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1 1 (December 17, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbdzy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 01;0i E.$~ & Updated December 17, 2019 The Palestinians: Overview and Key Issues for U.S. Policy The Palestinians and their ongoing disputes and interactions with Israel raise significant issues for U.S. policy. U.S.- Palestinian tensions have risen in connection with Trump Administration actions on Israeli-Palestinian matters such as Jerusalem and aid (see Key U.S. Policy Issues below). The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in present-day Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip (Gaza). Fatah, an Arab nationalist faction, is the driving force within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents Palestinians internationally. The Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization) has not accepted PLO recognition of Israel and constitutes the main opposition to Fatah. Of the approximately 12.4 million Palestinians worldwide, about 4.8 million (98% Sunni Muslim, 1% Christian) live in the West Bank and Gaza. About 1.5 million additional Palestinians are citizens of Israel, and 6.1 million more live elsewhere. Of the total Palestinian population, around 5.4 million (roughly 44%) are refugees (registered in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) whose claims to land in present-day Israel constitute a major issue of Israeli- Palestinian dispute. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides assistance (such as health care, education, and housing) to Palestinian refugees. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit. Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli- Palestinian negotiation. International attention to the Palestinians' situation increased after Israel's military gained control over the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Direct U.S. engagement with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza dates from the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994. In the past decade, other regional political and security issues have taken some of the global attention from Palestinian issues. of ,.,ein. Key4 ,wv v.,t i ',-. 99T 1993-1995 2000-2005 2004-2005 2005 2006 2007 Israel and the PLO mutually recognize each other and establish the PA, which has limited self-rule (subject to overall Israeli control) in the Gaza Strip and specified areas of the West Bank. Clinton Administration is unable to broker an Israel-PLO peace agreement; second Palestinian intifada affects prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, leads to tightened Israeli security in the West Bank, and complicates the U.S. third-party role. PLO Chairman/PA President Yasser Arafat dies; Mahmoud Abbas succeeds him. Israel unilaterally disengages from Gaza, but remains in control of airspace and land/maritime access points; Israeli settlements continue to expand in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). Hamas wins majority in Palestinian Legislative Council and leads new PA cabinet; Israel, United States, and European Union confine relations to PA President Abbas. West Bank-Gaza split: Hamas seizes control of Gaza Strip; Abbas reorganizes PA cabinet to lead West Bank; this remains the status quo to date. 2007-present Various rounds of U.S.-brokered Israeli- Palestinian peace negotiations (the last in 2013-2014) end unsuccessfully; PLO/PA increases efforts to gain membership in or support from international organizations. 2017-present Trump Administration takes various actions, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital; U.S.-Palestinian tensions increase. The PA held occasional elections for president and a legislative council until the Hamas victory in the 2006 legislative elections. Since then, it has ruled by presidential decree, and some NGOs have criticized its actions on rule of law and civil liberties. Given the West Bank-Gaza split in 2007, it is unclear if and when elections will take place again. Despite this uncertainty, PA leaders have publicly contemplated holding elections sometime in 2020. The United States and some other countries sought to bolster the Abbas-led PA in the West Bank vis-4-vis Hamas, including through economic and nonlethal security assistance. However, U.S. aid shrank considerably in 2018 4 k~~arc~ p\w gnom ggmm mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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