Editing West Bank (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of the ancient Levant|History of Palestine|Samaria#History|Judea#History}}
{{History of the Palestinian territories}}
{{History of Israel}}
From 1517 to 1917, the area now known as the West Bank was under [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish rule]], as part of [[Ottoman Syria]].

[[File:Cave of the Patriarchs8.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|The Cave of the Patriarchs is one of the most famous holy sites in the region.]]

At the 1920 [[San Remo conference]], the victorious [[Allies of World War&nbsp;I]] allocated the area to the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] (1920–1948). The San Remo Resolution, adopted on 25 April 1920, incorporated the [[Balfour Declaration]] of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the [[League of Nations]] were the basic documents upon which the British Mandate of Palestine was constructed. The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] proclaimed [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah&nbsp;I]] as [[emir]] of the [[Emirate of Transjordan]] on 11 April 1921. He declared it an independent [[Hashemite]] kingdom on 25 May 1946.

Under the [[United Nations]] in 1947, it was designated as part of a proposed [[Arab state]] by the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Partition Plan for Palestine]]. UN Resolution 181 recommended the splitting of the British Mandate into a [[Jewish state]], an Arab state, and an [[corpus separatum (Jerusalem)|internationally administered enclave of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |title=A/RES/181(II) of 29 November 1947 |publisher=United Nations |year=1947 |access-date=9 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524094913/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref> A broader region of the modern-day West Bank was assigned to the Arab state. The resolution designated the territory described as "the hill country of [[Samaria]] and [[Judea]]",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf?OpenElement |title=ODS HOME PAGE |website=documents-dds-ny.un.org |access-date=2020-02-16 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216043837/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf%3FOpenElement |url-status=live }}</ref> the area now known as the "West Bank", as part of the proposed Arab state. Following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], this area was captured by [[Jordan|Transjordan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_transjordan.html |title=Jordan – History – The Making of Transjordan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921111449/http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_transjordan.html |archive-date=21 September 2011}}</ref>

===Jordanian West Bank===
{{further|Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|King Hussein's federation plan|Islamization of Jerusalem|Palestinians in Jordan}}
[[File:King Hussein flying over Temple Mount when it was under Jordanian control.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] flying over the [[Temple Mount]] in Jerusalem when it was under Jordanian control, 1965]]

During the 1948 war, Israel occupied parts of what was designated in the UN partition plan as "Palestine". The [[1949 Armistice Agreements]] defined the [[Green Line (Israel)|interim boundary]] between Israel and Jordan, essentially reflecting the battlefield after the war.<ref name="JordanIsraelArmistice1949">[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F03D55E48F77AB698525643B00608D34 General Armistice Agreement between the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom and Israel] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514030830/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F03D55E48F77AB698525643B00608D34 |date=14 May 2011 }} UN Doc S/1302/Rev.1 3 April 1949</ref> Following the December 1948 [[Jericho Conference]], Transjordan annexed the area west of the Jordan River in 1950, naming it "West Bank" or "Cisjordan", and designated the area east of the river as "East Bank" or "Transjordan". Jordan, as it was now known, ruled over the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. Jordan's annexation was never formally recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Iraq.<ref name="digicoll.library.wisc.edu">[[Joseph Massad]] said that the members of the Arab League granted de facto recognition and that the United States had formally recognized the annexation, except for Jerusalem. See Joseph A. Massad, Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001),{{ISBN|978-0-231-12323-5}}, page 229. Records show that the United States de facto accepted the annexation without formally recognizing it. [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS1950v05.p0943&id=FRUS.FRUS1950v05&isize=M United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States, 1950. The Near East, South Asia, and Africa] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514153358/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS1950v05.p0943&id=FRUS.FRUS1950v05&isize=M |date=14 May 2011 }} pg. 921</ref><ref name=Silverburg>It is often stated that Pakistan recognized it as well, but that seems to be incorrect; see S. R. Silverburg, Pakistan and the West Bank: A research note, Middle Eastern Studies, 19:2 (1983) 261–263.</ref><ref>George Washington University. Law School (2005). The George Washington international law review. George Washington University. p. 390. Retrieved 21 December 2010. <q>Jordan's illegal occupation and Annexation of the West Bank</q></ref> [[Abdullah I of Jordan|King Abdullah of Jordan]] was crowned King of Jerusalem by the Coptic Bishop on 15 November 1948.<ref>Enrico Molinari,[https://books.google.com/books?id=hQaDrfuGw1YC&pg=PA92 ''The Holy Places of Jerusalem in Middle East Peace Agreements: The Conflict Between Global and State Identities,'']{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Sussex Academic Press, 2010 p.92.</ref> Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank, including [[East Jerusalem]], were granted Jordanian citizenship and half of the [[Parliament of Jordan|Jordanian Parliament]] seats, thus enjoying equal opportunities in all sectors of the state.<ref>[[Karen Armstrong|Armstrong, Karen]]. ''Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths''. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. p. 387.</ref><ref name="jifa">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9TkD3ugwEUC&pg=PA211LPG |title=Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications |access-date=18 October 2015 |author1=Nils August Butenschon |author2=Uri Davis |author3=Manuel Sarkis Hassassian |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8156-2829-3 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207212656/https://books.google.com/books?id=C9TkD3ugwEUC&pg=PA211lpg |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many refugees continued to live in camps and relied on [[UNRWA]] assistance for sustenance. Palestinian refugees constituted more than a third of the kingdom's population of 1.5&nbsp;million. The last Jordanian elections in which West Bank residents voted in were those of April 1967. Their parliamentary representatives continued in office until 1988, when West Bank seats were abolished. Palestinians enjoyed equal opportunities in all sectors of the state without discrimination.<ref name="jifa" /> Agriculture remained the primary activity of the territory. The West Bank, despite its smaller area, contained half of Jordan's agricultural land.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |url=http://www.rviewer.com/main/articles/Chapter8.html |title=Assessing the Viability of a Palestinian State |author=Paul H. Smith |date=July 1993 |publisher=Defense Intelligence College |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021208052428/http://www.rviewer.com/main/articles/Chapter8.html |archive-date=8 December 2002}}</ref>

