Oslo II created three zones in the West Bank.
Area A is fully administered by the PA and makes up 3% of the land in the West Bank.
Area B is jointly administered by the PA and Israel
Area C is under full Israeli control and has restricted access for Palestinians
In the adjacent map, Areas A and B are light tan, and Area C is brown.
Area C is the main mechanism that fuels settlements (that are illegal under international law)
As of 2021, there were 465,400 settlers in Palestine
Since 1967, Israelis have settled illegally in the ever-decreasing land area apportioned to an imagined future Palestinian state. The 1967 connection of the electricity grid, water systems, highways, and other infrastructure has made any future separation increasingly difficult
Settlers have different motivating factors. Some are motivated by religious zeal, wanting to claim all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea for Jewish people. Just as Hamas’ slogan is “from the river to the sea,” religious Jewish settlers see the biblical land of what they call Judea and Samaria as theirs. The Israeli flag depicts two bands of blue at the top and bottom, the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with the star of David covering all the land “from the river to the sea.” Others are motivated by government subsidies that make claiming settlement land attractive on a practical level.
The US nominally opposes settlements but doesn’t back up its stance, it vetoes UN resolutions calling for an end to settlements, and doesn’t punish Israel for ignoring international law on settlements
If “land for peace” is the path forward, settlements may be the lynchpin of the issue
"West Bank: Area C" by United Nations is in the Public Domain, CC0
