Green Line (The 1949 Armistice Agreement Line)

The Green Line refers to line that was drawn on a map in green ink in 1949 as part of a set of armistice agreements following the 1948 War between Israel and the Arab countries that fought against it: Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. While the line according to the agreements was supposed to be considered temporary and unofficial, it is commonly treated as the de facto border of Israel and the basis upon which agreements are negotiated and reached with neighboring rival Arab states. It served as the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. In the country as a whole, the line separates pre-1967 Israel from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and the Arab states around it. In the specific Jerusalem context, this line (and the no-man’s-land Seam zone around it) divided between West Jerusalem, which became part of the state when it was established in 1948, and East Jerusalem, which was annexed to Jordan until 1967.