Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., the West Bank has been dominated by many different peoples throughout its history; it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. The West Bank fell to British forces during World War I, becoming part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the West Bank was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan), which annexed the West Bank in 1950; it was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords signed between 1994 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. In 2000, a violent intifada or uprising began, and in 2001 negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled. Subsequent attempts to re-start direct negotiations have not resulted in progress toward determining final status of the area.
Roughly 60% of the West Bank, remains under exclusive Israeli military control. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council election and since 2007, the PA has administered areas of the West Bank under its control while HAMAS maintains de facto control of Gaza. Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political party in the West Bank, and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement any agreements reached; a reconciliation agreement signed in October 2017 remains unimplemented. In December 2018, the Palestinian Constitutional Court dissolved the Palestinian Legislative Council and called for new Legislative Council elections to be held.