| an area in the Middle East, between the W bank of the Jordan River and the E frontier of Israel: occupied in 1967 and subsequently claimed by Israel; formerly held by Jordan. |
| West Bank A disputed territory of southwest Asia between Israel and Jordan west of the Jordan River. Part of Jordan after 1949, it was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. In 1994 an accord between Israel and the PLO was signed, giving Palestinians limited self-rule and requiring measured withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. |
Land on the west bank of the Jordan River, formerly in the hands of Jordan, but captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel has agreed to hand over part of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority, but the Israeli government has been widely criticized for continuing to move civilian settlers as well as soldiers into the area. In 2001, in response to terrorist suicide bombings (see terrorism), Israel staged heavy military strikes against Palestinian cities in the West Bank.