
<blockquote>
Hamas should be given a clear choice, with a clear deadline: they either accept a new government that meets the Quartet principles, or they reject it. The consequences of Hamas' decision should also be clear: If Hamas does not agree within the prescribed time, you should make clear your intention to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government explicitly committed to that platform.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804?currentPage=3 |title=The Gaza Bombshell, David Rose, Vanity Fair, April 2008, page 3 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=20 October 2009 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Since the Battle of Gaza (2007), the administration of the territories has been contested by two rival factions of the Palestinian National Authority, with Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and Fatah continuing to administer the West Bank. Both groups claim legitimacy over leadership of the Palestinian territories. Most countries with an interest in the issues, including most of the Arab countries, recognize the administration of Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate government over both Palestinian Territories.{{who|date=November 2010}}

During Operation Cast Lead the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1860 (2009), which said that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 that will be a part of the Palestinian state.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/sc9567.doc.htm |title=See the text of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009) |publisher=United Nations |date=8 January 2009 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

On 15 December 2011, Iceland recognized Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the pre-1967 Six-Day War borders; Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, and Dr. Riad Malki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine, formally confirmed the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Iceland and Palestine.<ref>[http://eng.utanrikisraduneyti.is/speeches-and-articles/nr/6847 Iceland Recognizes Palestine], Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs.</ref>

The 2014 Fatah–Hamas Gaza Agreement provided for elections and the formation of a compromise unity government.<ref name=jPostUnity /> The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict intervened, however the unity government survived. In August, Palestinian leaders said they would apply to the United Nations Security Council for the establishment of a timetable for ending the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The application would be made on 15 September 2014, following an Arab League meeting on 5 September at which support for the move would be requested. Unless a timetable was established, the Palestinian leadership said it would apply to the International Criminal Court where it would hold Israel responsible for its actions not only in the West Bank, but in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="PLOun" />

==Political status and sovereignty==
[[File:Map of Gaza Strip with no-go zone 2012.jpg|thumb|Gaza Strip with Israeli-controlled borders and limited fishing zone, as of December 2012]]
[[File:Situation in the West Bank (May 2021).svg|thumb|Map of the West Bank, May 2021, showing Palestinian (green) and Israeli control.]]

The international community regards the Palestinian territories, meaning the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as territories occupied by Israel. Israel has withdrawn its military forces from the Gaza strip, but it continues to be designated the occupying power in the Gaza Strip by the United Nations, the United States and various human rights organizations.<ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/007/2009/en/ Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: The conflict in Gaza: A briefing on applicable law, investigations and accountability]  Amnesty International. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-05; [https://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/06/isrlpa13698.htm Human Rights Council Special Session on the Occupied Palestinian Territories] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015172833/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/06/isrlpa13698.htm |date=15 October 2008 }} Human Rights Watch, 6 July 2006; [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/israel.gaza.occupation.question/index.html Is Gaza 'occupied' territory?] CNN, 6 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-30.</ref> The final status of the Palestinian Territories as an independent state is supported by the countries that form the Quartet's "Road map for peace". The government of Israel has also accepted the road map but with 14 reservations.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/road1.html Israeli Cabinet Statement on Road Map and 14 Reservations], 25 May 2003</ref>

A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and [[Place:Jericho|Jericho]] took place pursuant to the Israel–PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. In other areas of the West Bank, transfer of powers took place pursuant to the Israel–PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel–PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel–PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement.

The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of Israeli settlements and citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and the West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by the al-Aqsa Intifada that began in September 2000.

In 2003, the Israeli government issued a plan for total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern West Bank by late 2005. This became known as the Disengagement Plan. The Palestinian Authority welcomed this plan, but declared that until final status, it would still consider the Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation. Many Israelis opposed the plan, and tensions were very high in Israel before and after the Disengagement Plan was approved by the Israeli Knesset on 16 February 2005.

In August 2005, the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police forcibly removed all settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel completed the disengagement on 12 September 2005. Presently, most of the West Bank is administered by Israel though 42% of it is under varying degrees of autonomous rule by the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. The Gaza Strip is currently under the control of Hamas.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent international treaty organisation with its own legislative assembly. Many of the member states recognise the State of Palestine. The Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki presented the ICC prosecutor with documentary evidence which shows that 67 states in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe have legally recognised the State of Palestine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=169152 |title=ICC prosecutor considers 'Gaza war crimes' probe |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822154440/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=169152 |archive-date=22 August 2009 }}</ref>

In January 2010, King Abdullah of Jordan, after a meeting with the Israeli president [[Biography:Shimon Peres|Shimon Peres]] at the [[Organization:World Economic Forum|World Economic Forum]] in Davos, declared that his country does not want to rule the West Bank and that "the two-state solution" to the [[Religion:Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] was the only viable option. If rule over the territory was to be transferred to the kingdom, it would only "replace Israeli military rule with Jordanian military rule... and the Palestinians want their own state".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146187.html |title=King Abdullah: Jordan wants no part of West Bank |date=29 January 2010|work=Haaretz|access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref>

