In the mid-1990s, there was local consternation that Israel still controlled access to the area even after Nablus was handed over to Palestinian Authority control.

BBC: Part II: The road to Bethlehem

Israel had conquered more than triple the size of the area it previously controlled, from 8, 000 to 26, 000 square miles, the defense of which would prove a staggering (and ultimately forfeited) task.

FORBES: The Ghost Of Yom Kippur, Israel's Pearl Harbor