West Bank. Legal status of the territory
Israel's Palestine Liberation Organization's September 1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements provided for a transitional period of Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civil responsibility for many Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled after the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented road map a full settlement of the conflict by 2005, based on mutual moves by the two sides leading to two states, Israel and democratic Palestine. Following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser ARAFAT in late 2004, Mahmoud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the El Sheikh Sharm Commitments to advance the peace process. In September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its founders and soldiers and dismantled its military installations in the Gaza Strip and withdrew founders and redeployed soldiers from four small northern West Bank settlements. However, Israel still controls the sea, air space, and most access to the Gaza Strip. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, gained control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Hamac took control of the PA government in March 2006, but the president BAB had little success negotiating with Hamac to present a political platform acceptable to the international community to remove economic sanctions on the Palestinians. Violent clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and early 2007 led to numerous Palestinian deaths and damage. In February 2007, ABM and Hamas Political Bureau Chief, MISHAL signed the Mecca Agreement in Saudi Arabia, which led to the formation of the Palestinian National Unity Government (NUG), headed by Hamac member ISMAIL HANIYA. However, fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, and in June 2007, Hamas militants succeeded in a strong takeover of all military and government institutions in the Gaza Strip. CAMEL WOOL rejected the NUG, and through a series of presidential decrees formed a PA government in the West Bank led by the independent Salam FAYYAD. Hamas rejected the dismissal of the NUG, and despite multiple rounds of Egyptian-backed reconciliation negotiations, the two groups were unable to bridge their differences. The status quo remains with Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and BAB and the Fatah-dominated PA ruling the West Bank. FAYYAD and his PA government continue to implement a series of security and economic reforms to improve conditions in the West Bank. BAB said he will not resume negotiations with current Prime Minister NETANYAHU until Israel stops all settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington in September 1993, provided for a transitional period of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. A transfer of authority to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and, in additional areas of the West Bank, pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and the West Bank began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out a year later. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFATs death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005, Israel withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements. Nevertheless, Israel controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November 2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community has refused to accept the HAMAS-led government because it does not recognize Israel, will not renounce violence, and refuses to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. Since March 2006, President ABBAS has had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift the economic siege on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene in late 2006 as a result of Israelis detention of many HAMAS PLC members and Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members.
In September 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization adopted a Declaration of Principles on Interim Arrangements for Palestinian Self-Government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during a transitional period. As part of a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred security and civil responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority (PA). populated areas West Bank and Gaza Strip. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have stalled since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000, following the occupation by Israeli troops of the most Palestinian-controlled areas. In April 2003, the US, EU, UN and Russia presented a plan for a final settlement of the conflict before 2005, based on mutual reciprocal steps between the two states - Israel and democratic Palestine. Setting a date for a permanent status agreement has been delayed indefinitely due to clashes and accusations that both sides are not living up to their commitments. Following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the end of 2004, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the PA in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh on commitments as part of efforts to advance the peace process. In September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all its settlers and military personnel and dismantled its military installations in the Gaza Strip and four small northern settlements in the West Bank. However, Israel continues to control sea, airspace and access to the Gaza Strip. In November 2005, a Palestinian-Israeli agreement authorized the opening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint Palestinian and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic resistance movement Hamas took control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community has refused to recognize the Hamas-led government because it does not recognize Israel, does not renounce violence and refuses to implement previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. Hamas took control of the PA government in March 2006, but President Abbas was unable to succeed in negotiations with Hamas to adopt a political platform acceptable to the international community to lift economic sanctions on the Palestinians. In 2006 and early 2007, there were violent clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths. Abbas and the Hamas Political Bureau, led by Mishal, signed an agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in February 2007, which led to the formation of the Palestinian government national unity(NUG), led by Hamas member Ismail Haniyeh. However fighting in the Gaza Strip continued, and in June Hamas militants forcibly seized all military and government institutions in the Gaza Strip. Abbas dissolved the NUG and, through a series of presidential decrees, formed the government of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under the leadership of the independent Salam Fayyad. Hamas did not agree with the dissolution of the NUG and called for the resumption of negotiations with Fatah, but Abbas delayed the start of negotiations until Hamas agreed to return control of the Gaza Strip to the PA and recognized Fayyad as head of the government. Fayyad and the government implemented a series of security measures and a series of economic reforms to improve living conditions in the West Bank. Abbas was involved in negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to release some Palestinian prisoners held for customs revenue. In November 2007, at an international meeting in Annapolis, Maryland (USA), Abbas and Olmert agreed to resume peace negotiations with the goal of reaching a final peace settlement by the end of 2008.