In 1966, 43% of the labor force of 55,000 worked in agriculture, and 2,300&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> were under cultivation. In 1965, 15,000 workers were employed in industry, producing 7% of the GNP. This number fell after the 1967 war and was not surpassed until 1983.<ref name="auto2"/> The [[tourism]] industry played an important role. 26 branches of 8 Arab banks were present. The [[Jordanian dinar]] became legal tender and remains so until today.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} 80% of Jordan's fruit-growing land and 40% of its vegetables lay in the West Bank. With the onset of the occupation, the area could no longer produce export earnings.{{sfn|Cooley|1984|p=13}}

On the eve of occupation, the West Bank accounted for 40% of Jordanian GNP, between 34% and 40% of its agricultural output and almost half of its manpower, though only a third of Jordanian investment was allocated to it and mainly to the private housing construction sector.{{sfn|Mansour|2015|pp=73–74}} Even though its per-capita product was 10 times greater than that of the West Bank, the Israeli economy on the eve of occupation had experienced two years (1966–1967) of a sharp recession.{{sfn|Unctad|2016|p=5}}

Immediately after the occupation, from 1967 to 1974, the economy boomed. In 1967, the Palestinian economy had a gross domestic product of $1,349 per capita for a million people.{{sfn|Unctad|2016|p=5}} The West Bank's population was 585,500,{{efn|According to Mansour, the population stood at 803,600,{{sfn|Mansour|2015|p=71}}}} of whom 18% were refugees, and was growing annually by 2%. West Bank growth, compared to Gaza (3%), had lagged, due to the effect of mass emigration of West Bankers seeking employment in Jordan.{{sfn|Tuma|Darin-Drabkin|1978|pp=47,50}} As agriculture gave way to industrial development in Israel, in the West Bank the former still generated 37% of domestic product, and industry a mere 13%.{{sfn|Van Arkadie|1977|p=104}}

The growth rate of the West Bank economy in the period of the Jordanian rule of the West Bank, before Israeli occupation, had ticked along at an annual rate of 6–8%. This rate of growth was indispensable if the post-war West Bank were to achieve [[Self-sustainability|economic self-reliance]].

===Israeli Military Governorate and Civil Administration===
{{main|Israeli Military Governorate|Israeli Civil Administration}}
In June 1967, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured by Israel as a result of the [[Six-Day War]]. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former [[No man's land (West Bank)#Israel–Jordan|Israeli–Jordanian no man's land]], the West Bank was not annexed by Israel. It remained under [[Israeli Military Governorate|Israeli military control]] until 1982.

