One place. Nine turning points.
Follow one fixed map. Red records the reach of Israeli state control and settlements; green shows the space outside that reach. Behind every change are Palestinian homes, journeys and lives.
1945
Palestinian Arabs lived throughout Mandatory Palestine. The full map begins green to show the geographic frame, not exclusive ownership or sovereignty. The individual maps below document the land records in more detail.
The ≈⅔ figure is a share of people, not land. Green shows the Mandate area, not ownership or sovereignty.
THE RECORD
Drag to move through the record. Shapes between dates are animation, not reconstructed boundaries. ← → to step through.
Read the colours by date. The 1947 red shape is a proposal. The 1949 red shape is territorial control. Hatching marks occupation; later red in Area C marks administration, not sovereignty. Palestinians live in red and green areas alike.
The map is not the people. It cannot show every home lost, journey into exile or restriction on daily life. The dated facts and the maps below provide that evidence. Sources and method ↗
This site examines the policies and actions of Israeli governments and state authorities and their effects on Palestinians. It rejects antisemitism and collective blame of Jewish people or Israelis.
These maps unpack the animated story. Start with the 1945 ownership records, then compare the 1947 proposal with the territory Israel controlled after the 1948 war. Every map uses the same frame and scale.
Sources for the comparison 1945 land records · 1947 UN partition proposal · UN history and refugee backgrounder.
c. 1900
Site map using R. Huber / Library of Congress and PalQuest. Base Natural Earth.
The Ottoman Empire governed the region through several districts. Jerusalem was a separate district. Acre and Nablus belonged to the province of Beirut. [24] [25]
1923–46
Site map using Uri Farkash / Wikimedia Commons (adapted, CC BY-SA 4.0). Base Natural Earth.
British forces took control in 1917–18, and the League of Nations Mandate took effect in 1923. By the mid-1940s, Palestinian Arabs made up about two-thirds of the population. Land records distinguish Arab-owned, Jewish-owned and public or waste land. [26] [29] [1] [18]
1945 · Ownership
Site map using UN land-ownership map and Village Statistics 1945, Table I. Base Natural Earth.
The circles sit near subdistrict centres and show each subdistrict’s shares. The Mandate records left title unresolved for most of Beersheba, including land used by Bedouin communities. [30] [31]
1947 · Proposal
Site map using UN partition plan and Uri Farkash / Wikimedia Commons (adapted, CC BY-SA 4.0). Base Natural Earth.
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 proposed separate Arab and Jewish states, allocating just over half the territory to the proposed Jewish state. It proposed international administration for Jerusalem. [2] [3]
1949 · Control
Site map using UN historical overview. Base Natural Earth.
After the 1948 war, the State of Israel controlled about 77% of former Mandate Palestine. About 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. [3] [4] [17]
1967
Site map using UN historical overview and ICJ case record. Base Natural Earth.
Israeli forces captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The two territories went from separate Jordanian and Egyptian control to Israeli military occupation. [3] [6]
From 1995
Site map using UNICEF geographic layer. Base Natural Earth.
Palestinian civil administration was concentrated in separate areas. Israel retained near-exclusive control over Area C, which covers more than 60% of the West Bank. [19] [20]
December 2025
Site map using UN OCHA access map and UNICEF geographic layer. Base Natural Earth.
The UN documented 925 movement obstacles in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of these, 307 were checkpoints staffed continuously or intermittently. [7] [16]
Each percentage is a share of that subdistrict’s land. *Hadawi’s compilation includes 142,050 dunums held by other owners in its Arab column, about 0.54% of the total area. It also records unresolved title in Beersheba separately from public land. [30]
| Subdistrict | Arab column* | Jewish-owned | Public | Unresolved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acre | 87.3% | 3.1% | 9.6% | 0.0% |
| Beersheba | 15.4% | 0.5% | <0.1% | 84.1% |
| Beisan | 44.9% | 34.0% | 21.1% | 0.0% |
| Gaza | 75.7% | 4.4% | 19.8% | 0.0% |
| Haifa | 44.6% | 35.3% | 20.1% | 0.0% |
| Hebron | 95.7% | 0.3% | 4.1% | 0.0% |
| Jaffa | 52.9% | 38.6% | 8.5% | 0.0% |
| Jenin | 84.1% | 0.5% | 15.4% | 0.0% |
| Jerusalem | 88.4% | 2.1% | 9.5% | 0.0% |
| Nablus | 88.4% | <0.1% | 11.6% | 0.0% |
| Nazareth | 52.9% | 27.6% | 19.5% | 0.0% |
| Ramallah | 99.4% | <0.1% | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| Ramle | 78.8% | 14.0% | 7.1% | 0.0% |
| Safad | 70.5% | 17.5% | 12.0% | 0.0% |
| Tiberias | 52.6% | 38.0% | 9.5% | 0.0% |
| Tulkarm | 77.9% | 16.9% | 5.2% | 0.0% |
| All subdistricts | 48.5% | 5.7% | 5.7% | 40.2% |
The maps are generalised and use a common regional frame. The maps show proposals, administration, military control and movement restrictions. Palestinian communities also lived outside the green areas. The 1945 map shows recorded ownership shares rather than parcels. The later maps show proposed borders, control or restrictions. The 1945 ownership labels come from the historical records. The later maps use blue for the proposed Jewish state or for Israeli state control, separate from the amber used for recorded Jewish landholdings.
