Historical Palestine constitutes the western point of the arable lands of what is known as the Fertile Crescent, which curves around the Syrian Desert. Between the sea and the desert, the topography changes frequently, and often in sharp contrast, due to numerous movements in its surface formation and due to juxtaposition of its two very different subtropical climatic fronts: Mediterranean and desert climates. From the large fertile plains dominating the north, to the coastal plains in the west, the land relief rises suddenly in the east.

The mountains of the West Bank, with their highest point at Jabal al-Assur (1015 m, in the Ramallah region), offer a wide range of landscapes. The mountain chain is grooved by deep valleys (wadis), abundant for farming and wild vegetation. Further east, the rolling hills plunge into the depths of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, which at 400 m below sea level is the lowest point on earth. Its record concentration of salt (290 g per litre at the surface) creates an unusual experience for swimming. To the south stretches the Negev (Naqab), a desert of rocks and mountains.

The Jordan Valley is a continuation of the Afro-Syrian rift which separates the African tectonic plate from the Asiatic one. The shifting of these plates has created an extraordinary depression which has three parts: the East African rift, the Red Sea and the Dead Sea rift, which continues to the mountains of Lebanon. On either side of the Jordan River, the rock formations are sliding in opposite directions (1 cm per year). The correspondence between the geological formations is perfectly visible every 105 kilometres. A good illustration is the copper mines of Feinan in Jordan (north of Shobak) and their twin mines of Timna in the Arava (20 km north of the Gulf of Aqaba).

The Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

The Zionist movement was consecrated by the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. Its borders absorbed 78% of the territory of historical Palestine (26,000 sq. km); the West Bank and Gaza, with respective surface areas of 5,820 sq. km and 365 sq. km, constitute the remaining territories (22%). At its closest point to the West Bank at Tarqumia, the Gaza Strip is 50 km away, while the West Bank city of Qalqilia is less than 20 km from the Mediterranean. The coastal plain of Gaza is composed of sand dunes and fertile sandy sediments. Except for tufa (a porous limestone, kurkar in Arabic) there are no other rocks in this region.

In contrast, the West Bank is dominated by low mountains: Mount Jarzim (881 m), Mount Nabi Samuel (875 m), and Mount Masharif or Mount Scopus (825 m). The rocks are principally composed of marine sediments (limestone and dolomite). The porosity of these rocks permits water to filter down to the non-porous strata, which supply water to the numerous aquifers in the region.

Since 1993, however, the territorial integrity of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been increasingly depleted rather than reinforced. Following the Interim Agreement signed in Taba on September 28, 1995, the West Bank and Gaza Strip were divided into three different administrative zones:

Area A: Here the Palestinian Authority (PA) exercises full sovereignty, representing approximately 3% of the West Bank and 60% of the Gaza Strip. Area A includes the territory of eight cities (Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilia, Jericho, Bethlehem and part of Hebron) and some towns.

Area B: This area, 27% of the West Bank, includes rural zones (most of the villages and towns) where civil affairs are managed by the PA with the Israeli military authorities having security control over the territory.

Area C: This area corresponds to 70% of the West Bank and 40% of the Gaza Strip. Here, the PA has no authority. It includes sparsely populated areas (except for Hebron and neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem), the peripheries of towns and villages, unpopulated land, industrial zones such as quarries, the Israeli settlement areas and the highway network.This division has resulted in a “leopard skin” pattern of some 227 Palestinian islets or enclaves, which effectively separates the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and prevents the free circulation of goods or people between the autonomous Area A cities, which are thereby vulnerable to Israeli blockade at any time.

East Jerusalem and its associated territories actually constitute a fourth unofficial zone, although the status of Jerusalem was postponed to a later stage in the Oslo Accords. Jerusalem having been annexed in 1980, the Palestinian population of Jerusalem has been subject to Israeli civil law ever since, although this status does not bestow citizenship or any such rights. The Declaration of Principles of the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993, affirmed that “the two parties [Palestinians and Israelis] consider that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip constitute one entire territorial entity, which shall be preserved as such during the entire interim period.” (Article IV)