organized in 11 districts: Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Jericho, Jerusalem, Nablus, Qalqiliya, Ramallah and Al-Bireh, Salfit, Tubas, and Tulkarm. While the district capitals host the majority of the population, a large number of built-up areas are evenly distributed in the entire area (figure 2). The population lives along the mountain ridge that covers the eastern part of the territory, while the Jordan Valley, on the west, is less populated and largely under the Israeli control. The West Bank has a population of approximately 2.9 million people as of 2017. The 1949 Armistice Line to the West and the Jordan River to the east mark the borders of the West Bank. The 1949 Armistice Line, also known as the Green Line, is the end result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war (UNOCHA).

In 2000, a political uprising, known as the Second Intifada, broke out. During the same period, Israel started the establishment of permanent facilities to control the mobility of the Palestinian people. These mobility restrictions, with few changes, are still in effect today. Israel also started the construction of a wall separating the West Bank from Israel. Although sections of the wall are still under construction today, development has significantly slowed since the end of the Intifada.<sup>11</sup> The mobility restrictions have two main functions. First, they deter attacks on the Israeli population in the West Bank. According to the United Nations,<sup>12</sup> _“the IDF states that the reason for the closure regime [...] is to reduce attacks on Israelis by Palestinian militants by limiting their ability to move freely by vehicle.”_ As a matter of fact, 25% of the obstacles in 2007 were in close proximity to an Israeli settlement or an Israeli military base. Second, mobility restrictions also regulate the traffic flow along the major highways in the West Bank. These restrictions allow the enforcement of roads to create Israeli-limited traffic, and the control of Palestinian IDs and permits within the West Bank.

# **2.1 What is the ICT sector in the West Bank?**

In the last decade, the Palestinian ICT sector has witnessed a large development.<sup>13</sup> The Palestinian Information Technology Association (PITA) represents the most vibrant part of the sector, and estimates that ICT represents 6% of the Palestinian GDP.<sup>14</sup> According to the PCBS, 4,862 people were employed in the ICT in 2017. Leaders, established in 2004, supports local organizations delivering services on private-sector development, job creation, innovation and entrepreneurship. Since 2011, Sadara Ventures provided early investments to a number of start-ups. The year 2017 saw the termination of the works to build Rawabi, a new city designed with the goal of attracting high tech in the West Bank. In June 2020, the World Bank approved a US$15 million grant to sustain the Palestinian youth through the ICT sector.<sup>15</sup> While there are almost 1,000 ICT companies, the majority are repairers, retailers, and

> 11The figure on construction progress is available in the appendix.

> 12UNOCHA (2007)

> 13In this paper, whenever possible, we use a definition based on the “OECD Guide to Measuring the Information Society” (2011). See table 1 for a description of the ICT sector based on such a definition.

> 14PITA Newsletter 10, 2020

> 15World Bank, Press Release, June 15,2020

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