East Jerusalem was unilaterally annexed by Israel in 1980, prior to the formation of the PA.
It was annexed by Israel in 1980, but this annexation is not recognised by any other country.
During the 1990s, some Israeli companies began to replace Palestinians with foreign workers.
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية ) is the Fatah-controlled, interim self-government body that exercises partial civil control over the Gaza Strip and West Bank areas "A" and "B", established as a consequence of the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords.
The Palestinian Central Council, itself acting on behalf of the Palestine National Council of the PLO, implemented this agreement in a meeting convened in Tunis from 10 to 11 October 1993, making the Palestinian Authority accountable to the PLO Executive Committee. The administrative responsibilities accorded to the PA were limited to civil matters and internal security and did not include external security or foreign affairs.
In response to the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that the Authority must choose whether it wants "peace with Israel or peace with Hamas". ===Officials=== ===Political parties and elections=== From the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 until the death of Yasser Arafat in late 2004, only one election had taken place.
Since January 2013, it has used the name "State of Palestine" on official documents (despite the official state being governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization). The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Gaza–Jericho Agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the government of Israel, as a five-year interim body.
The Gaza–Jericho Agreement was signed on 4 May 1994 and included Israeli withdrawal from the Jericho area and partially from the Gaza Strip, and detailed the creation of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Civil Police Force. The PA was envisioned as an interim organization to administer a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the Areas A and B in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a period of five years, during which final-status negotiations would take place.
It's factions trying to exercise their powers." Ghazi al-Jabali, the Gaza Strip Chief of Police, since 1994 has been the target of repeated attacks by Palestinians.
The appearance of the passport and details about its issuance are described in Appendix C of Annex II (Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs) of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement signed by Israel and the PLO on 4 May 1994.
The first Palestinian police force of 9,000 was deployed in Jericho in 1994, and later in Gaza.
By September 1995, the passport had been recognised by 29 states, some of them (e.g.
The PA was legally separate from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which continues to enjoy international recognition as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, representing them at the United Nations under the name "Palestine". General elections were held for its first legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council, on 20 January 1996.
The Chairman of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, was elected as President of PA in a landslide victory at the general election in 1996. Arafat's administration was criticized for its lack of democracy, widespread corruption among officials, and the division of power among families and numerous governmental agencies with overlapping functions.
All other elections were deferred for various reasons. A single election for president and the legislature took place in 1996.
By 1996, the PA security forces were estimated to include anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 recruits.
Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba Summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords. In August 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began his disengagement from the Gaza Strip, ceding full effective internal control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority but retained control of its borders including air and sea (except for the Egyptian border).
Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba Summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords. In August 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began his disengagement from the Gaza Strip, ceding full effective internal control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority but retained control of its borders including air and sea (except for the Egyptian border).
Some Palestinians opposed to or critical of the peace process perceive the Palestinian security forces to be little more than a proxy of the State of Israel. ==Economy== The Gaza International Airport was built by the PA in the city of Rafah, but operated for only a brief period before being destroyed by Israel following the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000.
The next presidential and legislative elections were scheduled for 2001 but were delayed following the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
Since the October 2003 attack, United States diplomats have been banned from entering the Gaza Strip. ===Violence against officials (2001–2004)=== On 22 April 2001, Jaweed al-Ghussein, former Chairman of the Palestine National Fund, was abducted from Abu Dhabi, UAE, flown to Arish, Egypt, and driven across the border to Gaza, where he was held hostage by the Palestinian Authority.
According to the Palestinian Basic Law which was signed by Arafat in 2002 after a long delay, the current structure of the PA is based on three separate branches of power: executive, legislative, and judiciary.
Whether or not Palestinians born outside Palestine could apply was not clear to the PA Representative questioned by UNHCR representatives in May 2002.
The increase of annual spending between the two periods registers 450 percent, which is much higher than the percentage increase of the number of prisoners. Between 2002 and 2004, the PA paid 22M NIS to cover other expenses – lawyers' fees, fines, and allocations for released prisoners.
