The Palestinian territories between occupation and siege

The Palestinian territories between occupation and siege

Palestinian land consists of two areas separated by Israel, the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

These lands form the basis of the two-state solution to the long-awaited resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Here is information about them.

The United Nations voted in 1947 to divide the Palestinian territories into two states, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, and classified the city of Jerusalem, which both sides call an international zone.

Israel declared its state in 1948, which was rejected by its Arab neighbors who declared it a war that ended with Israel´s control of 78 percent of Palestine.

The war led to the displacement and displacement of about 760,000 Palestinians from their homes.

Israel occupied the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip in another war in 1967, and occupied East Jerusalem, where Jewish, Islamic and Christian religious sites were occupied.

The West Bank has a total area of ​​5655 square kilometers, the largest Palestinian land, located between Israel and Jordan.

Israel controls 60 percent of the West Bank and all its border points after an occupation that has been illegal under international law for five decades.

The PA administration, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has limited powers over the remaining 40 percent of the land, especially the urban centers.

Israel has built the Apartheid Wall along its border with the West Bank, ostensibly to prevent attacks from the territories.

Some 450,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and 2.6 million Palestinians.

East Jerusalem and its Old City are part of the West Bank. Israel occupied 70 square kilometers of land in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

The status of Jerusalem is seen as one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel says that Jerusalem as a whole is its capital, and this position is supported by US President Donald Trump, who was recognized as the capital of Israel in December 2017.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem are the capital of their own state.

The ancient city of Jerusalem includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which includes the Dome of the Rock, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There is also the Wailing Wall (the Wailing Wall), the holiest place for Jews.

There is also the Church of the Resurrection at the site where most Christians believe that Christ was crucified and buried in it.

More than 300,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, with more than 200,000 Israelis.

It is located on the borderline of 41 kilometers (25 miles) west of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea and shares the border with Egypt.

It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with some 2 million people living in an area of ​​362 square kilometers.

After 38 years of occupation of Gaza, Israel withdrew in 2005, but imposed a land, air and sea blockade a year later.

The impoverished Gaza Strip has been under Hamas control since 2007.

Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization, has waged three wars against Gaza since 2008, killing 3,000 Palestinians.

The Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, Gaza´s only port under Israeli control, has been almost completely closed since 2013 and reopened in 2017.

The border between the Gaza Strip and Israel since March 2018 has seen weekly Palestinian protests in the "return marches" in which some 300 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.

The Gaza Strip lacks natural resources and suffers from a severe shortage of water, electricity and fuel. More than two-thirds of the population relies on humanitarian assistance.