Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity, and have been constructed on lands that Israel has militarily occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, but Israel disputes this. In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel's occupation was illegal and ruled that Israel had "an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from the occupied territories. The expansion of settlements often involves the confiscation of Palestinian land and resources, leading to displacement of Palestinian communities and creating a source of tension and conflict. Settlements are often protected by the Israeli military and are frequently flashpoints for violence against Palestinians. Furthermore, the presence of settlements and Jewish-only bypass roads creates a fragmented Palestinian territory, seriously hindering economic development and freedom of movement for Palestinians.
The West Bank, so called due to its location relative to the Jordan River, is the larger of the two Palestinian territories that comprise the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the Levant region of West Asia, it is bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to the east and by Israel to the south, west, and north. Since 1967, the territory has been occupied by Israel and in 2024 an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice determined that the occupation is illegal under international law.
The Judea and Samaria Area 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. 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 area containing 230 Israeli settlements into which Israeli law is "pipelined".
Efrat, or previously officially Efrata, is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, 6.5 km (4 mi) east of the Green Line, at the Palestinian side of the West Bank wall. The settlement stands at an altitude of up to 960 metres above sea level and covers about 6,000 dunam. The international community has largely viewed Israeli settlements in the West Bank, referred to by Israel as Judea and Samaria, as illegal under international law. However, Israel disputes this interpretation and maintains that settlements are legal and consistent with international law, citing historical, legal, and security reasons. This position has been upheld by successive Israeli governments.
The Supreme Court of Israel is the highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights since the Six-Day War of 1967. It previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, the Palestinian territories was split between the Gaza Strip controlled by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan, while the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights are parts of Egypt and Syria, respectively. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, where Israel had transferred its parts of population there and built large settlements, is the longest military occupation in modern history.
The status of territories captured by Israel is the status of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula, all of which were captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Ariel University, previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank.
International human rights organizations, along with the United Nations, and the United States Department of State, have reported human rights violations committed by the State of Israel, particularly against minority groups. These reports include violations of the rights of Palestinians, both inside and outside Israel as well as other groups in Israel.
Seam Zone is a term used to refer to a land area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank located east of the Green Line and west of Israel's separation barrier, populated largely by Israelis in settlements such as Alfei Menashe, Ariel, Beit Arye, Modi'in Illit, Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Efrat.
The Oslo II Accord divided the Israeli-occupied West Bank into three administrative divisions: the Palestinian enclaves as "Areas A and B" and the remainder, including Israeli settlements, as "Area C".
An Israeli military order is a general order issued by an Israeli military commander over territory under Israeli military occupation. It has the force of law. Enforcement of such orders is carried out by Israeli military police and military courts instead of civil courts.
The Levy Report, officially called Report on the Legal Status of Building in Judea and Samaria, is an 89-page report on West Bank settlements published on 9 July 2012, authored by a three-member committee headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy. The committee, dubbed the "outpost committee", was appointed by Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late January 2012 to investigate the legal status of unauthorized West Bank Jewish settlements, but also examined whether the Israeli presence in the West Bank is to be considered an occupation or not.
The Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria was a body which supervised Israeli universities and colleges in the Occupied West Bank. Its authority in the West Bank was similar to that of the Council for Higher Education in Israel in Israel proper.
B'Tselem is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of such violations, and help to create a human rights culture in Israel. It is currently headed by Yuli Novak, who took over in June 2023 from Hagai El-Ad, who had served as its director-general since May 2014. B'Tselem also maintains a presence in Washington, D.C., where it is known as B'Tselem USA. The organization has provoked sharp reactions within Israel, ranging from harsh criticism to strong praise.
Yesh Din: Volunteers for Human Rights is an Israeli organization working in Israel and in the West Bank. The organization was founded in 2005 by a group of women who previously worked with the organization Machsom Watch. The purpose of Yesh Din, as reflected in its publications, is to work "for structural, long-term improvement to human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)".
Abu Dis is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Abu Dis has been part of "Area B", under joint Israeli and Palestinian control. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Abu Dis had a population of 10,782 in 2007.
Area C is the fully Israeli-controlled and only contiguous territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves. Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, contains most Israeli settlements other than those in East Jerusalem, and more than 99% of the area is off limits or heavily restricted for Palestinians. The area was committed in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord to be "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction", but such transfer did not happen. The area is richly endowed with natural resources.
The Judea and Samaria Settlement Regulation Law, commonly known as the Regulation Law or sometimes the Regularization Law, is an Israeli law that aims to retroactively legalize Israeli settlements in the West Bank Area C under the Oslo Accords. It is meant to "regulate" the status of about 2,000 to 4,000 residences in 16 settlements which were built on Palestinian-owned lands. The Knesset passed the legislation 60 to 52, on February 6, 2017. According to the law, the land on which the residences are built will remain that of the legal owners, but their usage will be expropriated by the State. In exchange, the Palestinian owners will be compensated at a rate of 125%, or receive alternate lands. The law is known by some of its critics as the "Expropriation Law" due to its land expropriation components. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is considered a breach of international law, though Israel disputes this.
The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of unsuccessful U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are often compared to the nominally self-governing black homelands created in apartheid-era South Africa, and are thus referred to as bantustans. They have been referred to figuratively as the Palestinian archipelago, among other terms. The de facto status in 2024 is that Israel controls all area outside these enclaves.
