The West Bank is an area west of the Jordan River historically known as Judea and Samaria.

After the 1948 Arab War of Aggression against the newly formed Israeli state, the area was occupied and annexed by Transjordan, which changed its name to Jordan to mark its ownership of the area also west of the river Jordan. All Jews were then expelled from the area – without any international protests.
Israel took the area from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967, and it is doubtful whether the concept of occupation is applicable, partly because Jordan no longer claims (since 1988) the West Bank, and partly because the West Bank was captured in connection with a defensive war against attacking neighbouring countries.

After the Oslo Accords in 1993, the West Bank was divided into three administrative sections where the final status of the area would be subject to an upcoming settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In area A (under the political and military rule of the Palestinian Authority) and B (under the rule of the Palestinian Authority but with joint Israeli and Palestinian security) there are no Israeli residents, and it is associated with danger to life as a Jew to be in these areas. There are roughly 2 million Arabs in the West Bank.
According to the UN, there are 650,000 Jews living in Area C (which is under Israeli rule), of which roughly 220,000 live in East Jerusalem.
There are 1.9 million Arabs with full Israeli citizenship in Israel, while Jews living in the West Bank must be protected by Israeli authorities for security reasons.