The [[1974 Arab League summit]] resolution at [[Rabat]] designated the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people". Jordan did not officially relinquish its claim to the area until 1988,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWhgIe3Hq98C&pg=PA247 |title=The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1987-1988 |editor=Anis F. Kassim |year=1988 |page=247 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=978-90-411-0341-3 |access-date=25 November 2015 |archive-date=3 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303182150/https://books.google.com/books?id=DWhgIe3Hq98C&pg=PA247 |url-status=live }}</ref> when it severed all administrative and legal ties with the West Bank and eventually stripped West Bank Palestinians of Jordanian citizenship.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asQryfnCVsEC&pg=PA196 |title=Israel, the Hashemites, and the Palestinians: The fateful triangle |editor=Efraim Karsh |editor2=P. R. Kumaraswamy |year=2003 |page=196 |isbn=978-0-7146-5434-8 |last1=Karsh |first1=Efraim |last2=Kumaraswamy |first2=P. R.|publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref>

In 1982, as a result of the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]], the direct military rule was transformed into a [[Israeli Civil Administration|semi-civil authority]], operating directly under the Israeli Ministry of Defense, taking control of civil matters of Palestinians from the IDF to civil servants in the Ministry of Defense. The Israeli settlements were administered as [[Judea and Samaria Area]], directly by Israel.

Since the 1993 [[Oslo Accords]], the [[Palestinian Authority]] officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approximately 11% of the West Bank, known as [[Palestinian enclaves|Area A]], which remains subject to Israeli incursions. Area B, approximately 28%, is subject to joint Israeli-Palestinian military and Palestinian civil control. [[Area C (West Bank)|Area C]], approximately 61%, is under full Israeli control. Though 164 nations refer to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "[[Israeli-occupied territories|Occupied Palestinian Territory]]",<ref name="UNGeneva Convention">{{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 name="ICRCGeneva Convention">{{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> the state of Israel quotes the UN that only territories captured in war from "an established and recognized sovereign" are considered occupied territories.<ref name="GovILDisputed Territories">{{cite web |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2003/Pages/DISPUTED%20TERRITORIES-%20Forgotten%20Facts%20About%20the%20We.aspx |title=Disputed Territories: Forgotten Facts about the West Bank and Gaza Strip |publisher=Israeli government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=5 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821162131/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2003/Pages/DISPUTED%20TERRITORIES-%20Forgotten%20Facts%20About%20the%20We.aspx |archive-date=21 August 2013}}</ref>

After the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|2007 split]] between [[Fatah]] and [[Hamas]], the West Bank areas under [[Palestinian territories|Palestinian control]] are an exclusive part of the Palestinian Authority. The [[Gaza Strip]] is [[Hamas Government in Gaza|ruled by Hamas]].

===Early economic impact===
The Jordanians neglected to invest much in the area during their time governing the area, although there was some investment in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem.

Soon after the 1967 war, [[Yigal Allon]] produced the [[Allon Plan]], which would have annexed a strip along the Jordan River valley and excluded areas closer to the pre-1967 border, which had a high density of Palestinians. [[Moshe Dayan]] proposed a plan which [[Gershom Gorenberg]] likens to a "photo negative of Allon's."{{efn|"In fact, Dayan had submitted his own secret plan. Predictably, it was the photo negative of Allon's. The mountain ridge – not the lowlands along the Jordan – was the strategic land Israel needed, Dayan asserted."{{sfn|Gorenberg|2007|pp=81–83}}}} The Allon plan evolved over a period of time to include more territory. The final draft dating from 1970 would have annexed about half of the West Bank.{{sfn|Lein|Weizman|2002|pp=12–13}} Israel had no overall approach for integrating the West Bank.{{efn|[[Ilan Pappe]] holds a dissenting view, claiming that a Shacham Plan existed for the occupation and administration of the West Bank before 1967.{{sfn|Pappe|2017|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}}}

The early occupation set severe limits on public investment and comprehensive development programmes in the territories. British and Arab commercial banks operating in the West Bank were closed down soon after Israel assumed power there. [[Bank Leumi]] then opened nine branches, without successfully replacing the earlier system. Farmers could get loans, but Palestinian businessmen avoided taking out loans from them, since they charged 9% compared to 5% interest in Jordan.{{sfn|Cohen|1985|p=245}}{{sfn|Van Arkadie|1977|pp=112–113}} By June 1967, only a third of West Bank land had been registered under Jordan's ''Settlement of Disputes over Land and Water Law''. In 1968, Israel moved to cancel the possibility of registering one's title with the Jordanian Land Register.{{sfn|Nicoletti|Hearne|2012|p=14}}

