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BBC ON THIS DAY | 9 | 1970: King Hussein escapes gunman's bullet
Following the 1967 war with Israel, Jordan lost the West Bank of the Jordan River. Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled into Jordan, swelling the refugee population to two million. From their new base in Jordan, Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation began launching military operations against Israel, drawing bloody reprisals that killed and injured Jordanians. Feelings of anger among Palestinians have been exacerbated by King Hussein's involvement in Middle East peace moves which have involved talks with Israel. The leader of Al Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian guerrilla groups, has said any Arab Head of State trying to reach a peaceful settlement with Israel will be murdered.
Following the 1967 war with Israel, Jordan lost the West Bank of the Jordan River. Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled into Jordan, swelling the refugee population to two million.
From their new base in Jordan, Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation began launching military operations against Israel, drawing bloody reprisals that killed and injured Jordanians.
Feelings of anger among Palestinians have been exacerbated by King Hussein's involvement in Middle East peace moves which have involved talks with Israel.
The leader of Al Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian guerrilla groups, has said any Arab Head of State trying to reach a peaceful settlement with Israel will be murdered.
The legal claims on the West Bank are a little more complex than that, though. This is the Middle East after all:
Allied powers allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War saw the establishment of Israel in parts of the former Mandate, while the West Bank was captured and annexed by Jordan. The 1949 Armistice Agreements defined its interim boundary. From 1948 until 1967, the area was under Jordanian rule, and Jordan did not officially relinquish its claim to the area until 1988. Jordan's claim was never recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom. The West Bank was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in June, 1967. With the exception of East Jerusalem, the West Bank was not annexed by Israel.
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