East Jerusalem (Arabic: Ų§ŁŁŲÆŲ³ Ų§ŁŲ“Ų±ŁŁŲ©, romanized:Ā al-Quds ash-Sharqiya; Hebrew: ×Ö“×Ö°×ØÖ·× ×ְר×ּשָ××Ö·×Ö“×, romanized:Ā Mizraįø„ Yerushalayim) is the portion of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan after the 1948 ArabāIsraeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, this area was unilaterally annexed by Israel in 1980. The United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations consider East Jerusalem a part of the Palestinian territories according to international law, and under illegal occupation by Israel. Many states recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine (such as Brazil, China, Russia, and all 57 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), whereas other states (such as Australia, France and others) assert that East Jerusalem "will be the capital of Palestine", while referring to it as "an occupied territory". In 2020, East Jerusalem had a population of 595,000 inhabitants, of whom 361,700 (61%) were Palestinian Arabs and 234,000 (39%) were Jewish Israelis. Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem are illegal under international law and in the eyes of the international community.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separate, international city under the 1947 UN partition plan. It was, however, divided by the 1948 war that followed Israel's declaration of independence. As a result of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the city's western half came under Israeli control, while its eastern half, containing the famed Old City, fell under Jordanian control, at the exception of Mount Scopus enclave. Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War; since then, the entire city has been under Israeli control. The 1980 Jerusalem Law declared unified Jerusalem the capital of Israel, formalizing the effective annexation of East Jerusalem. Palestinians and many in the international community consider East Jerusalem to be the future capital of the State of Palestine. The status of Jerusalem has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the IsraeliāPalestinian conflict", with conflicting claims to sovereignty over the city or parts of it, and access to its holy sites.