Fast fact #4: There are approximately four million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, according to 2007 census figures compiled by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and reported in Ha’aretz. [17]

• East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza are administered differently, but all fall within the definition of occupied territory as defined by, among others documents, the 1970 Declaration of Principles of International Law adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, which reads, “No territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal” and “Every State likewise has the duty to refrain from the threat or use of force to violate international lines of demarcation, such as armistice lines, established by or pursuant to an international agreement to which it is a party or which it is otherwise bound to respect.” [18]
• East Jerusalem was unilaterally annexed by Israel immediately after its military victory in the 1967 war—a violation of international law stating the the principle of international law of the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.” Legal experts observe that “the international community has not recognized the annexation of east Jerusalem to the State of Israel.”[19] In a 1969 statement to the Security Council to the United Nations. U.S. Ambassador Charles W. Yost affirmed that “east Jerusalem was occupied territory to which the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War applied.” [20]
• The West Bank— called “Judea and Samaria” in Israeli government documents such as census records— has undergone creeping, de facto annexation by Israel through the establishment of settlements built for Israeli Jews with Israeli government permits and funding. Many Israeli government documents including maps, tourist information [21], and demographic statistics [22] make no territorial distinction between Israel and the occupied territories beyond its borders.
• In Gaza, too, Israel is failing to perform its humanitarian obligations toward a people under occupation. Richard A. Falk, Special Raporteur for the Palestinian Territories explains that “[a]lthough Israel has contended that it is no longer an occupying power, due to its [2005] withdrawal of its forces from within Gaza, it is widely agreed by international law experts that the continued Israeli control of borders, air space, and territorial waters is of a character as to retain Israel status legally as occupying power.” [23] Gisha Center for the Legal Protection of Movement agrees that “completion of the disengagement plan has not absolved Israel of its obligations to permit and to facilitate the proper functioning of civilian life in the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to owe legal obligations to residents of Gaza in the significant areas in which their lives are subject to and affected by Israeli control. That responsibility exists under the international law of belligerent occupation, but it is also imposed by international human rights law and Israeli constitutional and administrative law.” [24]

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[17] Hass, Amira. “PA stats bureau: population increased by one-third over last decade,” Ha’aretz, February 2, 2008
[18] United Nations: 1970 Declaration of Principles of International Law
[19] Lapidoth, Ruth. “Jerusalem: The Legal and Political Background,” Justice, Autumn 1994, as reproduced on the website of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[20] Lapidoth
[21] Associated Press. “Dutch watchdog criticizes Israeli tourism website,” Yedioth Ahronot online, March 10, 2010.
[22] Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
[23] United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Statement of Special Raporteur for Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967,” January 9, 2009
[24] Gisha Center for the Legal Protection of Movement, “Disengaged occupiers: The legal status of Gaza” (executive summary), January 21, 2007