What is the West Bank, who lives there, and why is there so much unrest?
ITV News' Cari Davies explains where the West Bank is, who lives there, and why it has long been a flashpoint of violence
Words by Olivia Mustafa, ITV News Producer
As violence continues to unfold in Gaza, the Israeli military has ramped up attacks on another Palestinian territory - the West Bank.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have carried out near-daily raids across the West Bank since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel triggered the ongoing conflict.
ITV News explains where the territory is, who lives there, and why it has long been a flashpoint of violence.
Where is the West Bank?
The West Bank is one of two areas of land known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) - the other being Gaza.
Whilst Gaza is a strip of land in the west, bordering the Mediterranean sea, the West Bank refers to the area of territory in the east, on the west bank of the River Jordan.
It is around 2,000 square miles in size, with an estimated population of around three million.
A number of cities are found in the West Bank, including Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus and Jericho, amongst others.
Jerusalem is found right on the border of the West Bank and Israel - with the city itself divided in two.
How did it come to be?
Before 1948, the whole of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza was considered Palestine. It was under control of the Ottoman Empire, and then under British Mandate.
The area has long been held in significant spiritual regard by Jewish people, as it was controlled by two Israelite kingdoms thousands of years ago.
In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was signed - an agreement stating British support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
A Jewish population had already existed in Palestine while it was under the Ottomans, and long beforehand - but Jewish emigration to the region increased through the 1930s and 1940s.
In the wake of the Holocaust, a 1947 agreement by the United Nations drew up borders partitioning the land into separate Israeli and Palestinian states.
The area known as the West Bank today was part of what was earmarked for a Palestinian state. However, after a war fought in 1948, Israel retook much of the land designated for Palestine.
Who controls the West Bank?
In 1967, Israel occupied the whole of the West Bank after a six-day war fought against a coalition of Arab nations - including Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
It has retained military control over the territory ever since, leading the international community to consider the area as occupied by Israel.
In the 1990s a series of peace agreements called the Oslo Accords were signed, part of which involved establishing an interim Palestinian Authority.
The authority formally has full security and administrative control of only 18% of the West Bank. The rest of the area remains under partial or full Israeli control.
This means the West Bank has many checkpoints, and is policed by the Israeli army. Palestinians are also subject to Israeli military rule.
Who lives there?
As well as being home to more than three million Palestinians, there are more than 100 Jewish settlements scattered throughout the West Bank.
After the 1967 war, Israel began establishing communities in the land it had captured from Palestine.
Israel has continued to expand settlements over decades, with many moving onto privately-owned land and that of Palestinian villages.
The communities are built by the Israeli government, and the number of settlers living in the occupied West Bank has surpassed 450,000.
Some of those who choose to live in the West Bank do so because the cost of living is much lower, whilst some believe they have the divine right to live there due to their religious beliefs about Judaism's link to the land.
What's the difference between settlements and settler outposts?
The phrase 'settlements' refers specifically to those which have been authorised by the Israeli government.
Over 140 settler outposts also exist in the West Bank, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now.
Settler outposts are unauthorised, and established by Israeli citizens in the hope they will eventually be authorised.
Israeli authorities occasionally shut down these types of settlements, but has previously authorised them once they have become fully-fledged communities.
In response to news five settler outposts were to be legalised in the West Bank in June 2024, the UK government issued a statement of condemnation.
"The UK strongly opposes the announcement that five outposts are to be legalised in the West Bank as well as further punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority," it said.
A joint G7 statement condemning the five new outposts was also issued by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both previously called for settlement expansion in the West Bank to cease, and for existing settlements to be dismantled.
Are settlements in the West Bank illegal?
Settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, forces occupying other territories cannot transfer members of its own civilian population into the land it presides over.
Israel has come under fire for building and even offering tax relief to settler communities by the United Nations Security Council, which has called the settlements “a flagrant violation under international law”.
The UK government, under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, issued a statement in June 2024, which said: "Israel must halt its illegal settlement expansion and hold to account those responsible for extremist settler violence."
Israel has also been accused of apartheid with regards to settler communities, as any Israelis in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civilian law, whilst Palestinians are under Israeli military law.
The Israeli government has denied accusations of implementing an apartheid system, and disputed claims settlements are illegal - arguing instead the OPTs were never a part of a legitimate Arab state.
What is happening to the West Bank now?
Incidents of violence across Occupied Palestinian Territories, including in the West Bank, have increased since Hamas's October 7 attack.
According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between October 7 and April 1, 428 Palestinians - including 110 children - have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank.
Nine people were killed by Israeli settlers and three others by either Israeli forces or settlers.
Across the same timeframe, 16 Israeli people, including five members of Israeli forces and seven settlers, have been killed. These include 14 killed by Palestinians and two mistakenly killed by the IDF during a Palestinian attack.
On August 28, "large forces" entered the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, and the long-standing Al-Faraa refugee camp, an IDF spokesperson has confirmed.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew comparisons with Gaza and called for similar military measures in the West Bank.
In a post on X, he wrote: “We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps might be required. This is a war in every respect, and we must win it."
A statement released by the UK Foreign Office has expressed "deep concern" for the IDF's military operation in the West Bank.
It read: "We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint, adhere to international law, and clamp down on the actions of those who seek to inflame tensions. The UK strongly condemns settler violence."
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the raids as a “serious escalation” and called on the United States to intervene.
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