Judea and Samaria Area

{{Short description|Israeli administrative division in the West Bank}}

{{Distinguish|text=Area C (West Bank), the administrative area defined in the Oslo II Accord}}

{{Hatnote|This article is about an Israeli administrative division that overlaps the West Bank. For the proposed state, see State of Judea. For the biblical regions that serve as its namesake, see Judea and Samaria. For the biblical kingdoms, see Kingdom of Judah and Kingdom of Samaria.}}

{{Coord|31|45|N|35|00|E|type:adm1st_region:EG_source:srwiki|display=title}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Judea and Samaria Area

| type = Israeli administrative division

| image_map = Israel judea and samaria dist.png

| mapsize = 150px

| map_caption = Map of Israel and the Golan Heights, with the Judea and Samaria Area (Israeli-occupied West Bank excluding East Jerusalem) highlighted in peach

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-zoom = 8

| mapframe-height = 300

| subdivision_type =

| subdivision_name =

| subdivision_type1 = Region

| subdivision_name1 = West Bank

| coordinates =

| seat_type = Capital

| seat = Ariel

| seat1_type =

| seat1 =

| area_total_km2 = 5,878

| population_total = 529,455 residents (Israeli citizens only){{cite web|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402786|title=Judea and Samaria 2024 population growth double the regular rate|website=Israel National News|access-date=26 January 2025}}

| population_as_of = 2024

| native_name = {{lang|he|{{Script|Hebrew|אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן}}|rtl=yes}}
{{Lang|ar|{{Script|Arabic|يَهُودَا وَالسَّامِرَةِ}}|rtl=yes}}

| named_for = Judea, Samaria

| native_name_lang =

}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2022}}The Judea and Samaria Area ({{langx|he|אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן|translit=Ezor Yehuda VeShomron}};{{Efn|Also an acronym: {{Script/Hebrew|יו"ש}} (Yosh) or {{Script/Hebrew|ש"י}} (Shai).}} {{langx|ar|يهودا والسامرة|translit=Yahūda wa-s-Sāmara}}) is an administrative division used by the State of Israel to refer to the entire West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but excludes East Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Law).{{citation|author1=Itzhak Galnoor|author2=Dana Blander|title=The Handbook of Israel's Political System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiViDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184|date=30 April 2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-54815-1|page=184}}{{cite web|url=http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton63/map/01_01e.pdf |title=Statistical Abstract of Israel 2012 |access-date=15 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215195555/http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton63/map/01_01e.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2013 }} Its area is split into 165 Palestinian "islands" that are under total or partial civil administration by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and a contiguous territory of Area C containing 230 Israeli settlements into which Israeli law is "pipelined".

While its area is internationally recognized as a part of the State of Palestine, some Israeli authorities group it together with the districts of Israel proper, largely for statistical purposes.[http://www.oecd.org/social/family/48442642.pdf Study On The Geographic Coverage Of Israeli Data] "All references in the Statistical Abstract refer to "6 districts", which thus excludes the Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a District. In the Key to Codes for Maps, though, "Judea and Samaria" (West Bank) is listed under the heading "District", though the maps themselves do not delineate or list Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as a district. Nevertheless, while the place of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the geographic hierarchy is unclear, statistics provided at the District level are normally available for the "Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria" as well."{{cite book|author=Roland Otto|title=Targeted Killings and International Law: With Special Regard to Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRuiNWNj_yEC&pg=PA38|date=1 December 2011|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-24858-0|page=38}}

Terminology

= Biblical significance =

The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria. Both names are tied to the ancient Israelite kingdoms: the former corresponds to part of the Kingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom; and the latter corresponds to part of the Kingdom of Israel, also known as the Northern Kingdom. In 1947, the terminology was noted by the United Nations in the Partition Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River..."{{Cite web|url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf?OpenElement|title=ODS HOME PAGE|website=documents-dds-ny.un.org|access-date=2020-02-16}} The modern term used by the Israeli government does not map precisely with the geography of the biblical areas, which in tradition extended beyond the West Bank to include Beersheba and Caesarea.{{Cite web |title=What Does the Term ‘Judea and Samaria’ Mean? {{!}} History, Israel, West Bank, & Map {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/What-Does-the-Term-Judea-and-Samaria-Mean |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

