BACKGROUND: Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including
Jerusalem, Hebrew Yerushalayim, Arabic Bayt al-Muqaddas or Al-Quds, ancient city of the Middle East that since 1967 has been wholly under the rule of the State of Israel.
Part of it also rests right on the Green Line and extends into western Jerusalem. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel captured the eastern portion of the city from Jordan. It still holds it now, and Israel considers it part of Israel.
Occupied by Israel since June 1967, the West Bank - including East Jerusalem- and the Gaza Strip have come to constitute the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT).
The 1948 war ended with Israeli forces controlling approximately 78 percent of historical Palestine. The remaining 22 percent fell under the administration of Egypt and Jordan. In 1967, Israel absorbed the whole of historical Palestine, as well as additional territory from Egypt and Syria.
In 1917, in order to win Jewish support for Britain's First World War effort, the British Balfour Declaration promised the establishment of a Jewish national home in Ottoman-controlled Palestine.
The British controlled the city and surrounding region until Israel became an independent state in 1948. Jerusalem was divided during the first 20 years of Israel's existence. Israel controlled the Western portions of it, while Jordan controlled East Jerusalem.
Today, the Israeli government controls the entire area, which it considers part of its national capital. However, the Jerusalem Law of 1980, which effectively annexed East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared null and void by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478.
Israel's establishment as an independent sovereign state was officially declared in Tel Aviv on Friday May 14, 1948, by Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion, the day the British Mandate over Palestine was officially terminated, in accordance with UN Resolution 181.
Palestine was among former Ottoman territories placed under UK administration by the League of Nations in 1922.
The term "Palestine" first appeared in the 5th century BCE when the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a "district of Syria, called Palaistinê" between Phoenicia and Egypt in The Histories.
Bethlehem (/ˈbɛθlɪhɛm/; Arabic: بيت لحم Bayt Laḥm; Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם Bēṯ Leḥem) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem.
Historically, Jerusalem became the capital of Israel by decree of King David 3,000 years ago, based on his understanding of God's own choice.
Today, the ILA manages all the lands of the state of Israel. About 80% of the land is directly owned by Israel, 13% is owned by the JNF, and only about 7% of Israeli land is privately owned. 93% of the land in Israel is government-owned and leased by the ILA to private individuals for periods of 49 to 98 years.
Church property
Their status became unclear with the creation of the state of Israel. The church property remains an issue for the Vatican, as the Catholic Church has extensive property holdings in Israel.
Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967.
While private ownership of land is common (mainly in urban areas), most of the land in Israel (over 90% of the land area) is in the ownership of either the State of Israel, the Development Authority (Rashut Hapituakh, רשות הפיתוח) or the Jewish National Fund.
The British controlled Palestine until Israel, in the years following the end of World War II, became an independent state in 1947.
The earliest human remains in the region were found in Ubeidiya, some 3 km south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan Rift Valley. The remains are dated to the Pleistocene, c. 1.5 million years ago. These are traces of the earliest migration of Homo erectus out of Africa.
The Islamic history of Jerusalem begins with the conquest of the city by Caliph Umar in 635 (or 638).
Palestine's Early Roots
From about 1517 to 1917, the Ottoman Empire ruled much of the region. When World War I ended in 1918, the British took control of Palestine.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has its roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the birth of major nationalist movements among the Jews and among the Arabs, both geared towards attaining sovereignty for their people in the Middle East.
History. Gaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918–1948), Egypt (1948–1967), and then Israel, which in 1993 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords.