Aqabat Jaber ( ar, مخيّم عقبة جبر) is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

in the Jericho Governorate of the eastern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, situated in the Jordan Valley, three kilometers southwest of

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...

History

Aqabat Jaber was established in 1948 on 1,688

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...

s of arid land near the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Ban ...

. Prior to the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

, the number of registered

Palestinian refugee Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

s totaled around 30,000. During and after the hostilities, the majority of refugees fled the camp and crossed the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

. On 13 November 1985, following an agreement with

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...

, the Israeli authorities began a program of demolishing unused houses. At the time the camp’s population was 3,000.Middle East International No 263, 22 November 1985, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Daoud Kuttab p. 11 Following the signing of the Gaza–Jericho Agreement in 1994, the camp came under the control of the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

.Aqabat Jabr

1 March 2005. In 2005 Aqabat Jaber had a population of 5,566 registered refugees. Non-refugees have moved onto the camp's lands and built illegal homes.

Water availability

Water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...

is a major problem in this desert area, especially during the summer. The

is able to provide some water to the camp by pumping it from a nearby spring. However, the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i water company

Mekorot Mekorot ( he, מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply ne ...

is the main supplier of water to the camp.

Filmography

Eyal Sivan Eyal Sivan ( he, אייל סיון) is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, theoretician and scholar based in Paris, France. Early life Eyal Sivan is a Filmmaker, Writer and theoretician born in 1964 in Haifa, Israel; raised in Jerusalem; a ...

: ''Aqabat-Jaber, passing through'' (1987)

References

External links

Aqbat Jaber refugee camp

Welcome To 'Aqbat Jabir R.C.Aqbat Jaber Camp (Fact Sheet)

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ar, معهد الابحاث التطبيقية - القدس) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research proje ...

(ARIJ)
Aqbat Jaber Camp Profile
(ARIJ)
Aqbat aerial photo
(ARIJ)
Locality Development Priorities and Needs in 'Aqbat Jaber Camp
(ARIJ) {{Authority control Jericho Governorate Populated places established in 1948 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank Municipalities of the State of Palestine