What and where is the West Bank?

 

The West Bank is a landlocked territory in the Levant region of West Asia that forms the largest part of the Palestinian territories. It is located west of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea, bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel to the north, west, and south. [1, 2]

Geographic and Demographic Profile

• Size: Approximately 2,185 square miles (5,660 square kilometers), roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware. [1, 2]
• Population: Home to over 3.3 million Palestinians. It also contains over 700,000 Israeli Jewish settlers living in government-authorized communities. [1, 2, 3]
• Major Cities: Principal Palestinian urban centers include Ramallah (the administrative hub), Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, and Bethlehem. [1, 2]
• Alternative Names: Historically and biblically, the region is known as Judea and Samaria. Many Israelis and the Israeli government use these names to emphasize historical Jewish ties to the land, while "West Bank" is the standard term used internationally. [1, 2]

History and Administrative Status

The territory was part of British-mandated Palestine until 1948. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was captured and annexed by Jordan, which coined the term "West Bank" to distinguish it from the "East Bank" (the main territory of Jordan). Israel subsequently captured the territory during the 1967 Six-Day War and has maintained a military occupation over it since. [1, 2, 3]

Under the Oslo Accords signed in the 1990s, the West Bank was split into three administrative zones to establish interim Palestinian self-governance: [1]

• Area A (18% of land): Full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority (PA). It contains most major Palestinian cities.
• Area B (22% of land): Civilian administration by the PA, but overriding security control managed by Israel.
• Area C (60% of land): Full civil and military control by Israel. This area contains all Israeli settlements, vast agricultural zones, and connects the fragmented pockets of Areas A and B. [1, 2, 3]

Current Political Context

The status of the West Bank is one of the core disputes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians envision the territory as the heart of a future independent sovereign state. However, ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements, the presence of military checkpoints, and the construction of the West Bank Separation Barrier complicate territorial continuity and remain flashpoints for international legal debate.