什麼是西岸

巴勒斯坦約旦河以西地區，以色列人稱為猶太和撒馬利亞（東耶路撒冷除外），是巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人和以色列人間長期鬥爭的中心地帶。主要城市有納布盧斯、拉姆安拉、伯利恆、希伯倫和傑里科。根據1947年聯合國協議，以色列建國後這裏也同時成立巴勒斯坦。阿拉伯人不顧分治計畫出兵攻打以色列（參閲Arab-Israeli wars）。在一次停戰後，1950年起約旦佔領該地，統治它直到1967年以色列發動六日戰爭佔領這裏為止。1970年代和1980年代，以色列人在這裏定居，激起阿拉伯人的憤怒。1987阿拉伯在加薩走廊發動暴動，並蔓延到西岸（參閲intifada）。1988年約旦放棄這裏的主權，將它轉讓給巴勒斯坦解放組織（PLO）。1993年巴解組織和以色列間舉行祕密談判並達成協議，使加薩走廊和西岸的巴勒斯坦得以自治。1990年代更進一步的談判斷斷續續的解決了一些重大議題，但至2000年晚期談判破裂暴力事件再起。面積5,900平方公里。人口約2,184,000（2000）。

West Bank

Area (pop., 2000 est.: 2,184,000), Palestine, west of the Jordan River. Covering an area of about 2,270 sq mi (5,900 sq km), the territory, excluding East Jerusalem, is also known within Israel by its biblical names, Judaea and Samaria. Settlements include Nabulus, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jericho. Under a 1947 UN agreement it was to become Palestinian when the State of Israel was formed. Arabs denounced the partition plan and attacked Israel (see Arab-Israeli Wars). Following a truce, Jordan annexed it in 1950 and governed it until Israel occupied it during the Six-Day War of 1967. During the 1970s and '80s, Israel established settlements there, provoking Arab resentment. Arab uprisings began in 1987 in the Gaza Strip and spread to the West Bank (see intifada). Jordan relinquished its claims in 1988, ceding them to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Secret meetings between the PLO and Israel in 1993 led to an end of violence and an agreement granting Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Further negotiations to resolve outstanding issues proceeded intermittently in the 1990s but broke down amid renewed violence in late 2000.