Judea and Samaria Area

:This article refers to an Israeli-controlled administrative area called Judea and Samaria Area. For the geographical regions known by the biblical names Judea and Samaria, see Judea or Samaria. For uses synonymous with the term "the West Bank", see that entry.
Judea and Samaria Area (, Ezor Yehuda VeShomron, also an acronym יו"ש Yosh or ש"י Shai; , al-Yahudiyyah was-Sāmarah) is the official Israeli term roughly corresponding to the territory usually known outside Israel as the West Bank and to the Israeli settlements there that are not governed as part of Jerusalem. Jordan occupied the territory and annexed it in 1950. The area was captured from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Many Palestinians object to the term "Judea and Samaria" as a rejection of their claim to the area. In liberal Hebrew media, such as Haaretz, it is also referred to as "HaGada HaMa'aravit" (הגדה המערבית "The West Bank") or "Hashetahim" (השטחים , The Territories).
== Status ==
The Judea and Samaria area is administered by the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, and administrative decisions are subject to the command's chief. The incumbent chief of Central Command is Aluf Gadi Shamni.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after Israel captured the region from Jordan in the Six Days War, declares that Israel must withdraw from territories captured in the conflict, in conjunction with the termination of all claims or states of belligerency. The future status of the region is a key factor in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is currently Israel's fastest growing region in terms of population, growing at an annual 5%.
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip considered Israeli-occupied territories by the United Nations,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_242 including the United States,https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz®ionCode=me&#gz the European Unionhttp://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/occupied_palestinian_territory/index_en.htm and various non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International,http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied-territories Human Rights Watch,http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/israel-and-occupied-territories B'Tselem,http://www.btselem.org/english/Settlements/International_Law.asp and If Americans Knew.http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/index.html In addition to this, the International Court of Justice ruled that Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are Israeli-occupied territories.http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf
==Terminology==
The term "Judea and Samaria" was officially adopted by the Israeli government in 1967 but not used extensively until the Likud assumed office in 1977.
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The name Judea, when used in Judea and Samaria, refers to all of the region south of Jerusalem, including settlements in Gush Etzion and Har Hebron. The region of Samaria, on the other hand, refers to settlements in all areas north of Jerusalem.
==Administrative sub-regions==
The district is further divided into 8 military administrative regions: Menashe (Jenin area), HaBik'a (Jordan Valley), Shomron (Shechem area, known in Arabic as Nablus), Efrayim (Tulkarm area), Binyamin (Ramallah/al-Bireh area), Maccabim (Maccabim area), Etzion (Bethlehem area) and Yehuda (Hebron area).
==History==
Samaria was one of the administrative districts of the British Mandate of Palestine.
Reference to Judea and Samaria as a single unit is more recent, specifically since the time of their occupation and annexation by Jordan. 
===Municipalities===
Cities	Local Councils	Regional Councils
*Ariel 
*Betar Illit 
*Ma'ale Adummim
*Modi'in Illit	
*Alfei Menashe 
*Beit Aryeh-Ofarim 
*Beit El 
*Efrat 
*Elkana 
*Giv'at Ze'ev 
*Har Adar 
*Immanuel 
*Karnei Shomron 
*Kedumim 
*Kiryat Arba 
*Ma'ale Efraim 
*Oranit	
*Gush Etzion 
*Har Hebron 
*Matte Binyamin 
*Megilot Dead Sea 
*Shomron 
*Biq'at HaYarden
== See also ==
* Israeli-occupied territories
* 1949 Armistice Agreements	
* List of burial places of biblical figures
==References==
*"Judea and Samaria", The Jewish Agency for Israel, undated, retrieved August 31, 2005
Category:Geography of the West Bank
Category:Districts of Israel
Category:History of Israel
Category:History of Jordan
Category:Palestinian history
Category:States and territories established in 1967
cs:Judea a Samaří
de:Bezirk Judäa und Samarien
es:Judea y Samaria (distrito)
eu:Judea eta Samaria Eremua
fa:یهودا و شومرون
it:Giudea e Samaria
he:מחוז יהודה ושומרון
nl:Judea en Samaria (district)
ja:ユダヤ・サマリア地区
pl:Dystrykt Judei i Samarii