Jerusalem is a city that is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital city. The dispute has been described as “one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict”, with conflicting claims to sovereignty over the city or parts of it, and access to its holy sites.
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The legal status of East Jerusalem and especially the Old City of Jerusalem is the main point of dispute, while broader agreement exists regarding future Israeli presence in West Jerusalem in accordance with Israel’s internationally recognized borders.
Most countries support that Jerusalem should be the future capital of both Israel and Palestine; this position has been endorsed by the United Nations, the European Union, and individual countries such as France.
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Russia, among other countries, already recognizes East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Palestinian territories are currently divided between two separate entities: the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, an Islamist militant group that won elections in 2006 and took control of Gaza in 2007. The West Bank is governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was established in 1994 as part of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PA has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, but Israel retains overall control over security and borders.
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