Occupied Palestinian Territory

Palæstinian Territories or Judaeo-Samaria and Gaza usually refers to the West Bank and Gaza. Their last and final status has yet to be determined. The territories were originally part of the Israeli Civil Administration until the Oslo Accords in 1993.

A map of Judaeo-Samaria and Gaza (the Occupied Palæstinian Territories).

They were captured and occupied by Jordan and Egypt in the late 1940s. Israel captured the areas in the Six-Day War in 1967.

The Palestinian territories, comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip, border Jordan to the east and Israel to the west. Gaza also borders Egypt to the southwest. The Dead Sea lies along the eastern border of the West Bank, forming part of the border with Jordan.^[1]

Following the Oslo Accords in 1993, parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA).^[2]

Both Israel and the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed it.^[3]

In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law, declaring Jerusalem to be the "complete and united" capital of Israel.^[4] This annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by most of the international community.^[5]

The West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, is administered in part by Israel through the Civil Administration, often referred to as the "Judea and Samaria Area" in Israeli legal terminology.^[6] Gaza has not been under Israeli civilian administration since 2005, following Israel's disengagement, and is governed internally by the Palestinian Authority in parts and by Hamas in Gaza.^[7]

Since Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the 130 UN members have recognized the State of Palæstina. The State of Israel and the United States have not.