On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138–9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations.<ref name="unispal1">{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument |title=A/67/L.28 of 26 November 2012 and A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210160010/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0080ef30efce525585256c38006eacae/181c72112f4d0e0685257ac500515c6c?OpenDocument |archive-date=10 December 2012 }}</ref><ref name="aljazeera.com">{{cite web|author=Inside Story |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/01/2013186722389860.html |title=Palestine: What is in a name (change)? |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=2013-01-08 |access-date=2016-06-10}}</ref> The new status equates Palestine's with that of the [[Organization:Holy See|Holy See]]. The change in status was described by ''The Independent'' as "de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine".<ref name="UNStatehoodBid2012accepted">{{cite news |title=Israel defies UN after vote on Palestine with plans for 3,000 new homes in the West Bank|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-un-after-vote-on-palestine-with-plans-for-3000-new-homes-in-the-west-bank-8372494.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Independent|date=1 December 2012}}</ref> The vote was a historic benchmark for the partially recognised State of Palestine and its citizens, whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and the United States. Status as an observer state in the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join treaties and specialised UN agencies, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation,<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/state-of-palestine_n_2425682.html Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in U.N. agencies, something made possible by the November vote] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111220923/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/state-of-palestine_n_2425682.html?utm_hp_ref=world |date=11 January 2013 }}</ref> the International Criminal Court, and other organisations for recognised sovereign nations. It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN, and allow the Palestinian people the right to sue for control of their claimed territory in the International Court of Justice and to bring war-crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians' UN upgrade to nonmember observer state: Struggles ahead over possible powers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112141355/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinians-un-upgrade-to-nonmember-observer-state-struggles-ahead-over-possible-powers/2012/11/29/8f3c3f78-3a59-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 November 2012}}</ref>

[[File:12.03.11.P3120502.JPG|thumb|Israeli soldiers in Awarta, West Bank in 2011|left]]
Customary international law, including the International Court of Justice's interpretation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in their July 2004 ruling, has been widely interpreted as prohibiting Israel from building settlements, due to its clauses prohibiting the transfer of a civilian population into an occupied territory.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1632064.stm The Mitchell Report] BBC, 29 November 2001.</ref> This was reaffirmed 5 December 2001, at the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The participating High Contracting Parties called upon Israel "to fully and effectively respect the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to refrain from perpetrating any violation of the Convention. They reaffirm the illegality of the settlements in the said territories and of the extension thereof."<ref name="domino.un.org">{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/85255a0a0010ae82852555340060479d/8fc4f064b9be5bad85256c1400722951 |title=Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention: Declaration |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612045732/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/85255a0a0010ae82852555340060479d/8fc4f064b9be5bad85256c1400722951 |archive-date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> 

Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits any change of status in occupied territory concluded through negotiations between the occupying power and local authorities under occupation. This finding also suggests that Israel may be in violation of the Rome Statute (one of the primary legal instruments of the International Criminal Court), Article 8, section (2)(b)(viii): "The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory" see:.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/romefra.htm |title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112212730/http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/romefra.htm |archive-date=12 January 2013 }}</ref> 

Given that United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 upgraded Palestine to non-member observer state status in November 2012, representatives of Palestine may now be able to take members of the Israeli government to the International Criminal Court under violations of the Rome Statute. On 31 January 2012, the United Nations independent "International Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" filed a report stating that if Israel did not stop all settlement activity immediately and begin withdrawing all settlers from the West Bank, it potentially might face a case at the International Criminal Court, increasing credibility of any Palestinianin attempt to do so.<ref>Harriet Sherwood, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/31/israel-must-withdraw-settlers-icc Israel must withdraw all settlers or face ICC, says UN report], ''{{wipe|The Guardian}}'', 31 January 2013.</ref><ref>[https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44045&Cr=palestin&Cr1= Independent UN inquiry urges halt to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory], United Nations News Center, 31 January 2012.</ref><ref>Human Rights Council Twenty-second session, Agenda item 7, Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, [http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session19/FFM/FFMSettlements.pdf Report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem](Advanced Unedited Version). Retrieved 1 February 2013.</ref>

The UN has, after granting Palestine observer state status, permitted Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/ |title=Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations – Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations |access-date=12 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131073609/http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/ |archive-date=31 January 2013 }}</ref> seen by many as a reflexion of the UN's de facto recognition of the State of Palestine's sovereignty,<ref name="unispal1"/> and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Heruti |first=Tali |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/palestinian-authority-officially-changes-name-to-state-of-palestine.premium-1.492065 |title=Palestinian Authority Officially Changes Name to 'State of Palestine' |newspaper=Haaretz |date=2013-01-05 |access-date=2016-06-10}}</ref> The Palestinian authorities have also instructed its diplomats to officially represent 'The State of Palestine', as opposed to the 'Palestine National Authority'.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/> Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that 'the designation of "State of Palestine" shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|title=U.N. Adds New Name: "State of Palestine"|last=Gharib|first=Ali|date=20 December 2012|access-date=10 January 2013|website=The Daily Beast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101145115/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/20/u-n-adds-new-name-state-of-palestine.html|archive-date=1 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Holy Land 2022 (1) P469 Bethlehem barrier graffiti.jpg|thumb|Israeli West Bank barrier in Bethlehem]]