The British Mandate and 1947 partition maps adapt Uri Farkash’s partition map, recoloured and aligned approximately to the shared base. Those adaptations are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Base geography is from Natural Earth. Historical armistice and occupation outlines are generalised. The Golan Heights are outside the highlighted area.
The Oslo map uses the UNICEF geographic layer. It shows administrative designations, which do not capture every aspect of control on the ground. The West Bank obstacle circles use OCHA’s December 2025 survey and are positioned by governorate. See the UN access map for individual locations.
The 1870s Survey of Western Palestine records towns, villages and terrain at about one inch to a mile. It complements the 1899 Ottoman administrative map, which shows the empire’s divisions.
Researchers used Ottoman tax registers from 1596 to reconstruct the locations of recorded villages and the districts to which they belonged. The records cover taxable settlements and households, with gaps. They can support a settlement map, with a different purpose from the boundary maps above.
Source UN OCHA’s December 2025 survey, published April 2026.
| Governorate | Obstacles |
|---|---|
| Bethlehem | 79 |
| Hebron | 227 |
| Jenin | 19 |
| Jericho | 27 |
| Jerusalem | 89 |
| Nablus | 135 |
| Qalqilya | 50 |
| Ramallah | 183 |
| Salfit | 53 |
| Tubas | 34 |
| Tulkarm | 29 |
| Total | 925 |
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In its October 2026 update, UNICEF reported that demolitions, settler violence and related access restrictions had displaced an average of 17 Palestinians a day in the West Bank that year, including eight children. [21]
By early November, the UN had recorded 377 attacks by Israeli settlers connected to the olive harvest since the season started in September. Farmers faced assaults, theft and restrictions on reaching their land. [22]
The Israeli government evacuated Israeli settlements and withdrew permanent ground forces from Gaza in 2005. The International Court of Justice said Israel continued to exercise key elements of authority and that its obligations under occupation law corresponded to its degree of effective control. [6]
In early November 2026, the UN reported that airstrikes, shooting and shelling by Israeli forces continued to hit populated areas in Gaza. Gunfire damaged tents at a displacement site in northern Rafah and forced an aid organisation working on flood protection to leave. [22] [23]
Who can move, where can people build, and which laws govern them?
Under the Rome Statute, the crime of apartheid involves inhumane acts committed in an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another, with intent to maintain that regime. [8]
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Israeli organisation B’Tselem concluded that Israeli authorities practise apartheid against Palestinians. Their analyses differ in scope. Human Rights Watch found the elements of the crime came together in the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem. [9] [10] [11]
In July 2024, the Court concluded that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible. It also found that measures imposed by Israeli authorities maintained near-complete separation between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, breaching Article 3 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Article 3 prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. The majority left open which applied. The Israeli government rejected the advisory opinion and argued for a negotiated settlement. [6] [14]
The Court also found that Israeli settlements and the sections of the separation barrier built in occupied territory violate international law. Palestinian citizens of Israel have the right to vote in Israeli national elections. In the occupied West Bank, settlers and Palestinians are generally subject to different legal regimes. [5] [6] [15]
In South Africa v Israel, the Court issued binding interim orders under the Genocide Convention in 2024. The question of whether genocide occurred is a matter for the merits of that case. [12]
Australia formally recognised the State of Palestine on 21 September 2025. The ICJ’s 2024 occupation opinion says states must refrain from recognising as lawful the situation arising from Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied territory or helping maintain it. [6] [13]
A question for your federal MP
What steps is Australia taking to support Palestinian self-determination and to distinguish between Israel and the occupied territory in its dealings?
Use the AEC’s postcode or suburb search to find your electorate and the name of your federal MP. If you write, include a question you’d like them to answer in their own words.
Meet the people making films, writing books, teaching family recipes, bringing Arabic music to the stage and finding new ways to test medicines.
Meet five people through their work
See what Australian sellers disclose about their Palestinian suppliers and how purchase money is used.
Read the purchase reviewNumbered references lead to the evidence for the text and figures. Photos carry their own credits and dates. Maps identify their base geography and the records used to draw them.
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