Claim: Israel is engaged in a military occupation of the West Bank.

`` Palestinian territories '' and `` occupied Palestinian territories '' -LRB- OPT or oPt -RRB- are descriptions often used to describe the West Bank -LRB- including East Jerusalem -RRB- and the Gaza Strip , which are occupied or otherwise under the control of Israel . Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute . The extent of the territories , while subject to future negotiations , have frequently been defined by the Green Line .   The term `` Palestinian Territory , Occupied '' was used by the United Nations -LRB- UN -RRB- and other international organizations between 1998 to 2013 in order to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority . In December 2012 , UN Secretariat communications replaced this by the term State of Palestine . The ISO adopted the name change in 2013 . But , as of August 2015 , the UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity ; This prevents its admission to UN General Assembly membership .   Israel occupied the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967 and has since maintained control . Previously , these territories had been occupied by Jordan and Egypt , respectively , since the 1948 founding of Israel . In 1980 , Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and has proclaimed the whole of Jerusalem to be its capital . The inclusion , though never formally amounting to legal annexation , was condemned internationally and declared `` null and void '' by the United Nations Security Council . The Palestinian National Authority , the United Nations , the international legal and humanitarian bodies and the international community regard East Jerusalem as part of the West Bank , and consequently a part of the Palestinian territories . The Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area , although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests .   Israel shut them down in response to the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing . Israeli sovereignty , however , has not been recognized by any country , since the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention . The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades -LRB- 1967 -- 2007 -RRB- is estimated to amount to $ 50 billion . The World Bank estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $ 3.4 billion .   In 1988 , with the Palestine Liberation Organization -LRB- PLO -RRB- intention to declare a Palestinian State , Jordan renounced all territorial claims to the West Bank , including East Jerusalem . Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988 , 135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine , comprising the Palestinian territories . It has not been recognized by Israel and some Western nations , including the United States .   In 1993 , following the Oslo Accords , parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority -LRB- Areas A and B -RRB- . Israel still exercises full military control and , civil control over 61 % of the West Bank -LRB- Area C -RRB- . The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore . The Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to 12 mi . In October 2006 Israel imposed a 6-mile limit , and at the conclusion of the Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit , beyond which a no-go zone exists . As a result , more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen are denied access to 85 % of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995 . The majority of the Dead Sea area is off-limits to Palestinian use , and Palestinians are denied access to its coast line .   Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005 , however the international community considers the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still to be occupied by Israel . The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically . Abbas 's Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority -LRB- see : Fatah-Hamas conflict -RRB- . In 2014 , the two political groups agreed to hold elections and form a compromise unity government . The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict intervened ; however , the unity government survived .