Critics point out that implementation of the Oslo Accords has not improved conditions for the population under occupation.<ref>Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid?, Human Sciences Research Council, May 2009, page 71</ref> In 2009, the UN considered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to still be occupied by Israel.<ref name=UNOCHADec2009 /> Israel's policies and actions in its ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories [[Social:Israel and apartheid|have drawn accusations]] that it is committing the crime of apartheid.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |title=Washington Rallies Behind Israel, but a Lasting Consensus May Prove Elusive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/us/politics/israel-hamas-washington-biden.html |access-date=11 October 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=9 October 2023}}</ref>

Israel contends that the settlements are not illegal as the West Bank is considered a "disputed territory" under international law. United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 recognized Israel's rights to "safe and secure borders", which has been interpreted by the Israeli government as meaning that Israel had a right to West Bank territory for secure borders. The San Remo Conference, binding under international law, further envisioned the West Bank as being part of a sovereign [[Place:Jewish state|Jewish state]], and arguably encourages, rather than prohibits Jewish settlement in the area. Furthermore, according to the Israeli government, many of the settlements were established on the sites of former Jewish communities that had existed there prior to 1947 on land that was legitimately bought, and ethnically cleansed by Arab forces. Israel views the territory as being the subject of legitimate diplomatic dispute and negotiation under international law.<ref name="mfa settlements">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israeli+Settlements+and+International+Law.htm |title=Israeli Settlements and International Law, Israel Foreign Ministry website |publisher=Mfa.gov.il |date=20 May 2001 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="DGold1">[http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp470.htm "Occupied Territories" to "Disputed Territories"] by Dore Gold, ''Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs'', 16 January 2002. Retrieved 29 September 2005.</ref>{{bsn|date=October 2023}} 

East Jerusalem, captured in 1967, was unilaterally annexed by Israel. The UN Security Council Resolution 478 condemned the annexation as "a violation of international law". This annexation has not been recognized by other nations, although the United States Congress declared its intention to recognize the annexation (a proposal that has been condemned by other states and organizations). Because of the question of Jerusalem's status, most states base their diplomatic missions there and treat [[Place:Tel Aviv|Tel Aviv]] as the capital,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Sherut/ForeignInIsrael/Continents/ |title=Foreign Missions in Israel -Continents |publisher=Mfa.gov.il |date=30 May 2007 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>{{bsn|date=October 2023}} though the United States<ref>{{cite web|url=https://il.usembassy.gov/embassy/|title=Embassy|website=U.S. Embassy in Israel|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-28}}</ref> and Guatemala<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/guatemala-to-move-its-embassy-to-jerusalem-on-may-16/|title=Guatemala to move its embassy to Jerusalem on May 16|last=Winer|first=Stuart|website=The Times of Israel|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-28}}</ref> both have embassies in the Jerusalem. Israel asserts that these territories are not currently claimed by any other state and that Israel has the right to control them.

[[File:PalestinianLegislativeCouncilGazaCity.jpg|thumb|The destroyed Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza City, Gaza–Israel conflict, September 2009|left]]
Israel's position has not been accepted by most countries and international bodies, and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip are referred to as occupied territories (with Israel as the occupying power) by most international legal and political bodies,<ref name=autogenerated1/> the rest of the Arab bloc, the UK,<ref>{{cite web |author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020510/text/20510w11.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 10 May 2002 (pt 11) |publisher=Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref> including the EU, the United States (before President Trump),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/nea/8262.htm#ot|title=Israel and the occupied territories|first=Bureau of Public Affairs|last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information|website=2001-2009.state.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.israelinsider.com:80/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Diplomacy&enDisplay=view&enPage=ArticlePage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El1316 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310231654/http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Diplomacy&enDisplay=view&enPage=ArticlePage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El1316 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 March 2007 |title=israelinsider: diplomacy: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld: West Bank is not "occupied territory" |date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> both the General Assembly and Security Council of the United Nations,<ref name=autogenerated1/> the International Court of Justice, the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/85255e950050831085255e95004fa9c3/8fc4f064b9be5bad85256c1400722951?OpenDocument |title=Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention: Declaration – Switzerland text/Non-UN document (5 December 2001) |publisher=United Nations |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504050749/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/85255e950050831085255e95004fa9c3/8fc4f064b9be5bad85256c1400722951?OpenDocument |archive-date=4 May 2011 }}</ref> and the Israeli Supreme Court (in a decision regarding the Israeli West Bank barrier).

