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Congressional Research Service
Informi ig the legislative debate since 1914


S


                                                                                                Updated April 25, 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, a traditionally secular Arab nationalist
faction, is the predominant faction 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.


Jordan


Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subj
Palestinian negotiation.
International attention to the Palestinians' situa
increased after Israel's military gained control
West Bank  and Gaza  in the 1967 Arab-Israeli'
U.S. engagement  with Palestinians in the West
Gaza dates from the establishment of the Pales


ect to Israeli-

tion


Authority (PA) in 1994. In the past decade, other regional
political and security issues have taken some of the global
attention from Palestinian issues.
Timeline   of Key Events   Since 1993
1993-1995         Israel and the PLO mutually recognize one
                 another 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


The 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 recognizes Jerusalem
                 as Israel's capital, and U.S.-Palestinian
                 tensions increase.

PLO/PA, West Bank, and Possible Succession
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. Given the West Bank-Gaza  split in 2007, it is
unclear if and when presidential and legislative elections
will take place again.


over the        The United  States and some other countries sought to
Var. Direct     bolster the Abbas-led PA in the West Bank vis-t-vis
Bank  and       Hamas,  including through the provision of economic and
rinian          nonlethal security assistance. However, U.S. aid shrank
                considerably in 2018 and ended completely in early 2019.
ittps://crsreports.congress .gov

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