After defeating Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israeli forces occupied the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights. Soon afterward, groups of Israelis began settling in these lands and building permanent communities. According to international law, an occupying country cannot resettle its population into occupied territory, making these settlements illegal. Israel denies that the territories are occupied, citing treaties with Egypt and Jordan that renounced their claims on the lands. As a result, Israel treats settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as regular communities that are a part of the State of Israel. However, the vast majority of the international community outside of Israel maintains that since these lands were designated by the United Nations to become an independent Palestinian state, they still remain occupied territory.