Israeli-occupied territories

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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Occupation of the Palestinian territories. (Discuss)

The term Occupied Territories, especially when capitalized, is commonly used to refer to the territories occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. These originally included the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip. Following the conquest by Israel of these territories, settlements of Jewish Israelis were established within each of them. The West Bank and the Golan Heights provide a significant portion of Israel's water resources, the former from its underground aquifer and the latter for containing many of the headwaters of the Jordan River.

Because the West Bank (along with the Gaza Strip, prior to 2005) is subject to sporadically active negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority while the other territories are not currently being negotiated over, the term "Occupied Territories" is sometimes loosely used to refer the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.

Status Changes

The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in 1979 under the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty following the 1978 Camp David Accords, and Israel unilaterally withdrew its occupying forces from the Gaza Strip in 2005. In both of these instances, the Jewish settlers in the relinquished territories were also forced by the Israeli government to leave.

The Israeli Knesset passed the "Jerusalem Law," annexing East Jerusalem in the West Bank in 1980, but United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared this action to be a violation of international law. Israel also passed the "Golan Heights Law" in 1981, which quasi-annexed the Golan Heights, as by extending Israel's law and jurisdicion to the territory and allowing Israeli citizenship for the resident population, but it has avoided using the term "annex" with regard to the action. The Security Council rejected the provisions of this law with Resolution 497.

Contentious Term

Supporters of Israel sometimes object to using the term "Occupied Territories" to describe them, prefering "Disputed Territories" or sometimes (with reference to the West Bank) the biblical names "Judea and Samaria." Among the reasons that the term is objected to are that it tends to preclude Israel from claiming parts of the territories as its sovereign territory, and that being an "occupying power" invokes the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection of civilians during war and occupation. Israel holds that the Convention does not apply to the Territories. Significantly, most interpretations of the Convention hold that it forbids settlement of occupied territory by citizens of the occupying power, although Israel contends that only forced settlement is prohibited.

Opponents of Israel sometimes insist that the term refers to all of Israel as well, claiming that the State of Israel was illegally formed and is therefore illegitimate.

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