Former U.S. President George W. Bush stated, during his presidency, that he did not expect Israel to return entirely to pre-1967 borders, due to "new realities on the ground."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4436739.stm |title=Israel 'to keep some settlements' |publisher=BBC News |date=12 April 2005 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

Both US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who played notable roles in attempts at mediation, noted the need for some territorial and diplomatic compromise on this issue, based on the validity of some of the claims of both sides.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/clintplan.html Remarks by Pres. Clinton], 1/7/01. (Full transcript available at: [http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/01/08/clinton.transcript/index.html cnn transcript])</ref><ref><!--http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&a=KArticle&aid=1079978882333--> {{cite web|url=http://www.britemb.org.il/News/blair170404.html|title=Tony Blair press conference|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040615112026/http://www.britemb.org.il/News/blair170404.html|archive-date=15 June 2004|access-date=1 June 2016}}, 4/17/04, UK Foreign Office official website, including comments on compromising on settlements. Retrieved 7/12/07. (Scroll down to question that begins with the phrase, "But Mr Sharon sees a final settlement...")</ref> One compromise offered by Clinton would have allowed Israel to keep some settlements in the West Bank, especially those in large blocks near the pre-1967 borders of Israel. In return, Palestinians would have received concessions of land in other parts of the country.<ref name="Clinton">
* Excerpt: Clinton, Bill.  [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/clintplan.html "The 'Clinton Parameters.'"] ''Jewish Virtual Library''.  7 January 2001.
* Full transcript: [http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/01/08/clinton.transcript/index.html "Transcript of Clinton's remarks to the Israel Policy Forum gala."] ''CNN.com International''. Cable News Network.  8 January 2010.  Web.  15 October 2010.  Transcript.</ref> The United Nations did not declare any change in the status of the territories as of the creation of the Palestinian National Authority between 1993 and 2000, although a 1999 U.N. document<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3B8A2154701B3FFA8525683C0056B022 |title=United Nations International Meeting on the Convening of the Conference on Measures to Enforce the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, UN website, Cairo, 14 and 15 June 1999 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=26 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110130530/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3B8A2154701B3FFA8525683C0056B022 |archive-date=10 November 2013 }}</ref> implied that the chance for a change in that status was slim at that period.

During the period between the 1993 Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada beginning in 2000, Israeli officials asserted that the term "occupation" did not accurately reflect the state of affairs in the territories. During this time, the Palestinian population in large parts of the territories had a large degree of autonomy and only limited exposure to the IDF except when seeking to move between different areas. Following the events of the Second Intifada, and in particular, Operation Defensive Shield, most territories, including Palestinian cities (Area A), came back under effective Israeli military control, making the discussion along those lines largely moot.

In the summer of 2005, Israel implemented its unilateral disengagement plan; about 8,500 Israeli citizens living in the Gaza Strip were forcibly removed from the territory, along with citizens from 4 settlements in the northern West Bank; some were compensated with alternative homes and a sum of money. The Israel Defense Forces vacated Gaza in 2005, but invaded it again in 2006 in response to rocket attacks and the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas.

In January 2010, King Abdullah of Jordan, after a meeting with the Israeli president [[Biography:Shimon Peres|Shimon Peres]] at the [[Organization:World Economic Forum|World Economic Forum]] in Davos, declared that his country does not want to rule the West Bank and that "the two-state solution" to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was the only viable option. If rule over the territory was to be transferred to the kingdom, it would only "replace Israeli military rule with Jordanian military rule... and the Palestinians want their own state."<ref>{{cite web |agency=Deutsche Presse-Agentur |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146187.html |title=King Abdullah: Jordan wants no part of West Bank |work=Haaretz |date=29 April 2010 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

In December 2010, {{wipe|Brazil}} recognized Palestine as a state with its 1967 borders. This move was later followed by {{wipe|Argentina}}, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia and Ecuador. This action was later criticized by Israel and the United States, who labelled it "counterproductive".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ecuador-becomes-fifth-latin-american-country-to-recognize-palestinian-state-1.332845 |title=Ecuador becomes fifth Latin American country to recognize Palestinian state |newspaper=Haaretz |date=25 December 2010 |access-date=25 December 2010}}</ref>

==Demographics==

===Palestinians===

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimated Palestinians at mid year 2009 as 10.7 million persons as follows: 3.9 million in the Palestinian Territory (36.6%), 1.2 million (11.5%) in Israel; 5.0 million in Arab countries (46.2%), 0.6 million in foreign countries (5.7%).<ref>[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1661.pdf Palestinians in figures 2009] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics May 2010; p. 11</ref>

According to ''{{wipe|The Guardian}}'' (2008), the Palestinian territories have one of the fastest growing populations in the world, with numbers surging 30% in the past decade (2008). There were 3.76 million Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, up from 2.89 million ten years earlier.<ref>{{cite news |author=Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/11/israelandthepalestinians.population |title=Census finds Palestinian population up by 30% |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 February 2008 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

According to the U.S. Census, population growth from 1990 to 2008 in Gaza and the West Bank was 106%, from 1.9 million (1990) to 3.9 million persons.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/population/international/ US Census Bureau International Programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819022202/http://www.census.gov/population/international/ |date=19 August 2012 }} International Data Base IDB West Bank and Gaza</ref>

