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This article describestransport inPalestine, which consists of two non-contiguous territories, theWest Bank and theGaza Strip, different parts of which are administered byPalestinian National Authority,Hamas Administration in Gaza andIsrael.
There are no operating railways in the Palestinian territories.[citation needed]
TheCamp David agreements, and repeated in statements made by Israel in 2005, there was a proposal to link the two Palestinian territories with a high speedrail line. This would involve extending theHeletz railway toTarqumiyah (thus providing a rail link fromErez Crossing to theWest Bank) and building a spur for the futureEastern Railway toTulkarm, as well as rebuilding the old railway branch from a renewedJezreel Valley Railway toJenin. These links might be extended later through toEgypt andJordan.[citation needed]
As of February 2012[update], a plan for a 475-kilometer rail network, establishing 11 new rail lines in West Bank, was confirmed by Israeli Transportation Ministry. The West Bank network would include one line running through Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Ma'aleh Adumim, Bethlehem and Hebron. Another would provide service along the Jordanian border from Eilat to the Dead Sea, Jericho and Beit She'an and from there toward Haifa in the west and in also in a northeasterly direction. The proposed scheme also calls for shorter routes, such as between Nablus and Tulkarm in the West Bank, and from Ramallah to theAllenby Bridge crossing into Jordan.[1]
TheGaza Strip had astandard-gauge railway running 34 kilometers along its length from north to south, which was built in 1916. Prior to 1948 and from about 1972 until an unknown date the line connected to what then became theIsraeli system to the north. It also connected to theEgyptian railway system to the south from 1916 to 1967. The line has now been dismantled.[citation needed]
In the West Bank, anarrow-gauge railway operated until the 1940s fromJenin toTulkarm andNablus, which was built duringOttoman rule, and connected to theHejaz Railway on a1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in) gauge.[citation needed]
Several defunct railways in the Palestinian territories were previously used to link with adjacent countries:
seeIsrael
Egypt - defunct (Gaza)
In 2010, the West Bank and Gaza Strip together had 4,686 km (2,912 mi) of roadways.[2]
Salah al-Din Road, also known as the Salah ad-Deen Highway, is the main highway of the Gaza Strip. It is 45 kilometers long, and runs the entire length of the Gaza Strip from theErez Crossing to Israel in the north to theRafah Crossing to Egypt in the south.[3]
The West Bank is landlocked and has no ports.
ThePort of Gaza is a small port near theRimal district ofGaza City.[4] It is the home port of Palestinian fishing-boats and the base of thePalestinian Naval Police, a branch of thePalestinian National Security Forces. Under theOslo II Accord, the activities of the Palestinian Naval Police are restricted to 6 nautical miles from the coast.[5] The Port of Gaza has been undernaval blockade since 2007, and activities at the port have been restricted to small-scale fishing.[citation needed]
Construction of theGaza Seaport had begun in the Gaza Strip, but the building was destroyed and the project abandoned after the outbreak of theSecond Intifada in September 2000. There are no ships in the Gaza Strip over 1,000gross tons.[citation needed]
There are three defunct airports in the Palestinian territories. TheYasser Arafat International Airport (previously called Gaza International Airport), located in theGaza Strip, was opened on 24 November 1998 as part of the Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998Wye River Memorandum. The airport was closed in October 2000 by Israeli order after the breakout of theSecond Intifada.[6]
West Bank Palestinians traveling abroad can use the Allenby Bridge to enter Jordan and then use theQueen Alia International Airport inAmman, or theEilat-Ramon Airport inBe'er Ora to fly abroad.[7]
The Allenby Bridge, also known as the Al-Karameh Bridge and the King Hussein Bridge, is a bridge that crosses theJordan River near the city ofJericho, and connects the West Bank withJordan. The bridge is currently the sole designated exit/entry point for West Bank Palestinians traveling abroad. Since the 1994Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Allenby Bridge Terminal has been operated by theIsrael Airports Authority.[8]
TheErez Crossing is the only crossing on theIsrael-Gaza Strip barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and has been affected by the IsraeliBlockade of the Gaza Strip.[citation needed]
TheRafah Crossing is the only land crossing between the Gaza Strip andEgypt. There exists also theKerem Shalom Crossing, managed by Israel, but used exclusively for the crossing of goods from Egypt into Gaza.
