Judea and Samaria Area
Judea and Samaria Area is the Israeli government term for the administrative district encompassing Israeli-occupied West Bank excluding East Jerusalem. It is for some statistical purposes grouped together by Israeli authorities with the Districts of Israel, although the international community considers the West Bank to be a territory held by Israel under military occupation.
Terminology
The Judea and Samaria Area covers a portion of the territory designated by the ancient names Judea and Samaria. Samaria corresponds to part of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, also known as the Northern Kingdom. Judea corresponds to part of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom. The terminology was also noted by the UN in the 1947 partition plan, when it stated “the boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River...”Following the occupation of the West Bank by Israel in 1967, the Israeli right began to refer to the territories by their Hebrew names and argued for their integration into Israel on historical, religious, nationalist and security grounds. In December 1967, the Israeli military government 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'" and had in early 1968 been officially adopted. However, the phrase was rarely used until 1977 when Menachem Begin, a proponent of extending Israel's sovereignty to the region, became prime minister. The phrase is still used today by various figures who support Israeli annexation of the area.
The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the region south of Jerusalem, including Gush Etzion and Har Hebron. The region of Samaria, on the other hand, refers to the area north of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem has been incorporated into the Jerusalem District and is under Israeli civilian rule, and is thus excluded from the administrative structure of the Judea and Samaria Area.
The terms "West Bank", or, alternatively, "the Territories", are also current in Israeli usage.
Status
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".
The West Bank and Gaza Strip are considered occupied Palestinian territories by the United Nations, the United States, the International Court of Justice, the European Union, and by non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and B'Tselem. The Supreme Court of Israel has considered the section of the West Bank which excludes East Jerusalem to be Israeli-occupied territories.
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 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. 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.
Administrative sub-regions
The area is further divided into 8 military administrative regions: Menashe, HaBik'a, Shomron, Efrayim, Binyamin, Maccabim, Etzion and Yehuda.Israeli settlements
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