The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
West Bank
Land on the west bank of the Jordan River, formerly in the hands of Jordan, but captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel has agreed to hand over part of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority, but the Israeli government has been widely criticized for continuing to move civilian settlers as well as soldiers into the area. In 2001, in response to terrorist suicide bombings (seeterrorism), Israel staged heavy military strikes against Palestinian cities in the West Bank.