West Bank

West Bank, land to the west of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River, between Israel and Jordan. A part of Palestine, the area was annexed by Jordan following the partition of Palestine and the formation of the state of Israel (1948). It has been occupied by Israel since 1967, despite a call for withdrawal from the United Nations. Historically known as Judaea and Samaria, the West Bank contains such famous cities as Bethlehem, Jericho, Hebron, and the Old City of Jerusalem. The status of the West Bank, along with that of the Gaza Strip in southwestern Israel, has become an important issue in the Arab-Israeli disputes. The Camp David Agreement of 1978, between Egypt and Israel, specified that the 1.3 million Palestinian Arabs, who are the great majority of inhabitants in the 2 areas, would be given “full autonomy and self-government” for a 5-year period, during which the ultimate sovereignty of the territories would be determined. The parties, however, failed to agree about the details of self-government. At the same time, Israel increased its settlements there. Hostility between Israel and the Palestinians escalated in the late 1980s during the intifada, a Palestinian uprising marked by boycotts, demonstrations, and stone-throwing. In 1988 Jordan gave up the West Bank and Jericho attained limited Palestinian self-government in 1994.