Jordanian annexation of the West Bank
The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on April 24, 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on July 31, 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.
West Bank الضفة الغربية Aḍ-Ḍiffah l-Ġarbiyyah | |||||||||
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| 1948–1967 | |||||||||
Flag
Coat of arms
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Contemporary map, 1955 | |||||||||
| Status | Area annexed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | ||||||||
| Capital | Amman | ||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (majority) Christian (minority) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 14 May 1948 | |||||||||
• Annexation | 24 April 1950 | ||||||||
• Six-Day War | 5–10 June 1967 | ||||||||
| 31 July 1988 | |||||||||
| Currency | Jordanian dinar | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Israeli occupation of the West Bank, claimed by Palestine, widely recognized as Palestinian territory. | ||||||||
After the withdrawal of British forces from Palestine at the end of 14 May 1948, Arab states entered the areas of Mandatory Palestine earmarked by the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 for an independent Arab state, meant to be established alongside a Jewish state. These forces were under the command of King Abdullah I of Jordan. The Jordanian Arab Legion successfully took control of the Old City of Jerusalem and a significant portion of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, including cities such as Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and others. Following the end of hostilities, the area that remained under Jordanian control became known as the West Bank.
During the December 1948 Jericho Conference, hundreds of Palestinian notables in the West Bank gathered, accepted Jordanian rule and recognized Abdullah as ruler. The West Bank was formally annexed on 24 April 1950, but the annexation was widely considered as illegal and void by most of the international community. A month afterwards, the Arab League, having received assurances from Jordan, resolved to treat the annexed area as being held in trust until the Palestine question was resolved. Recognition of Jordan's declaration of annexation was granted by the United Kingdom, the United States, Iraq, and possibly Pakistan, and no objections were raised when Jordan was admitted to the United Nations in 1955.
When Jordan transferred its full citizenship rights to the residents of the West Bank, the annexation more than tripled the population of Jordan, going from 400,000 to 1,300,000. The naturalized Palestinians enjoyed equal opportunities in all sectors of the state without discrimination, and they were given half of the seats of the Jordanian parliament. After Jordan lost the West Bank to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Palestinians there remained Jordanian citizens until Jordan renounced claims to and severed administrative ties with the territory in 1988.