Jordanian annexation of the West Bank

West Bank
الضفة الغربية
Aḍ-Ḍiffah l-Ġarbiyyah
1948–1967
Flag of West Bank
Flag
Coat of arms of West Bank
Coat of arms
Contemporary map, 1955
Contemporary map, 1955
StatusArea annexed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
CapitalAmman
Common languagesArabic
Religion
Sunni Islam (majority)
Christianity (minority)
History 
14 May 1948
• Annexation
24 April 1950
5–10 June 1967
31 July 1988
CurrencyJordanian dinar
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Mandatory Palestine
Israeli occupation of the West Bank
Today part ofIsraeli occupation of the West Bank, claimed by Palestine, widely recognized as Palestinian territory.[a]

The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on 24 April 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on 31 July 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.[1][2][3][4][b]

During the December 1948 Jericho Conference, hundreds of Palestinian notables in the West Bank gathered, accepted Jordanian rule and recognized Abdullah as ruler. The West Bank was formally annexed on 24 April 1950, but the annexation was widely considered as illegal and void by most of the international community, including the Arab League, which ultimately decided to treat Jordan as a temporary trustee pending future settlement.[6][7][8] Recognition of Jordan's declaration of annexation was granted only by the United Kingdom, Iraq, and possibly Pakistan.[6][9][10] The United States while avoiding public approval, also recognized this extension of Jordanian sovereignty.[11][12][13]

When Jordan transferred its full citizenship rights to the residents of the West Bank, the annexation more than tripled the population of Jordan, going from 400,000 to 1,300,000.[4][14] The naturalized Palestinians were given half of the seats of the Jordanian parliament.[15][16][17]


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  1. ^ Eyal Benvenisti (2004). The International Law of Occupation. Princeton University Press. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-691-12130-7.
  2. ^ Raphael Israeli, Jerusalem divided: the armistice regime, 1947–1967, Volume 23 of Cass series – Israeli history, politics, and society, Psychology Press, 2002, p. 23.
  3. ^ "Under Jordanian occupation since the 1948 Palestine war," Chicago Tribune, 3 June 1954
  4. ^ a b Cavendish, Richard (4 April 2000). "Jordan Formally Annexes the West Bank". History Today. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  5. ^ Ilan Pappe (26 July 1988). Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-51. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-1-349-19326-4.
  6. ^ a b Benveniśtî, Eyāl (2004). The international law of occupation. Princeton University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-691-12130-7. This purported annexation was, however, widely regarded as illegal and void, by the Arab League and others, and was recognized only by Britain, Iraq, and Pakistan.
  7. ^ "Jordan's Annexation in Palestine is Called Illegal by Arab League" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 May 1950.
  8. ^ "Arab League Delay on Jordan Ban Seen". The New York Times. 14 June 1950.
  9. ^ George Washington University. Law School (2005). The George Washington international law review. George Washington University. p. 390. Retrieved 21 December 2010. Jordan's illegal occupation and Annexation of the West Bank
  10. ^ It is often stated that Pakistan recognized it as well, but that is disputed; see S. R. Silverburg, Pakistan and the West Bank: A research note, Middle Eastern Studies, 19:2 (1983) 261–263.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Victor Kattan (13 December 2022). "Chapter 17: Jordan and Palestine: union (1950) and secession (1988)". In Jure Vidmar, Sarah McGibbon, and Lea Raible (ed.). Research Handbook on Secession. Edward Elgar. ISBN 9781788971744. The US State Department also favoured the union. Although it used the words 'annexation','incorporation' and 'union' interchangeably in its internal assessment of Jordanian politics, it also acknowledged that the Act of Union represented "a logical development of the situation which took place as a result of a free expression of the will of the people"{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  14. ^ Mishal, Shaul. "Chapter 4. Conflictual Pressures and Cooperative Interests: Observations on West Bank-Amman Political Relations, 1949–1967". Palestinian Society and Politics, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980, pp. 169-184. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400854479.169
  15. ^ Nils August Butenschon; Uri Davis; Manuel Sarkis Hassassian (2000). Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-2829-3. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Palestinians in Jordan". 16 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Seventy+ Years of Suffocation | Chapter 2: Jordan".