While Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 people, has been going on for nearly a year, assaults in the occupied West Bank continue, with at least 703 people killed by Israeli forces since October 7.
Although Gaza and the West Bank are only 33 km (21 miles) apart at their closest points, Israeli restrictions have long prevented travel and interaction between the two Palestinian territories, even before the recent conflict.
To better understand the effect of these restrictions and the situation on the ground, here is a visual overview of the geography, history and living conditions of the millions of Palestinians in the West Bank.
1 – What is the area of the occupied West Bank?
The West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, covers an area of 5,655 km² (2,183 km²), about 15 times larger than the Gaza Strip, which covers 365 km² (141 km²).
Compared to other parts of the world, the bean-shaped West Bank is about the same size as Delaware in the United States or Bali in Indonesia. It is about half the size of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom and about a third the size of Gauteng province in South Africa.
2 – How did the West Bank get its name?
The West Bank, called al-Daffah in Arabic, is located on the west bank of the Jordan River, from which it takes its name.
The 251-kilometer-long river flows from the Lebanese mountains to the Dead Sea, adding fertile soil to the surrounding valley. The Jordan Valley makes up 30 percent of the West Bank and accounts for half of its agricultural land.
Due to strict controls and restrictions imposed by Israel, Palestinians do not have their own airport. To enter and exit the West Bank, Palestinians with the necessary permits must use the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge over the Jordan River to reach Jordan and onward destinations.
3 – How many people live in the West Bank?
The West Bank, with about 3.3 million Palestinians, has about a million more people than Gaza.
The West Bank is divided into 11 governorates. Hebron, or al-Khalil in Arabic, is the most populous governorate with approximately 842,000 inhabitants. It is followed by Jerusalem (500,000), Nablus (440,000), Ramallah and el-Bireh (337,000) and Jenin (360,000).
In addition, approximately 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements on Palestinian land. We will return to Israeli settlers later.
4 – Israeli occupation of the West Bank
Since 1967, Israel has maintained a military occupation of the West Bank, involving arrests, checkpoints, home invasions, demolitions, and frequent raids and assaults.
To better understand the daily struggles Palestinians face under Israeli occupation, take a look at this illustrated guide.
Over the past 12 months, Israel has demolished at least 1,697 Palestinian structures, mostly homes, displacing 4,233 people, according to United Nations figures. That’s an average of five structures destroyed per day.
The figures for 2024 represent the highest number of structures destroyed in a year since the UN began tracking them in 2009.
Over the past 15 years, Israel has demolished at least 11,500 Palestinian-owned structures, three-quarters of which are located in Area C.
5 – The differences between zones A, B and C
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, the occupied West Bank was divided into three areas – A, B and C.
The Oslo Accords were the first direct Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. They led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA), an administrative body responsible for managing internal security, administration and civil affairs for Palestinians in the areas of autonomy, for an interim period of five years.
Zone A Initially, the area represented 3% of the West Bank and grew to 18% by 1999. In Area A, the Palestinian Authority controls most affairs.
Zone B The West Bank accounts for about 22 percent of the West Bank’s land area. In both areas, while the Palestinian Authority is responsible for education, health and the economy, the Israelis have complete control over external security, meaning they retain the right to enter at any time.
Zone C The West Bank is 60% of the West Bank area. According to the Oslo Accords, control of this area was to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority. Instead, Israel retains full control over all areas, including security, planning and construction. The transfer of control to the Palestinian Authority never took place.
6 – Illegal expansion of Israeli settlements
Israeli settlements are Jewish communities built on Palestinian land. Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in at least 250 settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law because they violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population into the area it occupies.
The settler population is growing faster than Israel’s total population: about 10 percent of Israel’s 6.8 million Jewish citizens live in these areas. Settlers benefit from Israeli citizenship and government subsidies that reduce their cost of living.
7 – Separation wall and Israeli checkpoints
Since 2002, Israel has been building a wall that stretches over 700 km, penetrating deep into Palestinian territory.
Israel has also built hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints, severely restricting Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
While Palestinians must wait for hours at these checkpoints and travel along separate road networks, Israelis can travel freely on their own “bypass roads” that have been built on Palestinian land to connect illegal Israeli settlements to Israel’s main metropolitan areas.
8 – Occupied East Jerusalem and the Old City
Jerusalem, a city sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, has been under Israeli control since 1948, with a Jewish majority. East Jerusalem, including the Old City, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and is predominantly Palestinian.
Since its annexation in 1980, Israel has considered the city of Jerusalem to be part of its territory. This position is not internationally recognized. This is why Israeli maps do not depict East Jerusalem as part of the occupied West Bank.
The Old City, located in East Jerusalem, is home to some of the holiest sites in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The area, which measures less than a square kilometer, is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, St. James Cathedral and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
9 – Palestinian refugee camps
The West Bank is home to at least 870,000 registered refugees, about 25 percent of whom live in 19 camps established after the 1948 Nakba.
On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate expired and Zionist leaders announced that they would declare a state, triggering the First Arab-Israeli War.
Zionist gangs expelled about 750,000 Palestinians and conquered 78% of the territory. The remaining 22% was divided between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
About 1.5 million Palestinian refugees live in 58 official UN camps in Palestine and neighboring countries. In total, there are at least 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees, most of whom live outside these camps.
The plight of Palestinian refugees is the world’s longest unresolved refugee problem.
10 – Israeli aggressions in the West Bank
Since launching their most violent raids in two decades on August 28, Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians in the West Bank.
The assaults involved hundreds of ground troops advancing in bulldozers and armoured vehicles, supported by fighter jets and bomb-dropping drones.
