Editing Occupied Palestinian territories (section)

==Boundaries==
{{See also|Borders of Israel}}

[[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 (Israel)|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 [[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 [[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 [[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 [[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|State of Palestine}}
{{See also|United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19}}

The Palestinian territories are part of the area intended by the United Nations to become the territory of the future [[State of Palestine]].<ref name='Res 58/292'/> Originally, a larger area was allotted to the planned Palestinian state in [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Resolution 181]] of 29 November 1947, but the Arabs rejected it and in the [[1947–1949 Palestine war|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 settlement]]s, [[Israeli West Bank barrier|walls]], and [[Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine)#Access, bypass roads|roads]].

In the UN, nearly all countries voted in favour of [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/292|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.  but it was not admitted as a member state. In the same resolution, their sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory was recognized.<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 [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177|Resolution 43/177]] of 15 December 1988, the declaration of independence of the [[State of Palestine]] was acknowledged by the [[United Nations General Assembly|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>

On 29 November 2012, the [[United Nations General Assembly|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===
{{Main|East Jerusalem}}
{{See also|Status of Jerusalem}}
[[File:2018 OCHA OpT map East Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|2018 United Nations [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|OCHA]] map of the area, showing [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|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 [[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 [[Jerusalem Law|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 [[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 [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Resolution 181 (1947)]] was never revoked. In Resolution 181, Jerusalem was intended to become a ''[[Corpus separatum (Jerusalem)|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 [[list of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel|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 [[Supreme Court of Israel|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 (Jerusalem)|Old City]], [[Sheikh Jarrah]] and the large post-1967 Jewish neighborhoods such as [[Ramot]], [[Ramat Eshkol]], [[French Hill (neighborhood)|French Hill]] and [[Gilo]]).{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

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 [[Israeli settlement|settlement blocs]]. In 2000, U.S. president Bill Clinton offered a similar proposal in his [[The Clinton Parameters|Clinton Parameters]]. In more recent years, the Israeli position has strongly been favourable to keeping all of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Gaza Strip===
{{Main|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>}}