[[Ian Lustick]] states that Israel "virtually prevented" Palestinian investment in local industry and agriculture.{{sfn|Lustick|2018|p=11}} At the same time, Israel encouraged Arab labour to enter into Israel's economy, and regarded them as a new, expanded and protected market for Israeli exports. Limited export of Palestinian goods to Israel was allowed.{{sfn|Van Arkadie|1977|pp=104,111}} Expropriation of prime agricultural land in an economy where two thirds of the workforce had farmed is believed to account for the flight of labourers to work in Israel.{{sfn|Kadri|1998|p=518}}

As much as 40% of the workforce commuted to Israel on a daily basis finding only poorly paid menial employment.{{sfn|Bergman|2018|p=309}} Remittances from labourers earning a wage in Israel were the major factor in Palestinian economic growth during the 1969–73 boom years.{{sfn|Van Arkadie|1977|p=110}} The migration of workers from the territories had a negative impact on local industry, by creating an internal labour scarcity in the West Bank and consequent pressure for higher wages there.{{sfn|Van Arkadie|1977|pp=110–111}} The contrast between the quality of their lives and Israelis' growing prosperity stoked resentment.{{sfn|Bergman|2018|p=309}}

Attempting to impose governmental authority, Israel established a licensing system according to which no industrial plant could be built without obtaining a prior Israeli permit. With Military Order No. 393 (14 June 1970), the local commander was given the power and authority to block any construction if, in his evaluation, the building might pose a danger to Israel's security. The overall effect was to obstruct manufacturing development and subordinate any local industrial activity to the exigencies of Israel's economy, or to block the creation of industries that might compete with Israel's. For example, entrepreneurs were denied a permit for a cement factory in Hebron. In order to protect Israeli farmers, melon production was forbidden, imports of grapes and dates were banned, and limits were set to how many cucumbers and tomatoes could be produced.{{sfn|Quigley|2005|p=186}} Israeli milk producers exerted pressure on the [[Ministry of Economy (Israel)|Ministry for Industry and Trade]] to stop the establishment of a competitive dairy in [[Ramallah]].{{sfn|El-Farra|MacMillen|2000|p=161}}

The sum effect after two decades was that 15% of all Palestinian firms in the West Bank and Gaza employing over eight people, and 32% with seven or less, were prohibited from selling their products in Israel.{{sfn|El-Farra|MacMillen|2000|p=164}} Israeli [[Protectionism|protectionist policies]] distorted wider trade relations to the point that, by 1996, 90% of all West Bank imports came from Israel, with consumers paying more than they would for comparable products had they been able to exercise commercial autonomy.{{sfn|Kadri|1998|pp=517–518}}

===Legal status===
{{main|Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine}}
{{See also|Israeli apartheid|ICJ case on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories|Judea and Samaria Area}}
[[File:1947-UN-Partition-Plan-1949-Armistice-Comparison.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|alt=Map comparing the borders of the 1947 partition plan and the armistice of 1949.|{{Partition Plan-Armistice Lines comparison map legend}}]]
From 1517 to 1917 the West Bank was part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Turkey, successor state to the Ottoman Empire, [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|renounced]] its territorial claims in 1923, signing the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Treaty of Lausanne]], and the area now called the West Bank became an integral part of the British Mandate for Palestine. During the Mandate period Britain had no right of sovereignty, which was held by the people under the mandate.<ref name=JQ2005>{{cite book |last1=Quigley |first1=John |title=The Case for Palestine An International Law Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/caseforpalestine00quig |url-access=limited |year=2005 |publisher=Duke University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/caseforpalestine00quig/page/n12 15]}}</ref> Nevertheless, Britain, as custodians of the land, implemented the land tenure laws in Palestine, which it had inherited from the Ottoman Turks (as defined in the [[Ottoman Land Code of 1858#The Ottoman Land Code (as used in Palestine)|Ottoman Land Code of 1858]]), applying these laws to both Arab and Jewish legal tenants or otherwise.<ref>''The Survey of Palestine under the British Mandate: 1920–1948'', British Mandate government printing office, Jerusalem 1946, vol. 1, p. 225, of chapter 8, section 1, paragraph 1 (Reprinted in 1991 by the [[Institute for Palestine Studies]]), which reads: "The land law in Palestine embraces the system of tenures inherited from the Ottoman regime, enriched by some amendments, mostly of a declaratory character, enacted since the British Occupation on the authority of the Palestine Orders-in-Council."</ref> In 1947 the UN General Assembly recommended that the area that became the West Bank become part of a future Arab state, but this proposal was opposed by the Arab states at the time. In 1948, Jordan occupied the West Bank and [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|annexed it in 1950]].<ref name="digicoll.library.wisc.edu"/>

