West Bank – Israel
The West Bank, including the portion of Jerusalem that Jordan controlled prior to 1967, has a land area of 5,640 km2 plus a water area of 220 km2. As of July 2015 it has an estimated population of 2,785,366 Palestinians, and approximately 371,000 Israeli settlers live in perhaps 200 or so different settlelments. Another 212,000 Jewish Israelis live in the eastern part of Jerusalem.
The territory was split into the following areas of control:
- Palestinian-controlled, Palestinian-administered land (Area A)
- Israeli-controlled, but Palestinian-administered land (Area B)
- Israeli-controlled, Israeli-administered land (Area C)
Area A is where the majority of the Palestinians live; whereas Areas B and C comprise the rural portions as well as the Jordan River valley area.
The Palestinians consider tourism essential to their own economy and are remiss to jeopardize this source of revenue. While foreigners, including Americans, have been killed as a result of terrorist attacks within Israel, tourists have apparently never been specifically targeted here.