According to the UN (2010), the Palestinian population was 4.4 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14628835|title=Israel country profile|publisher=BBC News|date=27 April 2020}}</ref> According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) population density in 2009 was 654 capita/km<sup>2</sup>, of which 433 capita/km<sup>2</sup> in the West Bank including Jerusalem and 4,073 capita/km<sup>2</sup> in Gaza Strip.<ref name=PCBSfig09>[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1661.pdf Palestine in Figures 2009] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, May 2010</ref> In mid-2009, the share of population less than 15 years was 41.9% and above 65 years 3%.<ref name="PCBSfig09"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px"
! colspan="4"  style="text-align:center; background:#cfb;"| Population (mid year)<ref>[https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/ US Census Bureau International Programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014185309/https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/ |date=14 October 2013 }} International Data Base IDB West Bank and Gaza</ref><ref>[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1661.pdf Palestinians in figures 2009] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics May 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/endyear2006_E.pdf Palestinians at the End of Year 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics</ref>
|-
! style="background:#cfb;"| Year
! style="background:#cfb;"| West Bank
! style="background:#cfb;"| Gaza
! style="background:#cfb;"| Total
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1970 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.69 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.34 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.03
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1980 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.90 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.46 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.36
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1990 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.25 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.65 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.90
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2000 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.98 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.13 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.11
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2004 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.20 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.30 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.50
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2008 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.41 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.5 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.91
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2010 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.52 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.60 || style="text-align:right;"| 4.12
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:left;"| <small>Source: U.S. Census Bureau </small>
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2006 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.5 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.5 || style="text-align:right;"| 4.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.48 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.45 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.94
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:left;"| <small>Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics</small>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region
! Population
|-
| West Bank
| 2,568,555<ref>(July 2010 est.) @ [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/ CIA The World Factbook]. This data plus 1.66 million in Gaza (resulting 4.23 million) agrees with the 4.1 million figure given by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics @ [https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtoudRK9JlaH26B1bdZITg6iUfsQ?do Google Hosted News]</ref>
|-
| East Jerusalem
| 192,800<ref>Israeli settlers for ''(2008 est.) (July 2011 est.)'' {{sic}} estimation @ [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/ CIA The World Factbook]</ref>
|-
| Gaza Strip
| 1,657,155<ref>Estimation for July 2011 @ [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/ CIA The World Factbook]. This data plus 2.57 million in the West Bank (resulting 4.23 million) agrees with the 4.1 million figure given by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics @ [https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtoudRK9JlaH26B1bdZITg6iUfsQ?do Google Hosted News]</ref>
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name!!Population<br />(2007)<ref>[http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/pdf/pdf2008/Population.pdf passia.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924060254/http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/pdf/pdf2008/Population.pdf |date=24 September 2012 }} Palestine facts – Population.</ref>!!Area (km<sup>2</sup>)!! Density<ref>As stated in List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density, in 2010, the total density raised to 681, ranking the 20th biggest of this list.</ref>
|-
|West Bank|| 2,369,700  || 5,671 || 417.86
|-
|Gaza Strip|| 1,416,539 || 360 || 3934.83
|-
!Total!! 3,786,239 !! 6,031 || 627.80
|}

===Religion===
The overwhelming majority of Palestinians are Muslims. Almost the entire Palestinian Muslim population is Sunni, although few dozen converts to Ahmadiyya Islam resides in West Bank.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rabwah.net/myths-facts-israel-palestine-conflict-ahmadiyya-qadiani/|title=Myths & Facts: Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ahmadiyya|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927051624/https://www.rabwah.net/myths-facts-israel-palestine-conflict-ahmadiyya-qadiani/|archive-date=27 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Palestinian constitution, article 4: "[[Religion:Islam|Islam]] is the official religion of [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]]. Respect for the sanctity of all other divine religions shall be maintained".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestinianbasiclaw.org/basic-law/2003-amended-basic-law|title=2003 Amended Basic Law|date=17 February 2008}}</ref> 

Christians constitute about 1–2% of population of Palestinian territories.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/declining-palestinian-christian-population-fears-its-churches-are-turning-into-museums-1.317689|title=Declining Palestinian Christian Population Fears Its Churches Are Turning into Museums|agency=Reuters|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> The Christian population of Gaza is estimated at about 3,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imeu.org/article/palestinian-christians-in-the-holy-land|title=Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land – IMEU|last=IMEU}}</ref> There are about 370 Samaritans in West Bank village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim who hold both Palestinian and Israeli citizenship.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/israeli-election-preview-samaritans-caught-between-two-votes-1028684|title=Israeli Election Preview: The Samaritans, Caught Between Two Votes|newspaper=International Business Times|date=21 January 2013}}</ref> The number of Jewish settlers in West Bank is estimated at 341,000 as of the end of 2012 and over 200,000 in East Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-look-at-israeli-settlers-by-the-numbers/|title=A look at Israeli settlers, by the numbers|website=The Times of Israel}}</ref>

