Palestine
A contested homeland of the West Bank and Gaza
Palestine refers to the contested territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, lands at the center of one of the world's longest-running conflicts and home to a people whose aspiration for statehood remains unfulfilled. Recognized by most of the world's nations but lacking full sovereignty, it encompasses the hills around the historic cities of Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem, and the densely packed coastal enclave of Gaza. Its identity is bound up with deep roots in the land and decades of displacement.
The West Bank is a highland of limestone hills and valleys west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, fertile in places and arid in others, while the Gaza Strip is a narrow, flat, intensely crowded coastal plain on the Mediterranean. Water and movement are tightly constrained. The fragmented economy depends heavily on agriculture, services, international aid, and labor ties to Israel, and has been devastated by recurring conflict, especially in Gaza.
The territories were part of Ottoman and then British-mandate Palestine before the 1948 war and the establishment of Israel, after which the West Bank and Gaza came under Jordanian and Egyptian control and then Israeli occupation in 1967. The Oslo Accords created a Palestinian Authority with limited self-rule, while Gaza fell under separate governance. Recurrent wars, especially the catastrophic conflict in Gaza, have shaped recent history. Ramallah serves as the administrative seat, with East Jerusalem the claimed capital.