Which gave them the name "West Bank" to distinguish it from east coast, which was its main territory before the war. Jordan granted citizenship to the Arab residents of the West Bank, which some of them still retain, while the Jewish residents of the territories captured by Transjordan fled or were expelled by Transjordan to Israel. The unilateral annexation was condemned by many countries, including most members of the Arab League. The USSR recognized the legality of the annexation. In terms of international law, the West Bank was under Jordanian occupation. Any resolutions on such actions of Jordan as the occupation and annexation of the West Bank of Jordan, the expulsion of Jews, the destruction of dozens of synagogues, and others, from to the years. The UN was not adopted.
The area of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is 5,640 square kilometers, representing 27.1% (within 1949 borders) or 25.5% (including annexed territories) of Israel's territory.
Major historical events
- Until the 13th century BC. e. On the territory of the western bank of the Jordan River there were several city-states of various Canaanite peoples.
- During the XIII-XII centuries BC. e. these territories were taken over by Jewish tribes and have since become part of the Land of Israel. The name “Judea” was given to the territory that went to the tribe of the Jews (in Jewish terminology - the tribe of Judah).
- In the 11th century BC. e. this territory became part of the united kingdom of Israel, the capital of which was first the city of Hebron, and then became Jerusalem.
- After the collapse of the united Kingdom of Israel in the 10th century BC. e. on his former territory Two kingdoms were created - Judah and Israel. The Israeli kings founded the new capital of their kingdom - the city of Samaria (Hebrew: שומרון). The territory adjacent to the new capital began to be called Samaria.
- Jewish statehood was finally destroyed by the Roman Empire during the period of Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. e. after the Bar Kokhba revolt. The land of Israel was renamed by the Romans into the province of Palestine, after the name of one of the peoples of the sea (Philistines, (Hebrew: פלישתים) who lived in it in the past.
- Over the next 18 centuries, this territory was alternately part of the Roman Empire (until 395), the Byzantine Empire (395-614 and 625-638), and the Arab Caliphate (614-625 and 638-1099). , possessions of the Crusaders (1099-1187 and 1189-1291), Egypt (1187-1189), the Mongol Empire and the Khwarezmians (1244-1263), Egypt (Mamluks) (1263-1516), the Ottoman Empire (1516-1917) and the British Mandate (1917-1948).
Modern history
Borders
The eastern border is formed by the Jordan River, in the west the border is formed by the Green Line (the 1949 ceasefire line between Israel and the Arab armies). Israel has erected a separation barrier along the West Bank border. In many places, the barrier extends deep into the West Bank and deviates from the 1949 ceasefire line. Israel explains the construction of the barrier by the need to protect its population from the continuous infiltration of suicide bombers into Israeli territory since 2000. The construction of the barrier causes active protest from the Palestinians, since the barrier creates difficulties for movement, separates settlements from each other, and land plots from villages, de facto cuts off large areas of the West Bank in favor of Israel. Some Palestinian cities were literally surrounded by a barrier on all sides. The existence of the barrier is one of the reasons why Israel is accused of apartheid.
On political maps published in the USSR, the West Bank (within the boundaries of the 1947 UN resolution) began to be painted in the colors of Jordan from the beginning of the 60s, while the Gaza Strip (including the coast to Ashdod, as well as part of the Negev along the border with Egypt) and the territory between Lebanon and the West Bank (Galilee) continued to be called the territories of the Arab state in accordance with the UN resolution. In connection with the proclamation of the State of Palestine in 1988, the territory of the West Bank was declared part of it, and the so-called appeared on Soviet maps (as well as current Russian ones). “Palestinian territories” (despite the recognition of a Palestinian state by the USSR on November 18, 1988, such a state never appeared on the maps; there is also no mention of Palestine in the tables attached to the atlases with information about the states of the world). Due to the ongoing conflict situation in the region, the real borders and status of the West Bank are interpreted differently by the opposing and sympathizing parties. However, the UN's position remains unchanged that these territories are not Israeli territory, but are intended for the Arab state of Palestine.
Name
Cisjordan
Judea and Samaria
Before the term "West Bank" was coined, during the British Mandate of Palestine, the region was referred to by its historical name "Judea and Samaria". UN Resolution 181 of 1947 on the division of the British Mandatory Territory also mentions part of the Judea and Samaria region, classifying the West Bank as Arab State territory.
Israelis most often use the historical name "Judea and Samaria", taken from the TANAKH - (Hebrew יהודה ושומרון), also using the abbreviation "Yosh" (יו"ש), but sometimes (especially when talking about international agreements) use the tracing paper “West Bank” (Hebrew: הגדה המערבית “a-ghada ha-maaravit”).
West Bank
Legal status of the territory
Israel disputes the definition of the territory of the West Bank. Jordan (including East Jerusalem) as "occupied", insisting on international term"disputed territory". The main arguments in favor of this position include the defensive nature of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Six-Day War (1967), the lack of recognized international sovereignty over these territories before 1967, and the historical right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. A number of Israeli and foreign politicians and leading lawyers adhere to a similar position.
