Palestine (esp. West Bank & Gaza Strip)
Type of government: Parliamentary democracy
Current head of state: Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas
Total population:
Gaza Strip: 1,657,155
West Bank: 2,568,555
% of population living in poverty: %
Gaza strip: % 70
West Bank: % 46
GDP: $12.79 billion
Capital: Jerusalem
Gaza Strip: Gaza
West Bank: Ramallah
Largest city:
Gaza Strip: Gaza
West Bank: Ramallah
Coasts:
West Bank: none
Gaza Strip: 40 km
Major bodies of water:
West Bank: Dead Sea
Gaza Strip: Mediterranean Sea
Major rivers:
West Bank: Jordan River
Gaza Strip: none
Bordering countries:
Gaza Strip: Israel and Egypt
West Bank: Jordan and Israel
Largest religion: Islam
Climate: temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers
Geographical features:
West bank: Hilly mountains everywhere
Gaza Strip: Flat
Gaza Strip (Yellow)
West BankSelected Current Event In Palestinian Territories:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority must choose whether it is interested in peace with Israel or reconciliation with Hamas. In a statement released shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement signed an initial reconciliation deal with the rival movement, reiterated his recent remarks that peace with both Israel and Hamas was impossible. "The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both. Hamas aspires to destroy Israel and fires rockets at our cities ... at our children," Netanyahu said in a statement.
"I hope the Palestinian Authority will make the right choice and choose peace with Israel," said Netanyahu. "The choice is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. The deal between Fatah (the mainstream Palestinian movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas) and Hamas, which took many officials by surprise, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings. The two groups shared a unity government until June 2007, when Hamas staged a bloody coup and took over the Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials choose peace with Hamas but Palestinian officials acknowledge that they must solve their differences with Hamas before they can go to the United Nations.
-- www.haaretz.com/news/
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