Ten maps to understand the occupied West Bank

As Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 people, nears one year, assaults in the occupied West Bank continue, with at least 703 people killed by Israeli forces since October 7.

Despite Gaza and the West Bank being just 33km (21 miles) apart at their closest points, Israeli restrictions have long prevented travel and interaction between the two Palestinian territories, even before the recent conflict.

To better understand the effect of these restrictions and the situation on the ground, here is a visual overview of the geography, history and living conditions of the millions of Palestinians in the West Bank.

1 – How big is the occupied West Bank?

The West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, covers a land area of 5,655sq km (2,183sq miles), making it about 15 times larger than the Gaza Strip, spread over 365sq km (141sq miles).

Compared with other places around the world, the kidney bean-shaped West Bank is roughly the same size as Delaware in the United States or Bali in Indonesia. It is about half the size of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom and approximately a third of the size of Gauteng province in South Africa.

2 – How did the West Bank get its name?

The West Bank, called al-Daffah in Arabic, is located on the western side of the Jordan River, from which it derives its name.

The 251km (156 miles) long river flows from the Lebanese mountains to the Dead Sea, adding fertile soil to the surrounding valley. The Jordan Valley makes up 30 percent of the West Bank and constitutes half of its agricultural land.

Due to tight Israeli controls and restrictions, Palestinians do not have their own airport. Instead, to travel in and out of the West Bank, Palestinians with the necessary permits must use the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge over the Jordan River to reach Jordan and onward destinations.

3 – How many people live in the West Bank?

The West Bank, with approximately 3.3 million Palestinian inhabitants, has roughly one million more residents than Gaza.

The West Bank is divided into 11 governorates. Hebron, or al-Khalil in Arabic, is the most populous governorate with about 842,000 residents. It is followed by Jerusalem (500,000), Nablus (440,000), Ramallah and el-Bireh (337,000) and Jenin (360,000).

Additionally, about 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements on Palestinian land. More on Israeli settlers later.

4 – Israeli occupation of the West Bank

Since 1967, Israel has maintained a military occupation of the West Bank, involving arrests, checkpoints, home invasions, demolitions and frequent raids and assaults.

To better understand the daily struggles Palestinians face under Israeli occupation, take a look at this illustrated guide.

In the past 12 months, Israel demolished at least 1,697 Palestinian structures, primarily homes, displacing 4,233 people, according to United Nations figures. This amounts to an average of five structures destroyed per day.

The figures for 2024 represent the highest number of structures destroyed in one year since the UN began tracking in 2009.

Over the past 15 years, Israel has demolished at least 11,500 Palestinian-owned structures, with three-quarters of those located in Area C.

5 – The differences between Areas A, B, and C

As part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, the occupied West Bank was divided into three areas – A, B and C.

The Oslo Accords represented the first direct Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement. This led to the formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – an administrative body that would govern Palestinian internal security, administration and civilian affairs in areas of self-rule, for a five-year interim period.

Area A initially comprised 3 percent of the West Bank and grew to 18 percent by 1999. In Area A, the PA controls most affairs.

Area B represents about 22 percent of the West Bank. In both areas, while the PA is in charge of education, health and the economy, the Israelis have full control of external security, meaning they retain the right to enter at any time.

Area C represents 60 percent of the West Bank. Under the Oslo Accords, control of this area was supposed to be handed over to the PA. Instead, Israel retains total control over all matters, including security, planning and construction. The transfer of control to the PA never happened.

6 – Illegal Israeli settlement expansion

Israeli settlements are Jewish communities built on Palestinian land. Roughly 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in at least 250 settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population to the area it occupies.

The settler population is growing faster than Israel’s overall population, with about 10 percent of Israel’s 6.8 million Jewish citizens living in these areas. Settlers receive Israeli citizenship and government subsidies that lower their cost of living.

7 – Israeli separation wall and checkpoints

Since 2002, Israel has been constructing a wall that stretches for more than 700km (435 miles), cutting deep into Palestinian territory.

Israel has also constructed hundreds of road obstacles and checkpoints, severely limiting Palestinian freedom of movement.

While Palestinians may have to wait for hours at these checkpoints and travel along segregated road networks, Israelis can travel freely on their own “bypass roads” which have been built on Palestinian land to connect illegal Israeli settlements to major metropolitan areas inside Israel.

8 – Occupied East Jerusalem and the Old City

Jerusalem, a city sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews, has had West Jerusalem under Israeli control since 1948, with a Jewish majority. East Jerusalem, including the Old City, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and is mostly Palestinian.

Since its annexation in 1980, Israel has considered the entire city of Jerusalem a part of its territory. This is not internationally recognised. For this reason, Israeli maps do not show East Jerusalem a part of the occupied West Bank.

The Old City, located in East Jerusalem, is home to some of the holiest sites in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The area, which is smaller than 1sq km (0.39sq miles), is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, St James Cathedral and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, among others.

9 – Palestinian refugee camps

The West Bank is home to at least 870,000 registered refugees, with about 25 percent living in 19 camps established after the 1948 Nakba.

On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate expired and Zionist leaders announced they would be declaring a state, triggering the first Arab-Israeli war.

Zionist gangs expelled some 750,000 Palestinians and captured 78 percent of the land. The remaining 22 percent was divided into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million Palestinian refugees are living in 58 official UN camps located throughout Palestine and neighbouring countries. In total, there are at least 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees mostly living outside of these camps.

The plight of Palestinian refugees is the longest, unresolved refugee problem in the world.

10 – Israeli assaults on the West Bank

Since launching its severest raids in two decades on August 28, Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians across the West Bank.

The assaults involved hundreds of ground soldiers advancing in bulldozers and armoured vehicles, supported by fighter jets and drones that dropped bombs.