In an amendment to the Basic Law approved in 2003, the president appoints the Prime Minister who is also chief of the security services in the Palestinian territories.
In 2003, Mahmoud Abbas resigned because of lack of support from Israel, the US, and Arafat himself.
Since the October 2003 attack, United States diplomats have been banned from entering the Gaza Strip. ===Violence against officials (2001–2004)=== On 22 April 2001, Jaweed al-Ghussein, former Chairman of the Palestine National Fund, was abducted from Abu Dhabi, UAE, flown to Arish, Egypt, and driven across the border to Gaza, where he was held hostage by the Palestinian Authority.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined he was being held 'manifestly with no legal justification' and appointed a Special Rapporteur on torture. On 15 October 2003, three members of a United States diplomatic convoy were killed and additional members of the convoy wounded three kilometers south of the Erez Crossing into the Gaza Strip by a terrorist bomb.
During the riots, at least one Palestinian was killed and a dozen more seriously wounded. On 20 July 2004 David Satterfield, the second-in-charge at the United States Department of State Near East desk stated in a hearing before the Senate that the Palestinian Authority had failed to arrest the Palestinian terrorists who had murdered three members of an American diplomatic convoy travelling in the Gaza Strip on 15 October 2003.
22 of 2003, regarding the powers of the governors. The regional governors (محافظ muhafiz) are appointed by the President.
In response to the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that the Authority must choose whether it wants "peace with Israel or peace with Hamas". ===Officials=== ===Political parties and elections=== From the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 until the death of Yasser Arafat in late 2004, only one election had taken place.
Mustafa Barghouti, a physician and independent candidate, won 19.8%. On 10 May 2004, the Palestinian Cabinet announced that municipal elections would take place for the first time.
Elections were announced for August 2004 in Jericho, followed by certain municipalities in the Gaza Strip.
In July 2004 these elections were postponed.
Municipal elections finally took place for council officials in Jericho and 25 other towns and villages in the West Bank on 23 December 2004.
The perpetrators remain at large. In February 2004, Ghassan Shaqawa, the mayor of Nablus, filed his resignation from office in protest of the Palestinian Authority's lack of action against the armed militias rampaging the city and the multiple attempts by some Palestinians to assassinate him.
We are a single nation and many people know each other and it is not easy to kill someone who is bearing a weapon to defend his nation." Karen Abu Zayd, deputy commissioner-general for the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip stated on 29 February 2004: "What has begun to be more visible is the beginning of the breakdown of law and order, all the groups have their own militias, and they are very organized.
In March 2004, his offices were targeted by gunfire.
In April 2004, a bomb was detonated destroying the front of his house.
On 17 July 2004, he was kidnapped at gunpoint following an ambush of his convoy and wounding of two bodyguards.
During the riots, at least one Palestinian was killed and a dozen more seriously wounded. On 20 July 2004 David Satterfield, the second-in-charge at the United States Department of State Near East desk stated in a hearing before the Senate that the Palestinian Authority had failed to arrest the Palestinian terrorists who had murdered three members of an American diplomatic convoy travelling in the Gaza Strip on 15 October 2003.
A leader of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they torched the building because new mayor Qadorrah Moussa, appointed by Arafat, had refused to pay salaries to Al Aqsa members or to cooperate with the group. On 8 August 2004 the Justice Minister Nahed Arreyes resigned stating that he has been stripped of much of his authority over the legal system.
The year before, Yasser Arafat created a rival agency to the Justice Ministry and was accused of continuing to control the judiciary and in particular the state prosecutors. On 10 August 2004, a report by an investigation committee Palestinian Legislative Council for the reasons for the anarchy and chaos in the PA was published by Haaretz daily newspaper.
The increase of annual spending between the two periods registers 450 percent, which is much higher than the percentage increase of the number of prisoners. Between 2002 and 2004, the PA paid 22M NIS to cover other expenses – lawyers' fees, fines, and allocations for released prisoners.
