Why do some refer to the West Bank and Gaza as “disputed territory”?

People who defend Israel’s military occupation sometimes refer to the West Bank and Gaza as “disputed areas.” According to the International Court of Justice and broad international consensus, the proper term for land in the West Bank is “occupied territory,” not “disputed area.” This difference is important. The term “disputed” suggests that it’s not clear that Israel’s activities are illegal. In U.N. Resolution 446 (1979), however, the United Nations Security Council ruled that Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank “have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.” Calling this area “disputed” is misleading and dangerous.

Some people who support Israel’s military occupation will even say that Palestine gave large swaths of the West Bank to Israel back in the 1990s, as part of the Oslo Accords peace process. This is not true, but some people repeat it constantly, hoping others will believe it. A Palestinian legal advisory team called the Negotiations Support Unit clarified that Palestine has not signed over control of the West Bank, and it condemns Israel for “exceeding the lawful scope of its powers” by acting as if it has sovereignty over the land.