May 21, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
Features include interactive map, in-depth stories, and more.
Download now. »
The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
|
Description
The Palestinian Authority, is the interim self-government body established to govern the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a consequence of the 1994 Oslo Accords. Since its establishment in 1994, it has renamed itself the Palestinian National Authority and in 2013, after the United Nations General Assembly recognised the State of Palestine as a non-member observer state in the UN, the internationally recognized Fatah government in the West Bank renamed itself the State of Palestine. Following elections in 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, its authority has extended only as far as the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization 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 2012, more than seventeen 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 and only civilian control over Palestinian rural areas. The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley region and bypass roads between Palestinian communities, were to remain under Israeli control. 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 retook several strategic positions during the Second Intifada. In 2005, after the Second Intifada, Israel withdrew unilaterally from its settlements in the Gaza Strip, thereby expanding Palestinian control to the entire strip.
(via Freebase)
|
![Settlers' escalating attacks on Palestinians condoned by Israeli government [Saudi TV, Saudi Arabia]](/images/image_cache/base-9571000/9571588/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=a7405e4200f09cf34c8a95135f4f00a6)
![Israel takes aim at Palestinian agricultural sector in Jericho [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-9228000/9228528/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=32d9ba7303d7ffe3399925e94dc8b933 "A Palestinian stands on a thresher during wheat harvest in the West Bank village of Luban al-Gharbiya near Nablus June 27, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman")
![Israel's foreign minister urges ouster of Palestinian leader Abbas [Dubai TV, UAE]](/images/image_cache/base-9094000/9094803/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=fea79be555401a6178ec4316d400aca2 "Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures as he speaks during an Yisrael Beiteinu party meeting ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, in Jerusalem September 26, 2011: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun")
![Israel seizes Islamic endowment land for settlements [Palestine TV, Ramallah]](/images/image_cache/base-8415000/8415839/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=ccbef1075aac7469ea33ccdc638b51ba)
![US presidential candidate Romney hits the campaign trail in Israel [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-7986000/7986402/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e43fd9987aec905554723e204c8e100e)
![Arab League forms international committee to investigate Arafat's death [Palestine TV, Ramallah]](/images/image_cache/base-7295000/7295311/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=1f297026a565f26cc1b8edcad82be827)
![Was Yasser Arafat killed by polonium poisoning? [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-6702000/6702382/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=7508bf76fd425dc4fb677139386061e1)
![Palestinian Authority faces risk of collapse due to financial crisis [Dubai TV, UAE]](/images/image_cache/base-6656000/6656036/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=02bd4681d93592d6c87c6704eb615b21)