In 1967, Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the Six-Day War. [[UN Security Council Resolution 242]] followed, calling for withdrawal (return to the 1949 armistice lines) from territories occupied in the conflict in exchange for peace and mutual recognition. Since 1979, the [[United Nations Security Council]],<ref>[[UN Security Council Resolution 446|Resolution 446]], [[UN Security Council Resolution 465|Resolution 465]], Resolution 484, among others</ref> the [[United Nations General Assembly]],<ref name="UNGeneva Convention"/> the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/nea/8262.htm |title=Israel and the occupied territories |publisher=State.gov |date=4 March 2002 |access-date=3 October 2010 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160939/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/nea/8262.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> the EU,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/occupied-palestinian-territory/ |title=Palestine – Trade – European Commission |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715070820/http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/occupied-palestinian-territory/ |archive-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> the [[International Court of Justice]],<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> and the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]]<ref name="ICRCGeneva Convention"/> refer to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as occupied Palestinian territory or the occupied territories. General Assembly resolution 58/292 (17 May 2004) affirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to sovereignty over the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/d9d90d845776b7af85256d08006f3ae9/a2c2938216b39de485256ea70070c849?OpenDocument |title=UN Resolution 58/292 (17 May 2004) |publisher=United Nations |quote=Affirms that the status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation, and affirms, in accordance with the rules and principles of international law and relevant resolutions of the United Nations, including Security Council resolutions, that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory and that Israel, the occupying Power, has only the duties and obligations of an occupying Power under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949 1 and the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, of 1907 |access-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510095509/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/d9d90d845776b7af85256d08006f3ae9/a2c2938216b39de485256ea70070c849?OpenDocument |archive-date=10 May 2011}}</ref>

The [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ) and the [[Supreme Court of Israel]] have ruled that the status of the West Bank is that of military occupation.<ref name=FD>{{cite book |last1=Domb |first1=Fania |title=International Law and Armed Conflict: Exploring the Faultlines |year=2007 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-15428-5 |page=511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B1ZIIDeEc5AC&pg=PA511 |access-date=29 October 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303182236/https://books.google.com/books?id=B1ZIIDeEc5AC&pg=PA511 |url-status=live }}</ref> In its 2004 advisory opinion the International Court of Justice concluded that:

{{Blockquote|The territories situated between the Green Line and the former eastern boundary of Palestine under the Mandate were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the armed conflict between Israel and Jordan. Under customary international law, the Court observes, these were therefore occupied territories in which Israel had the status of occupying Power. Subsequent events in these territories have done nothing to alter this situation. The Court concludes that all these territories (including East Jerusalem) remain occupied territories and that Israel has continued to have the status of occupying Power.<ref name=FD/><ref name=ICJ2004>{{cite book |title=Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, I. C. J. Reports |year=2004 |publisher=International Court of Justice |isbn=978-92-1-070993-4 |page=136}}</ref>}}

In the same vein the Israeli Supreme Court stated in the 2004 ''Beit Sourik'' case that:

{{Blockquote|The general point of departure of all parties – which is also our point of departure – is that Israel holds the area in belligerent occupation (occupatio bellica)......The authority of the military commander flows from the provisions of public international law regarding belligerent occupation. These rules are established principally in the Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907 [hereinafter – the Hague Regulations]. These regulations reflect customary international law. The military commander's authority is also anchored in IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War 1949.<ref name=FD/><ref name=BietSourik>{{cite web |title=Beit Sourik Village Council v. 1.The Government of Israel 2.Commander of the IDF Forces in the West Bank |url=http://elyon1.court.gov.il/Files_ENG/04/560/020/A28/04020560.A28.HTM |publisher=The Supreme Court Sitting as the High Court of Justice |access-date=8 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121218130109/http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files_eng/04/560/020/A28/04020560.a28.htm |archive-date=18 December 2012}}</ref>}}