= 1967 Arab–Israeli War =

In 1967, the Six-Day War saw Israeli forces capture the Jordanian-annexed West Bank, marking the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of the territory. Following its capture, the right-wing Israelis began to refer to the territories by their Hebrew-language names and argued for their integration into Israel on historical, religious, nationalist, and security grounds.{{cite book|author=Neil Caplan|title=The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyAgn_dD43cC&pg=PT18|date=19 September 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5786-8|pages=18–}}{{cite book|author=Alan Dowty|title=Israel / Palestine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FcUslKPRsQC&pg=PA131|date=11 June 2012|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-5612-0|pages=130–131}} In December 1967, the Israeli Military Governorate issued an order that stated: "the term 'Judea and Samaria region' shall be identical in meaning for all purposes to the term 'the West Bank Region{{' "}}.{{cite book|title = International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories: Two Decades of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip|author=Emma Playfair|year = 1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|page = 41|quote = On 17 December 1967, the Israeli military government issued an order stating that "the term 'Judea and Samaria region' shall be identical in meaning for all purposes . .to the term 'the West Bank Region'". This change in terminology, which has been followed in Israeli official statements since that time, reflected a historic attachment to these areas and rejection of a name that was seen as implying Jordanian sovereignty over them.}} By early 1968, "Judea and Samaria" had been formally adopted in official usage. However, the phrase was rarely used until 1977, when Menachem Begin, a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, was elected as Israel's sixth prime minister.{{cite book|title = The Riddle of Nationalism: The Dialectic of Religion and Nationalism in the Middle East |author=Ian Lustick|year=2002|publisher=Logos, vol. 1, n^o 3|pages = 18–44|quote = The terms "occupied territory" or "West Bank" were forbidden in news reports. Television and radio journalists were banned from initiating interviews with Arabs who recognized the PLO as their representative.}}{{cite book|title = Trapped Fools: Thirty Years of Israeli Policy in the Territories|author=Shlomo Gazit|year=2003|publisher=Routledge |page=162|quote= [...] the Likud Government was not satisfied with the name 'Administered Territories'. Even though the name 'Judea and Samaria' had been officially adopted as early as the beginning of 1968 instead of the 'West Bank', it has hardly been used until 1977.}}{{cite book|title = Israeli Visions and Divisions: Cultural Change and Political Conflict|author=Myron J. Aronoff|year=1991|publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=10|quote= [...] "Judea and Samaria", the biblical terms that the Likud government succeeded in substituting for what had previously been called by many the West Bank, the occupied territories, or simply the territories. The successful gaining of the popular acceptance of these terms was a prelude to gaining popular acceptance of the government's settlement policies.}}{{cite book|title = Influence of the Middle East Peace Process on the Hebrew Language|author=Ran HaCohen|year = 1992|publisher=Undoing and Redoing Corpus Planning, Michael G. Clyne (ed.)|pages = 385–414, 397|quote = During a short period immediately after the 1967 war, the official term employed was 'the Occupied Territories' (ha-shetahim ha-kevushim). It was soon replaced by 'the Administered Territories' (ha-shetahim ha-muhzakim) and then by the (Biblical) Hebrew geographical terms "Judea and Samaria". The latter were officially adopted and successfully promoted by the governments (since 1977) and are still the official terms in use.}}

The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the area to the south of Jerusalem, including Gush Etzion and Har Hevron. The name Samaria, on the other hand, refers to all of the area to the north of Jerusalem. In 1980, East Jerusalem (a part of the West Bank) was effectively annexed by Israel and has since been under civilian administration; it is thus excluded from the administrative structure of the Judea and Samaria Area.

The names "West Bank" ({{Langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|הַגָּדָה הַמַּעֲרָבִית}}|translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit|label=none}}) or, alternatively, "the Territories" ({{Langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|השטחים}}|translit=HaShtahim|label=none}}) are also current in Israeli usage. Generally, preference for one term over the other indicates the speaker's position on the Israeli political spectrum. Left-wingers, who take the view that the territory should be evacuated under a peace agreement, prefer "West Bank"; conversely, right-wingers, who take the view that the territory should come under Israeli administration permanently, advocate the usage of "Judea and Samaria" (similar to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute in Northern Ireland).

Status

File:Restricted space in the West Bank, Area C.png, controlled by Israel under Oslo Accords, in blue and red]]

The Judea and Samaria Area is administered by the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, and military law is applied. Administrative decisions are subject to the Command's chief. The incumbent chief of Central Command is Aluf Nitzan Alon.