===Language===
[[Social:Arabic language|Arabic]] is the official language in the [[Place:State of Palestine|State of Palestine]].<ref>The [http://www.palestinianbasiclaw.org/2003-amended-basic-law Palestine Basic Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118034917/http://www.palestinianbasiclaw.org/2003-amended-basic-law |date=18 January 2012 }}, approved by the PLC in March 2003, states in article 4 that "Arabic shall be the official language."</ref> Palestinian Arabic is the vernacular. [[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Social:English language|English]] are widely spoken. 16.1% of the population are Israeli settlers who mostly speak Hebrew as their native language, and Hebrew is a second or third language to many Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/asie/palestine.htm |title=Palestine |publisher=Tlfq.ulaval.ca |access-date=3 January 2013 |archive-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208130252/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/asie/palestine.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Barahona|first=Ana|title=Bearing Witness – Eight weeks in Palestine|publisher=Metete|location=London| isbn= 978-1-908099-02-0|year=2013|page=80}}</ref>

===Israeli settlers===
[[File:IsraeliSettlementGrowthLineGraph.png|thumb|Settler population, 1972–2007: yellow=East Jerusalem; blue= rest of West Bank<ref name="FmepByYear">{{cite web|url=http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/israeli-settler-population-1972-2006 |title=Israeli Settler Population 1972–2006 |publisher=Foundation for Middle East Peace |access-date=15 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118071827/http://fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/israeli-settler-population-1972-2006 |archive-date=18 November 2008 }}</ref><ref name="BtselemByYear">{{cite web|publisher=B'Tselem |url=http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/Settlement_population.xls |title=Population by year in West Bank settlements |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223172806/http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/Settlement_population.xls |archive-date=23 February 2010 }}</ref>]]

In the 1970s, Israel's methods for seizing Palestinian land to establish settlements included requisitioning for ostensibly military purposes and spraying of land with poison.<ref>{{cite news |last= Aderet|first=Ofer|date=23 June 2023|title=Israel Poisoned Palestinian Land to Build West Bank Settlement in 1970s, Documents Reveal|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-06-23/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-poisoned-palestinian-land-to-build-west-bank-settlement-in-1970s-documents-reveal/00000188-e8aa-df52-a79d-fcabdd200000|work= |location=Haaretz|access-date=24 June 2023}}</ref>

The PCBS estimated that about 564,000 Israeli settlers lived in the West Bank in 2012. Some 203,000 of them were settled in East Jerusalem (Area J1 of the Jerusalem Governorate) and 346,000 in the remaining West Bank.<ref name=PCBS_settlements_2012>[http://pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1993.pdf ''Israeli Settlements in Palestine—Annual Statistical Report 2012''], Table 2, p. 48. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, August 2013</ref>

Consistent with its policy of Jerusalem as a united and indivisible capital of Israel, Israel does not publish exact figures of the number of settlers in East Jerusalem. Rather the figures of Israelis in Judea and Samaria District are given. Independently from the political composition of its subsequent governments, the number of settlers in the West Bank has grown rapidly and in a relatively straight line since 1967 (see graphics). The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counted about 341,000 settlers end 2012 in the Judea and Samaria District, which does not include Jerusalem.<ref name=ICBS_st02_17>[http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton64/st02_17.pdf Table 2.17—Localities(1) and population] (see end of table). ICBS, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF ISRAEL 2013, 5 March 2014. '''Note:''' different dates of counting is one of the reasons for differing statistics.</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
The Constitution of the League of Arab States says the existence and independence of Palestine cannot be questioned de jure even though the outward signs of this independence have remained veiled as a result of force majeure.<ref>Henry G. Schermers and Niels M. Blokker, International Institutional Law, Hotei, 1995–2004, {{ISBN|90-04-13828-5}}, page 51</ref> The League supervised the Egyptian trusteeship of the Palestinian government in Gaza after the termination of the British Mandate and secured assurances from Jordan that the 1950 Act of Union was "without prejudice to the final settlement".<ref name=WhitemanII>Marjorie M. Whiteman, Digest of International Law, vol. 2, US State Department (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963) pages 1163–68</ref><ref>See paragraph 2.20 of the Written Statement submitted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan {{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1559.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-06-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511134718/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1559.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref>

By the 1988 declaration, the PNC empowered its central council to form a government-in-exile when appropriate, and called upon its executive committee to perform the duties of the government-in-exile until its establishment.<ref name=Sayighp624>Sayigh, 1999, p. 624.</ref>

Under the terms of the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the PLO, the latter assumed control over the [[Place:Jericho|Jericho]] area of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on 17 May 1994. On 28 September 1995, following the signing of the Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli military forces withdrew from the West Bank towns of Nablus, Ramallah, [[Place:Jericho|Jericho]], Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya and [[Religion:Bethlehem|Bethlehem]]. In December 1995, the PLO also assumed responsibility for civil administration in 17 areas in [[Place:Hebron|Hebron]].<ref name=Eurp905>Europa World Publications, 2004, p. 905.</ref> While the PLO assumed these responsibilities as a result of Oslo, a new temporary interim administrative body was set up as a result of the Accords to carry out these functions on the ground: the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

An analysis outlining the relationship between the PLO, the PNA (PA), Palestine and Israel in light of the interim arrangements set out in the Oslo Accords begins by stating that, "Palestine may best be described as a transitional association between the PA and the PLO." It goes on to explain that this transitional association accords the PA responsibility for local government and the PLO responsibility for representation of the Palestinian people in the international arena, while prohibiting it from concluding international agreements that affect the status of the occupied territories. This situation is said to be accepted by the Palestinian population insofar as it is viewed as a temporary arrangement.<ref name=Dajanip121>Dajani in Brownlie et al., 1999, p. 121.</ref>

Since the Battle of Gaza (2007), the two separate territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, are divided into a Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip and a Fatah civil leadership in the autonomous areas of the West Bank. Each sees itself as the administrator of all Palestinian Territories and does not acknowledge the other one as the official government of the territories. The Palestinian Territories have therefore ''de facto'' split into two entities.