The executive branch of the Israeli government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has defined the West Bank as "disputed" instead of "occupied" territory, whose status can only be determined through negotiations. The Ministry argues that the West Bank was not captured in war because it was not under the legitimate [[Sovereign state|sovereignty]] of any state prior to the Six-Day War (when it was occupied by Israel).<ref name="GovILDisputed Territories"/>

The [[International Court of Justice]] ruling of 9 July 2004, however, found that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is territory held by Israel under military occupation, regardless of its status prior to it coming under Israeli occupation, and that the Fourth Geneva convention applies ''de jure''.<ref>[http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706021237/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1671.pdf |date=6 July 2010 }}, see paragraphs 90–101 and p.5</ref> The international community regards the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) as territories occupied by Israel.<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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415160014/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/007/2009/en/ |date=15 April 2015 }}, Amnesty International. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009; [http://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?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121084340/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/israel.gaza.occupation.question/index.html |date=21 January 2009 }} CNN, 6 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-30.</ref>

In 2024, the ICJ reaffirmed in an [[Advisory opinion|advisory ruling]] that Israel's military occupation of the West Bank (along with the Gaza strip and East Jerusalem) is unlawful. The ruling also added that Israel's "legislation and measures violate the international prohibition on [[racial segregation]] and [[Israeli apartheid|apartheid]]."<ref name=":1" />

International law (Article 49 of the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]]) prohibits "transfers of the population of an occupying power to occupied territories", incurring a responsibility on the part of Israel's government to not settle Israeli citizens in the West Bank.<ref>[http://www.bbcgovernorsarchive.co.uk/docs/reviews/lubell_law_report.pdf Independent law report commissioned by the BBC Board of Governors] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504022016/http://www.bbcgovernorsarchive.co.uk/docs/reviews/lubell_law_report.pdf |date=4 May 2011 }}, BBC Governors' Archive, February 2006 (pages 48–50)</ref>

As of June 2024, 146 (75.6%) of the 193 member states of the [[United Nations]] have [[International recognition of the State of Palestine|recognised]] the [[State of Palestine]]<ref>Evan Centanni,
[http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/11/map-palestine-recognized-two-more-countries.html Map: Palestine Recognized by Two More Countries (134/193)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202165158/http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/11/map-palestine-recognized-two-more-countries.html |date=2 February 2014 }} Political Geography Now, 2 November 2013</ref> within the [[Palestinian territories]], which are recognized by Israel to constitute a single territorial unit,<ref>[http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1095 'West Bank and Gaza Strip as a Single Territorial Unit,'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924042001/http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1095 |date=24 September 2014 }} Reut Institute.</ref><ref>[http://www.europeanforum.net/country/palestinian_territories 'Palestinian Territories,'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603113808/http://www.europeanforum.net/country/palestinian_territories |date=3 June 2009 }} European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, 31 January 2014</ref> and of which the West Bank is the core of the would-be state.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21603478-aside-israels-fears-palestinian-reconciliation-has-long-way-go 'An awkward new government,'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701194436/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21603478-aside-israels-fears-palestinian-reconciliation-has-long-way-go |date=1 July 2017 }} [[The Economist]] 7 June 2014.</ref> 
[[File:Jericho from above.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|City of [[Jericho]], West Bank]]

===Political status===
{{Main|Status of territories occupied by Israel in 1967}}
[[File:Bush abbas presidential guard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|U.S. President [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] and [[Mahmoud Abbas]] in [[Ramallah]], 2008]]
The future status of the West Bank, together with the [[Gaza Strip]] on the Mediterranean shore, has been the subject of negotiation between the Palestinians and Israelis, although the 2002 [[Road Map for Peace]], proposed by the "[[Quartet on the Middle East|Quartet]]" comprising the United States, Russia, the [[European Union]], and the United Nations, envisions an independent Palestinian state in these territories living side by side with [[Israel]] (see also [[history of the State of Palestine]]). However, the "Road Map" states that in the first phase, Palestinians must end all attacks on Israel, whereas Israel must dismantle all outposts.

