West Bank

The West Bank is a landlocked Palestinian territory located west of the Jordan River and east of the Green Line (the 1949 armistice boundary). It has a population of approximately 2.9 million Palestinians and around 700,000 Israeli settlers across more than 130 settlements and outposts. Israel has maintained full military occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited civil administration in designated urban areas (Areas A and B), while Israel retains control over approximately 60% of the land (Area c) including all external borders and movement corridors. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law by most UN member states and the International Court of Justice, though Israel contests this characterisation.

In the context of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the West Bank became the central terrain in the Palestine Football Association's dispute with FIFA. The PFA filed a formal appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on approximately 20 April 2026, challenging FIFA's decision not to suspend the Israel Football Association or expel Israeli clubs operating from occupied West Bank settlements. FIFA had fined the IFA approximately $191,000, with proceeds partly directed to anti-discrimination programmes. The PFA argues that allowing settlement-based clubs to compete in the IFA league normalises territorial annexation in violation of FIFA's own statutes. The refusal of Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub to shake hands with Israeli FA vice-president Basim Sheikh Suliman at the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver on 30 April illustrated the depth of the dispute at the highest levels of world football governance.

The West Bank is also a live conflict zone. The territory appears in Lowdown's Iran conflict coverage as a target of Iranian missile strikes and a flashpoint for Israeli settler violence. Palestinian casualty data from the West Bank has been cited in diplomatic communications between the US, Israel, and Iran. The convergence of sporting and security dimensions makes the West Bank one of the most politically complex geographic entities appearing across Lowdown's topics.