After the occupation, Israel did not offer Arab residents of the West Bank its citizenship and did not annex the territory (with the exception of East Jerusalem, which was officially annexed with the offer local residents citizenship), but began to create Jewish settlements there. The creation of these settlements has been repeatedly condemned by the UN and many countries around the world, including the United States. Israeli public organization B'Tselem claims that free entry of Arabs into Jewish settlements is prohibited, without specifying that this is mainly due to ensuring the safety of their residents and terrorist attacks carried out by Arabs in the settlements. A number of sources have compared the situation in the West Bank to apartheid. A number of other sources reject this view, stating that the restrictions imposed on Arab residents of the West Bank are related solely to Israeli security. The issue of the status and continuation of settlement construction in the West Bank is one of the key issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In November 2009, the Israeli government, under pressure from the US administration, as a gesture good will froze the construction of new houses in settlements (except East Jerusalem) for 10 months. This gesture did not lead to the resumption of peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and in September 2010, despite protests from the United States and a number of other states, construction in the settlements was resumed.
A significant part of the West Bank of the river. Jordan today is administered by the Palestinian National Authority.
Demographics
List of cities
see also
- Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
Notes
- UN plan for the division of Palestine. 1947
- State University of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. World Atlas, 1982. Northwest Asia and northeast Africa (map). General information about states: - Jordan. Territory: 98 thousand square meters. km.
- LETTER DATED 5 MARCH 1968 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ISRAEL TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL // Security Council
- Status of Jerusalem // CHAPTER I. The British Mandate, the division of Palestine by the United Nations and the actual division of Jerusalem (1922-1966)
- Summary of Security Council Resolutions on Settlements since 1967
- Disputed territories: Forgotten Facts About the West Bank and Gaza Strip (English). Israeli Foreign Ministry (February 1, 2003). Archived
- and others in the “Legal status” section
- Israel to UN: West Bank ‘outside our boundaries’ // Delegation: We can’t enforce human rights in territories we don’t control. Jerusalem Post 07/16/2010
- The delegation said that “Israel did not control these territories and thus could not enforce the rights under the Convention in these areas”
- West Bank CIA World FactBook
- Law No. 6 of 1954 on Nationality (last amended 1987) (En.). National Legislative Bodies, Jordan. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- The address to the nation. Address by King Hussein of Jordan to the nation on July 31, 1988
- TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN, October 26, 1994 Israeli MFA
- Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty. Article 3
- Alfred E. Kellermann, Kurt Siehr, Talia Einhorn, T.M.C. Asser Institute. Israel among the nations: international and comparative law perspectives on Israel's 50th anniversary. - Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998. - P. 146. - 392 p. - ISBN 9041111425
- JURIST - Palestinian Authority: Palestinian law, legal research, human rights. lawyer.law.pitt.edu. Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181
- Yechiel M. Leiter Crisis in Israel // APPENDIX. Questions asked about Israel and Yesha
- The Status of Jerusalem (English). Israeli Foreign Ministry (March 1999). Archived
- Danny Ayalon Israel Palestinian Conflict: The Truth About the West Bank on YouTube English / rus.
- Lawyer Elon Yarden: “According to international law, Judea and Samaria belong to Israel.” News (April 6, 2000). Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- Benjamin Netanyahu"A place under the sun" . Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- Ruth Lapidot (English) Russian JERUSALEM: The Legal and Political Background (English). Israeli Foreign Ministry // JUSTICE (No. 3, Autumn 1994). Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
- The myth of the "occupied" territories. ??? (July 3, 2001). Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- Dori Gold. Do not call disputed territories occupied!
- Stumbling block. International law is on Israel's side
- INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT Extracts from “Israel and Palestine - Assault on the Law of Nations” by Professor Julius Stone, Second Edition 2003
- Professor, Judge Sir Lauterpacht, Jerusalem and the Holy Places, Pamphlet No. 19 (London, Anglo-Israel Association, 1968)
- Sir Lauterpacht in 3. Jerusalem and the Holy Places // Reply, Eli E. Hertz, p. 37
- Stephen M. Schwebel Justice in international law: selected writings of Stephen M. Schwebel. - Cambridge University Press, 1994. - P. 521-525. - 630 p. - ISBN 0521462843
- Land Grab B'Tselem
- see, in particular: Terrorist attack in the settlement of Bat-Ayin (2009), Terrorist attack in the settlement of Itamar (2011) and others
- Demographic report in West Bank territory
- Religions in West Bank
- Other statistics in West Bank
Links
- A. V. Krylov, “The West Bank of Jordan, or Judea and Samaria” part 1, part 2, part 3 -
article from the electronic publication “Strategic Culture Foundation”, 04-05.02. - Ilan Troen(July 2011). - on the website of the Jewish Virtual Library (JVL). Retrieved December 19, 2012.
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Chronology of the Arab-Israeli conflict | History of Palestine | History of Israel | UN Partition Plan for Palestine | |
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