The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted in November 1967, after Israel captured the region from Jordan in the Six-Day War, lists as its first principle "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security" and called for the "withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict" in conjunction with the "termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force".{{cite web|url=http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/240/94/IMG/NR024094.pdf?OpenElement |title=Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 |publisher=UN |access-date=31 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523211210/http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/240/94/IMG/NR024094.pdf?OpenElement |archive-date=23 May 2012 }}{{Primary source inline|date=November 2016}}{{Original research inline|date=November 2016}}

The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip are considered occupied Palestinian territories by the United Nations, the United States,{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/west-bank/ |title=West Bank |work=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA, USA |access-date=17 October 2011}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz®ionCode=me&#gz |title=Disputes - International: Gaza Strip |work=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA, USA |access-date=17 October 2011 |archive-date=9 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009222103/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz®ionCode=me&#gz |url-status=dead }} the International Court of Justice, the European Union,{{cite web | url= https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/middle-east-peace-process/337/middle-east-peace-process_en | title= Middle East Peace process | publisher= EEAS (European External Action Service) | access-date= 30 November 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170820001200/https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/middle-east-peace-process/337/middle-east-peace-process_en | archive-date= 20 August 2017 | url-status= dead }} and by non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International,{{cite web|url=http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied-territories |title=Annual Report 2011 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=17 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323135314/http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied-territories |archive-date=23 March 2010 }} Human Rights Watch,{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/israel-and-occupied-territories |title=Israel and the Occupied Territories |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=17 October 2011}} and B'Tselem.{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/english/Settlements/International_Law.asp |title=Land Expropriation and Settlements in the International Law |publisher=B'Tselem |access-date=17 October 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf |title=Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Request for advisory opinion) - Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 |publisher=International Court of Justice |date=9 July 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825085245/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2014}} The Supreme Court of Israel has considered the section of the West Bank which excludes East Jerusalem to be Israeli-occupied territories.{{cite news |title=The High Court of Justice HCJ 7957/04 ruling on the fence surrounding Alfei Menashe |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/the-high-court-of-justice-hcj-7957-04-ruling-on-the-fence-surrounding-alfei-menashe-1.169920 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=15 September 2005}}

On 13 May 2012, a bill to extend Israeli law to the Israeli settlements in the Judea and Samaria Area initiated by Knesset member Miri Regev (Likud) first approved by the majority of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation was rejected in a second round of votes after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed his ministers to vote against the bill. Extending Israeli law to the settlements would mean a de facto annexation of the settlements to Israel.{{cite web| url= http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/in-about-face-israeli-ministers-block-bill-to-annex-west-bank-settlements.premium-1.430144| title= In about-face, Israeli ministers block bill to annex West Bank settlements| author= Jonathan Lis | date= 13 May 2012| work= Haaretz| access-date= 31 May 2012}} In July 2012, a government-commissioned report from a three-member committee, called Levy Report, asserted, based on a number of reasons, that there is no legal basis under international law to refer to Judea and Samaria as "occupied territory". Article 43 of the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 is the basis of the Levy committee's opinion.{{cite web| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/world/middleeast/israeli-panel-says-west-bank-presence-is-not-occupation-and-recommends-approval-of-jewish-settlements.html| title= Validate Settlements, Israeli Panel Suggests | work= The New York Times| author= Isabel Kershner| date= 9 July 2012}}

Administrative local authorities

The area is further divided into eight military administrative regions: Menashe (Jenin area), HaBik'a (Jordan Valley), Shomron (Shechem area, known in Arabic as Nablus), Efrayim (Tulkarm area), Binyamin (Ramallah/al-Bireh area), Maccabim (Maccabim area), Etzion (Bethlehem area) and Yehuda (Hebron area).

=Israeli settlements=

{{Further|List of Israeli settlements|Population statistics for Israeli West Bank settlements}}

class="wikitable"

! width="250;" style="font-size:larger; background:darkBlue; color:white;" | Cities

! width="250;" style="font-size:larger; background:darkBlue; color:white;" | Local Councils

! width="250;" style="font-size:larger; background:darkBlue; color:white;" | Regional Councils

valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

Notes

References

External links

[http://www.cogat.idf.il/1279-en/Cogat.aspx Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812030634/http://www.cogat.idf.il/1279-en/Cogat.aspx |date=12 August 2014 }} at the COGAT website
"The Territories": [http://www.jewishagency.org/society-and-politics/content/36581 Part 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401114648/http://www.jewishagency.org/society-and-politics/content/36581 |date=1 April 2016 }}, [http://www.jewishagency.org/society-and-politics/content/36586 Part 2]{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Jewish Agency for Israel

{{Geographic location

| Centre = Judea and Samaria Area

| North = {{flagicon|Israel}} Northern District

| Northeast = {{flag|Jordan}}
(Irbid Governorate)

| East = {{flag|Jordan}}
(Balqa Governorate)

| Southeast = Dead Sea

| South = {{flagicon|Israel}} Southern District

| Southwest =

| West = {{flagicon|Israel}} Central District, Jerusalem District

| Northwest = {{flagicon|Israel}} Haifa District

}}

Category:1967 establishments in Israel