The [[Palestinian Authority]] believes that the West Bank ought to be a part of their sovereign nation, and that the presence of Israeli military control is a violation of their right to Palestinian Authority rule. The United Nations calls the West Bank and Gaza Strip ''[[Israeli-occupied territories]]''. The United States State Department also refers to the territories as ''occupied''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3464.htm |title=Jordan (03/08) |publisher=State.gov |access-date=9 October 2008 |archive-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604185040/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3464.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/t/pm/64711.htm |title=Israel |publisher=State.gov |access-date=9 October 2008 |archive-date=6 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206082956/http://2001-2009.state.gov/t/pm/64711.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90212.htm#OT |title=Israel and the Occupied Territories |date=14 September 2007 |publisher=State.gov |access-date=9 October 2008 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225221837/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90212.htm#OT |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2005 the United States ambassador to Israel, [[Daniel C. Kurtzer]], expressed U.S. support "for the retention by Israel of major Israeli population centres [in the West Bank] as an outcome of negotiations",<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4382343.stm 'US will accept Israel settlements'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312191029/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4382343.stm |date=12 March 2007 }}, BBC News Online, 25 March 2005.</ref> reflecting [[George W. Bush|President Bush]]'s statement a year earlier that a permanent peace treaty would have to reflect "demographic realities" on the West Bank.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4445839.stm 'UN Condemns Israeli settlements'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822064952/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4445839.stm |date=22 August 2006 }}, BBC News Online, 14 April 2005.</ref> In May 2011 US President Barack Obama officially stated US support for a future Palestinian state based on borders prior to the 1967 War, allowing for land swaps where they are mutually agreeable between the two sides. Obama was the first US president to formally support the policy, but he stated that it had been one long held by the US in its Middle East negotiations.<ref name=CNNObama>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Tom |title=Obama calls for Israel's return to pre-1967 borders |url=https://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/05/19/obama.israel.palestinians/index.html |access-date=11 May 2012 |publisher=CNN|date=19 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501083901/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-19/politics/obama.israel.palestinians_1_israel-palestinian-conflict-borders-settlements?_s=PM:POLITICS |archive-date=1 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=HzObama>{{cite news |last1=Mozgovaya |first1=Natasha |title=Obama to AIPAC: 1967 borders reflect long-standing U.S. policy |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-to-aipac-1967-borders-reflect-long-standing-u-s-policy-1.363351 |access-date=11 May 2012 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=22 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516115436/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-to-aipac-1967-borders-reflect-long-standing-u-s-policy-1.363351 |archive-date=16 May 2012}}</ref>

In December 2016, [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334|a resolution]] was adopted by [[United Nations Security Council]] that condemned Israel's settlement activity as a "flagrant violation" of international law with "no legal validity". It demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an occupying power under the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]].<ref name=resolution_text>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm |title=Israel's Settlements Have No Legal Validity, Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law, Security Council Reaffirms: 14 Delegations in Favour of Resolution 2334 (2016) as United States Abstains |publisher=United Nations |date=23 December 2016 |access-date=25 December 2016 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222235715/https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BBC>{{cite news |title=Israeli settlements: UN Security Council calls for an end |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38421026 |access-date=23 December 2016 |publisher=BBC News |date=23 December 2016 |archive-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226190109/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38421026 |url-status=live }}</ref> The United States abstained from the vote.<ref name=powers_statement>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-us-envoy-samantha-powers-speech-after-abstention-on-anti-settlement-vote/ |title=Full text of US envoy Samantha Power's speech after abstention on anti-settlement vote |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=24 December 2016 |archive-date=24 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224143533/http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-us-envoy-samantha-powers-speech-after-abstention-on-anti-settlement-vote/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BBC/>

In 2020, President [[Donald Trump]] unveiled a [[2020 Trump Israel–Palestine plan|peace plan]], radically different from previous peace plans. The plan failed to gain support.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/world/middleeast/peace-plan.html |title=Trump Releases Mideast Peace Plan That Strongly Favors Israel |first1=Michael |last1=Crowley |first2=David M. |last2=Halbfinger |newspaper=The New York Times |date=28 January 2020 |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226003653/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/world/middleeast/peace-plan.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/05/25/trump-accords-between-israel-arab-nations-tested-gaza-conflict/5078845001/ |title=Trump touted the Abraham Accords as a 'new dawn' for the Middle East. 9 months later, Gaza erupted. |first=Courtney |last=Subramanian |website=USA Today |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616072903/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/05/25/trump-accords-between-israel-arab-nations-tested-gaza-conflict/5078845001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

West Bank was ranked 10th most electoral [[democracy in the Middle East and North Africa]] according to [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] in 2024 with a score of 0.254 out of one.<ref name="report">[https://v-dem.net/documents/43/v-dem_dr2024_lowres.pdf Democracy Report 2024, Varieties of Democracy]</ref>

{{Anchor|Geography}}