[[File:Palestine election map.PNG|thumb|Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority]]

===Governorates===

After the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian territories were divided 16 governorates under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority. Since 2007 there are two governments claiming to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian National Authority, one based in the West Bank and one based in the Gaza Strip.

===West Bank Areas===
[[File:Area A.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=Hebrew roadside sign in red.|Israeli signpost warning Israeli citizens that entry into Area 'A' is forbidden, life-endangering, and constitutes a criminal offense]]

The Oslo II Accord created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the Palestinian territories, the Areas ''A'', ''B'' and ''C'', until a final status accord would be established. The areas are not contiguous, but rather fragmented depending on the different population areas as well as [[Place:Israel|Israel]]i military requirements.
* ''Area A'' (full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority): circa 3% of the West Bank, exclusive East-Jerusalem (first phase, 1995).<ref name="Oslo 2">{{cite web | last = Gvirtzman | first = Haim |url=http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/books/maps.htm | title = Maps of Israeli Interests in Judea and Samaria Determining the Extent of the Additional Withdrawals}} (this study was funded by the Settlement Division of the Zionist Organization)</ref><ref name=map1>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/1995/9/MFAJ01v30.jpg |title=Map No. 1 – First Phase of Redeployment |access-date=3 January 2013}}</ref> In 2011: 18%.<ref name=nyt>New York Times, 23 July 2012, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/world/middleeast/israel-seeks-army-use-of-west-bank-area.html ''Israel Seeks Army Use of West Bank Area'']</ref><ref name=Oslo-map>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/6B9EABA6D3EA5CE2852578410058A8C6 ''West Bank: Area C Map'']  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110130511/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/6B9EABA6D3EA5CE2852578410058A8C6 |date=10 November 2013 }}. UNISPAL, 22 February 2011; from [http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_map_2011_02_22.pdf OCHAoPt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208231735/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_area_c_map_2011_02_22.pdf |date=8 December 2013 }}</ref> This area includes all Palestinian cities and their surrounding areas, with no Israeli settlements. Entry into this area is forbidden to all Israeli citizens. The Israel Defense Forces occasionally enters the area to conduct raids to arrest suspected militants.
* ''Area B'' (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli–Palestinian security control): circa 25% (first phase, 1995).<ref name="Oslo 2"/><ref name=map1/> In 2011: 21%.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=Oslo-map/> Includes areas of many Palestinian towns and villages and areas, with no Israeli settlements.
* ''Area C'' (full Israeli civil and security control, except over Palestinian civilians): circa 72% (first phase, 1995).<ref name="Oslo 2"/><ref name=map1/> In 2011: 61%.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=Oslo-map/> These areas include all Israeli settlements (cities, towns, and villages), nearby land, most roadways that connected the settlements (and which Israelis are now restricted to) as well as strategic areas described as "security zones."<ref name=nyt/> There were 1,000 Israeli settlers living in Area C in 1972. By 1993, their population had increased to 110,000. {{As of|2012}} they number more than 300,000 – as against 150,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are Bedouin and ''fellahin''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Diab|first=Khaled|title=Bedouin kids' school of hard knocks|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/bedouin-kids-school-of-hard-knocks.premium-1.463104|access-date=9 September 2012|newspaper=[[Social:Haaretz|Haaretz]]|date=6 September 2012}}</ref>

==History== <!---History of the Palestinian territories redirects to this section heading. If the heading changes please update the redirect to match. TIA.--->

In 1922, after the collapse of the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] that ruled Greater Syria for four centuries (1517–1917), the British Mandate for Palestine was established. Large-scale Jewish immigration from abroad, mainly from [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]] took place during the British Mandate, though Jewish immigration started during the Ottoman period.<ref>[https://www.un.org/depts/dpa/ngo/history.html History], Civil Society Network on the Question of Palestine, Division for Palestinian Rights, United Nations. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904224027/http://www.un.org/depts/dpa/ngo/history.html |date=4 September 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Mark A. Tessler">[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_A._Tessler Mark A. Tessler], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3kbU4BIAcrQC&dq=Mark%20A.%20Tessler&pg=PP1 ''A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.''] page 211</ref> The future of Palestine was hotly disputed between Arabs and Jews. In 1947, the total Jewish ownership of land in Palestine was 1,850,000 dunams or {{convert|1850|km2|0|abbr=out}}, which is 7.04% of the total land of Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} Public property or "crown lands", the bulk of which was in the Negev, belonging to the government of Palestine may have made up as much as 70% of the total land; with the Arabs, Christians and others owning the rest.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan proposed a division of Mandate Palestine between an Arab and a Jewish state, with [[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] and the surrounding area to be a ''corpus separatum'' under a special international regime. The regions allotted to the proposed Arab state included what became the Gaza Strip, and almost all of what became the West Bank, as well as other areas.

