Palestine.
Information.
The Palestinian National Authority was the interim self-government body established to govern Areas A and B of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a consequence of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Area - 6020 sq. km. Population - 4394323 (2013) Capital - Ramallah The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the government of Israel, as a five-year interim body. Further negotiations were then meant to take place between the two parties regarding its final status. As of 2013, more than eighteen years following the formulation of the Authority, this status has yet to be reached. According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was designated to have exclusive control over both security-related and civilian issues in Palestinian urban areas (referred to as "Area A") and only civilian control over Palestinian rural areas ("Area B"). The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley region and bypass roads between Palestinian communities, were to remain under Israeli control ("Area C"). East Jerusalem was excluded from the Accords. Over time, political change has meant that the areas governed by the Authority have also changed. Negotiations with several Israeli governments had resulted in the Authority gaining further control of some areas, but control was then lost in some areas when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retook several strategic positions during the Second ("Al-Aqsa") Intifada. In 2005, after the Second Intifada, Israel withdrew unilaterally from its settlements in the Gaza Strip, thereby expanding Palestinian Authority control to the entire strip. In the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Hamas emerged victorious and nominated Ismail Haniyeh as the Authority's Prime Minister. However, the national unity Palestinian government effectively collapsed when a violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah erupted, mainly in the Gaza Strip. After the Gaza Strip was taken over by Hamas on 14 June 2007, the Authority's Chairman Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and appointed Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister. Though the PA claims authority over all Palestinian territories, Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip means its authority is de facto limited to the West Bank. The Authority's budget derives mainly from various aid programs and the Arab League, while the Hamas government in Gaza was mostly dependent on Iran until the onset of the Arab Spring.[ Since 2007, the Palestinian Authority has continued to oversee the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, while the Hamas government has continued to control the Gaza Strip. A reconciliation agreement to unite their governments, signed in Cairo in 2011, was ratified by the 2012 HamasFatah Doha agreement. Renewed tensions between them, however, plus the effects of the Arab Spring (especially the crisis in Syria) have postponed its implementation. In 2011, representatives of the Authority failed to have their United Nations (UN) status upgraded, although their UNESCO status was upgraded to state representation. In July 2012, the Hamas government in Gaza was reported as considering a declaration of the independence of the Gaza Strip, with the support of neighboring Egypt.
