What parts of historic Palestine were annexed by Jordan and when?
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Executive summary
Jordan occupied and then annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine west of the Jordan River — the West Bank including East Jerusalem — in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War; the formal annexation was adopted by Jordan’s parliament on 24 April 1950 after armistice lines in 1949 left that territory under Jordanian control [1] [2] [3]. Jordan administered the area until Israel’s 1967 Six‑Day War occupation; Jordan formally renounced claims to the territory in 1988 [1] [4].
1. What territory was annexed and how much of “historic Palestine” did it represent?
Jordan annexed the territory west of the Jordan River commonly called the West Bank — including East Jerusalem — that had been part of the British Mandate for Palestine [1] [2]. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes this area as roughly 2,100 square miles (about 5,400–5,660 km2) and notes Jordan’s claim to it from 1949 until 1988 [5] [2]. Sources use “West Bank” and, for Jerusalem’s eastern sector, “East Jerusalem” to identify the parts Jordan incorporated [1] [2].
2. From battlefield control to formal annexation: timeline of key dates
Jordanian forces took control of those parts during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War; armistice agreements in 1949 left the West Bank under Jordanian administration [1] [4]. King Abdullah I convened the Jericho Conference in December 1948; Jordan offered and in December 1949 began granting Jordanian citizenship to Palestinians in the area, and on 24 April 1950 the Jordanian Houses of Deputies and Notables adopted a resolution formally annexing the West Bank and East Jerusalem [1] [3] [5]. The territory remained under Jordanian sovereignty until Israel occupied it in June 1967; Jordan renounced claims in 1988 [1] [4].
3. International recognition and political context
The annexation was not widely accepted internationally. Britannica and other accounts report that only a few states — notably the United Kingdom and Pakistan (and some sources count Iraq) — granted recognition; most Arab states and much of the world opposed or denounced the move [5] [2] [3]. Contemporary critics inside the Arab world called the conferences that led to annexation unrepresentative of the majority of Palestinians [6]. Jordan presented the move as a safeguard against further territorial loss and as unification of the two banks of the Jordan River under the Hashemite crown [3] [7].
4. Demographic and legal consequences inside Jordan
Jordan’s annexation dramatically changed the kingdom’s population: transferring Jordanian citizenship to West Bank residents increased Jordan’s population by large margins — estimates vary but sources note the population roughly tripled or more than doubled depending on counts — and Palestinians were given significant representation in Jordan’s parliament [1] [3] [8]. Some sources say the annexation “more than tripled” Jordan’s population, others give numbers such as an increase from 400,000 to 1,300,000 or additions of roughly 720,000 people; reporting differs by source [1] [9] [3].
5. Competing narratives and long-term implications
Jordanian authorities framed annexation as protection and political unification; critics — both Arab states and later Palestinian nationalists — regarded it as a Hashemite bid to absorb Palestinian aspirations and to pre-empt independent Palestinian statehood [3] [6]. Internationally, recognition was limited and the move complicated Arab unity on the Palestinian question [5] [6]. After 1967, Israel’s occupation and later settlement and political maneuvers (including recurring proposals to annex parts of the West Bank such as the Jordan Valley) transformed the legal and political landscape again, and modern debates about annexation or territorial sovereignty reference this earlier episode [10] [11].
6. What the sources do not resolve or disagree on
Sources agree on the broad facts — control after 1948, formal annexation in April 1950, limited recognition, Israeli occupation in 1967, and Jordan’s 1988 renunciation — but differ on population figures and on characterizations of citizenship and rights (some say full citizenship was granted; others say political representation and rights raised questions) [3] [6] [8]. Precise numbers for added population range across sources [9] [1] [3]. Available sources do not mention a fully unanimous Palestinian endorsement of annexation; several explicitly describe Palestinian and Arab opposition or contestation [6] [3].
Sources consulted: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jewish Virtual Library, EBSCO Research/Research Starters, Israel Education (CIE), plus academic and issue‑specific analyses cited above [1] [5] [3] [6] [7] [11] [2] [9] [8] [4].