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1 1 (November 20, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcrh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * ~ ~ tiE>sct~rch $3c ~ .................. Updated November 20, 2020 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 (see Key U.S. Policy Issues below). During the Trump Administration, U.S.-Palestinian tensions have risen in connection with U.S. actions generally seen as favoring Israel. In 2020, Palestinian leaders lamented some Arab states' normalization of relations with Israel because it could undermine past Arab efforts to link such improvements with addressing Palestinian negotiating demands. Within a complicated legal and political context, U.S. aid to the Palestinians was reduced in 2018 and suspended in early 2019; its future is unclear. The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in present-day Israel, the West Bank, and 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. WNt &k *~ VQ' ( 4 ~> Source: Economist Intelligence Unit. Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli- Palestinian negotiation. 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 health care, education, and housing assistance to Palestinian refugees. 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. For the past several years, other regional political and security issues have taken some of the global attention from Palestinian issues. 'nmeA ,e of Key EvnsSnei993 1993-1995 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. 2000-2005 2004-2005 2005 2006 2007 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. 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. 2017-2020 2020 U.S.-Palestinian tensions rise in connection with various Trump Administration actions (see Key U.S. Policy Issues below). In moves opposed by Palestinian leaders, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain fully normalize relations with Israel, and Sudan announces steps in that direction. 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 hup-------------------.-,'*g-v \n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\ \\\ \\\\ \ L \N \ I \N, \ \\ \ \ Q\\ \\\ \\\

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