Palestine , officially the State of Palestine , is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia recognized by 145 out of 193 UN member states . It encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip , collectively known as the Palestinian territories , within the broader geographic and historical Palestine region . The country shares most of its borders with Israel , and it borders Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a total land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , while Ramallah serves as its administrative center. Gaza City was its largest city until 2023 .
Situated at a continental crossroad , the region of Palestine was ruled by various empires and experienced various demographic changes from antiquity to the modern era. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the rise of the Zionist movement and Jewish immigration to the region , which was supported by the United Kingdom during World War I .
The war saw Britain occupying Palestine from the Ottoman Empire , where it set up Mandatory Palestine under the auspices of the League of Nations . During this period, large-scale Jewish immigration allowed by the British authorities led to increased tensions and violence with the local Palestinian Arab population. By 1947, Britain handed the issue to the United Nations, which proposed a partition plan , for two independent Arab and Jewish states and an independent entity for Jerusalem , but a civil war broke out, and the plan was not implemented.
The 1948 Palestine war saw the forcible displacement of most of its predominantly Palestinian Arab population, and consequently the establishment of Israel, in what Palestinians call the Nakba . During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip , which had been held by Jordan and Egypt respectively. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) declared the independence of the State of Palestine in 1988. In 1993, the PLO signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel, creating limited PLO governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Palestinian Authority (PA). In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in its unilateral disengagement , but the territory is still considered to be under military occupation and was put under blockade by Israel. In 2007, internal divisions between Palestinian political factions led to a takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas . Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the PA, led by Fatah , while the Gaza Strip has remained under the control of Hamas . Israel has constructed large settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967, where currently more than 670,000 Israeli settlers live in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law .
Currently, the biggest challenges to the country include the Israeli occupation, a blockade , restrictions on movement , Israeli settlements and settler violence , as well as an overall poor security situation. The questions of Palestine's borders , the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem , and the right of return of Palestinian refugees remain unsolved. Despite these challenges, the country maintains an emerging economy and sees frequent tourism . Arabic is the official language of the country. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a presence . Palestine is also a member of several international organizations , including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation . It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012. (Full article... )
Birket Israel (trans. Pool of Israel ) also Birket Israil or Birket Isra'in , abbreviated from Birket Asbât Beni Israìl (trans. Pool of the Tribes of the Children of Israel ) was a public cistern located on the north-eastern corner of the Temple Mount , in Jerusalem . The structure is believed to have been built by the Romans for use as a water reservoir and also to protect the northern wall of the Temple Mount. Arab natives have known it by this name since at least 1857. By the mid-19th century it had gone out of use as a reservoir; being partly filled with rubbish and reused as a vegetable garden. In 1934 it was filled in and is now known as el-Ghazali Square. It is currently in mixed use for shops, as a car park, and as a transshipment point for refuse.
Jerusalem in the early 20th century
A view of Jerusalem in the early 20th century . The earliest verified reference to the city is in the Amarna letters , which date to the 14th century BCE. Over its long history, it has been controlled by Israelites , Judaeans , Babylonians , Persians , Greeks , Hasmoneans , Romans , Byzantines , Arabs , Mamluks , Turks , and the British before being split between Israel and Jordan . Israel captured East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967, and the city remains a core issue in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict .
Yasser Arafat was one of the outstanding freedom fighters of this generation, one who gave his entire life to the cause of the Palestinian people.