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| - The Palestinian territories comprise two regions separated by Israel: the West Bank, which includes annexed east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. They are intended to form the basis of a Palestinian nation in a so-called "two-state" solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But this long-touted solution is in doubt and undermined by the expansion by Israel of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Here is some background: In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the former territory of Palestine into two states -- one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish. It made the holy city of Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their capital, an international zone. Israel went on to declare statehood in 1948. The next day its Arab neighbours declared war. By the end of the conflict, Israel controlled 78 percent of former British-mandated Palestine. More than half the Palestinian population -- 760,000 people -- fled or were expelled from these areas. In the so-called Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Days later it also occupied east Jerusalem, which contains many of the sites holiest to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. By far the larger of the two Palestinian territories, the West Bank covers 5,655 square kilometres (2,180 square miles) and is sandwiched between Israel and Jordan. It has been occupied by the Israeli army for the past five decades, something considered illegal under international law. The Palestinian Authority administration headed by Mahmud Abbas has limited powers over just 40 percent of the territory, mainly urban centres. Israel, which controls all the entry points, administers 60 percent of the territory and its Jewish settlements. Israel has also erected a security barrier along its border with the West Bank. About 400,000 Israelis live in the West Bank alongside 2.7 million Palestinians. The West Bank includes east Jerusalem and its famous holy Old City, which Israel annexed soon after its capture in a move never recognised by the international community. Jerusalem's status is one of the most sensitive issues of the conflict. Israel views the whole city as its capital, backed in its stance by US President Donald Trump in 2017. Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their own future state. The Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site, includes Islam's golden Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the religion's third holiest site. Also there are the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews are allowed to pray, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried. More than 200,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem alongside around 300,000 Palestinians. This 41-kilometre-long (25-mile) strip of territory bordering Israel sits on the Mediterranean Sea and also shares a border with Egypt. At just 362 square kilometres and with a population of some two million, it is one of the world's most densely populated areas. After occupying Gaza for 38 years, Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005 but soon afterwards imposed a stifling land, air and sea blockade. The impoverished territory has since 2007 been governed by the Islamist movement Hamas. Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist organisation, has carried out three military offensives against Gaza since 2008, but an uneasy truce has taken hold of late. Around half of the population is out of work, two thirds of them young people, according to the World Bank. More than two thirds of the population depends on humanitarian aid. One Gazan out of two lives below the internationally-recognised poverty line. acm-jmy/hc
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