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1 1 (May 24, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelth0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con res ~onaI Research Service drib in I Ie~i I lived ta e c. 1914 Updated May 24, 2023 The Palestinians: Overview, Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in present-day Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Their ongoing disputes and interactions with Israel raise significant issues for U.S. policy (see U.S. Policy Issues and Aid below). After a serious rupture in U.S.-Palestinian relations during the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration reengaged with the Palestinian people and their leaders in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), and resumed aid-with hopes of preserving the viability of a negotiated two-state solution. The Palestinians aspire to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Near-term prospects for diplomatic progress toward Israeli- Palestinian peace reportedly remain dim. Palestinian leaders lamented some Arab states' normalization of relations with Israel near the end of the Trump Administration because it could undermine past Arab efforts to link such improvements with addressing Palestinian negotiating demands. Domestic political uncertainty among both Palestinians and Israelis also presents challenges to a return to Israeli-Palestinian talks. Palestinian domestic politics are dominated by two factions. 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. Since 2007, the United States and other Western countries have generally sought to bolster the Fatah-led PA vis-a-vis Hamas. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit. Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli- Palestinian negotiation. Of the approximately 13.4 million Palestinians worldwide, about 5.1 million (98% Sunni Muslim, 1% Christian) live in the West Bank and Gaza. About 1.6 million additional Palestinians are citizens of Israel, and about 6.7 million more live elsewhere. Of the total Palestinian population, more than 5.7 million (roughly 43%) 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)-funded mostly by voluntary contributions from the United States and other countries-is mandated by the U.N. General Assembly to provide protection and essential services to these registered Palestinian refugees, including health care, education, and housing assistance. 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 PA in 1994. Since the 2010s, other regional political and security issues have taken some of the global attention from Palestinian issues. Reduced international focus on the Palestinians may affect their economy, which faces political risk challenges related to unrest and violence, as well as considerable Israeli movement, access, and land use restrictions. According to the World Bank, external aid to the PA declined from 27% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 to just under 2% in 2022, contributing to large fiscal deficits that endanger the economy's sustainability. The World Bank estimated end-2022 unemployment as 45% in Gaza and 13% in the West Bank. Price hikes connected to the Russia-Ukraine war, including on grain, affect Palestinians alongside others in the region. Timeline of Key Events Since 1993 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 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.

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