The Partition Plan was passed by the UN General Assembly in November 1947. The Partition Plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership, but rejected by the Arab leaders. The Arab League threatened to take military measures to prevent the partition of Palestine and to ensure the national rights of the Palestinian Arab population. One day before the expiration of the British Mandate for Palestine, on 14 May 1948, Israel declared its independence within the borders of the Jewish State set out in the Partition Plan. US President Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel ''de facto'' the following day. The Arab countries declared war on the newly formed State of Israel heralding the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} Arab countries announced "an intervention in Palestine to restore law and order", heralding the start of the 1948 Palestine War.<ref name="arab league declaration">s:Cablegram from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the Secretary-General of the United Nations</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2013}}

After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, the 1949 Armistice Agreements established the separation lines between the combatants, leaving Israel in control of some of the areas designated for the Arab state under the Partition Plan, Transjordan in control of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Egypt in control of the Gaza Strip and Syria in control of the Himmah Area.

In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank. Only the {{wipe|United Kingdom}} formally recognized the annexation of the West Bank, excluding the case of East Jerusalem which was ''de facto'' recognized.<ref>Announcement in the UK House of Commons of the recognition of the State of Israel and also of the annexation of the West Bank by the State of Jordan. Commons Debates (Hansard) 5th series, Vol 474, pp1137-1141. 27 April 1950. [[:File:UKrecognizesIsraelJordan.pdf|scan (PDF)]]</ref> In the Gaza Strip the Arab League formed the All-Palestine Government, which operated under Egypt occupation.

Article 24 of the Palestinian National Covenant of 1964, which established the Palestine Liberation Organization,<ref>[http://www.palestine-un.org/plo/pna_two.html Palestinian National Charter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001217042800/http://palestine-un.org/plo/pna_two.html |date=17 December 2000 }}, 1964</ref> stated: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area" (i.e. the areas of the former Mandate Palestine controlled by Jordan, Egypt and Syria, respectively).

Israel captured both territories in the 1967 Six-Day War, as well as other territory belonging to Egypt and Syria. Since then, these territories have been designated [[Place:Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied territories]]. Immediately after the war, on 19 June 1967, the Israeli government offered to return the [[Place:Golan Heights|Golan Heights]] to Syria, the Sinai to Egypt and most of the West Bank to Jordan in exchange for peace. At the Khartoum Summit in September, the Arab parties responded to this overture by declaring "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mideastweb.org/khartoum.htm |title=Khartoum Resolutions |publisher=Mideastweb.org |date=19 June 1967 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

UN Security Council Resolution 242 introduced the "Land for Peace" formula for normalizing relations between Israel and its neighbors. This formula was used when Israel returned the [[Place:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai Peninsula]] to Egypt in 1979 in exchange for a peace treaty. While that treaty mentioned a "linkage" between Israeli–Egyptian peace and Palestinian autonomy, the formerly Egyptian-occupied territory in Gaza was excluded from the agreement, and remained under Israeli control.

The Oslo Accords of the early 1990s between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority. This was an interim organization created to administer a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the territories for a period of five years during which final-status negotiations would take place. The Palestinian Authority carried civil responsibility in some rural areas, as well as security responsibility in the major cities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords.


==See also==
* [[Place:Outline of the State of Palestine|Outline of the State of Palestine]]
* Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
* Economy of the State of Palestine
* Healthcare in the State of Palestine
* Judea and Samaria Area
* Legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine
* Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network
* [[Religion:Racism in the State of Palestine|Racism in the State of Palestine]]
* Tourism in the State of Palestine
* [[Chemistry:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Monitoring Program|Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Monitoring Program]]
* Water supply and sanitation in the State of Palestine

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100514171248/http://atlas.pcbs.gov.ps/atlas/default.asp Statistical Atlas of Palestine] at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110504194237/http://report.globalintegrity.org/West%20Bank/2008 Global Integrity Report: West Bank] has a governance and anti-corruption profile.
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/ Gaza Strip]. ''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/ West Bank]. ''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
* [https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/nea/ci/pt/index.htm Palestinian Territories] at the United States Department of State.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080607085405/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/palestine.htm Palestine] from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''.
* {{Curlie|Regional/Middle_East/Palestinian_Territory|Palestinian Territory}}
* [http://www.ottomanpalestine.com/ Palestine under the Ottoman Rule]
* [https://archive.today/20130129053645/http://www.museumchick.com/museum-chick/2010/09/palestinian-territory-street-art.html Palestinian territories street-art]
* {{cite web|url= https://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/palestine/ |title=The Question of Palestine & the United Nations }}, published by the United Nations Department of Public Information, March 2003. UN Brochure DPI/2276. Online, chapters are in PDF format.

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[[Category:Middle East]]

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