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 while Israel continued to control the crossing points, airspace, and the waters of the Gaza Strip's coast. In the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Hamas emerged victorious and nominated Ismail Haniyeh as the Authority's Prime Minister.
The reconciliation process to unite the Palestinian governments achieved some progress over the years, but had failed to produce a re-unification. The PA received financial assistance from the European Union and the United States (approximately US$1 billion combined in 2005).
Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba Summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords. In August 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began his disengagement from the Gaza Strip, ceding full effective internal control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority but retained control of its borders including air and sea (except for the Egyptian border).
He won the presidency on 9 January 2005 with 62% of the vote.
Former prime minister Ahmed Qureia formed his government on 24 February 2005 to wide international praise because, for the first time, most ministries were headed by experts in their field as opposed to political appointees. The presidential mandate of Mahmoud Abbas expired in 2009 and he is no longer recognised by Hamas, among others, as the legitimate Palestinian leader.
Following Arafat's death, elections for the President of the Authority were announced for 9 January 2005.
On 27 January 2005, the first round of the municipal elections took place in the Gaza Strip for officials in 10 local councils.
Further rounds in the West Bank took place in May 2005. Elections for a new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) were scheduled for July 2005 by Acting Palestinian Authority President Rawhi Fattuh in January 2005.
This hurt the Palestinian economy, in particular in the Gaza strip, where 45.7% of the population is under the poverty line according to the CIA World Factbook, but it also affected the West Bank. ===Budget=== According to the World Bank, the budget deficit in PNA was about $800 million in 2005, with nearly half of it, financed by donors.
Following elections in 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, its authority had extended only in areas A and B of the West Bank.
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 while Israel continued to control the crossing points, airspace, and the waters of the Gaza Strip's coast. In the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Hamas emerged victorious and nominated Ismail Haniyeh as the Authority's Prime Minister.
All direct aid was suspended on 7 April 2006, as a result of the Hamas victory in parliamentary elections.
This increased the percentage of land in the Gaza Strip nominally governed by the PA from 60 percent to 100 percent. ===Hamas–Fatah conflict=== Palestinian legislative elections took place on 25 January 2006.
Hamas was victorious and Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as Prime Minister on 16 February 2006 and sworn in on 29 March 2006.
The Prime Minister chooses a cabinet of ministers and runs the government, reporting directly to the President. Parliamentary elections were conducted in January 2006 after the passage of an overhauled election law that increased the number of seats from 88 to 132.
In the 2006 elections, women made up 47 percent of registered voters.
However, the equipment has also been used against Shin Bet informants. ===Palestinian measures to keep law and order=== In 2006, after the Hamas victory, the Palestinian interior minister formed an Executive Force for the police.
On 6 and 7 May 2006, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza and the West Bank demanding payment of their wages. In 2013 there are 150,000 government employees.
This announcement came after several other countries had reduced aid due to indicators of corruption and that funds go towards the salaries of militants. ===Economic sanctions following January 2006 legislative elections=== Following the January 2006 legislative elections, won by Hamas, the Quartet (the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations) threatened to cut funds to the Palestinian Authority.
However, the New York Times alleged on 14 February 2006 that a "destabilization plan" of the United States and Israel, aimed against Hamas, winner of the January 2006 legislative elections, centered "largely on money" and cutting all funds to the PA once Hamas takes power, in order to delegitimize it in the eyes of the Palestinians.
After the Gaza Strip was taken over by Hamas on 14 June 2007, the Authority's Chairman Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government and appointed Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister, dismissing Haniyeh.
As a result, Haniyeh resigned on 15 February 2007 as part of the agreement.
The unity government was finally formed on 18 March 2007 under Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and consisted of members from Hamas, Fatah and other parties and independents.
The situation in the Gaza strip however quickly deteriorated into an open feud between the Hamas and Fatah, which eventually resulted in the Brothers' War. After the takeover in Gaza by Hamas on 14 June 2007, Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas dismissed the government and on 15 June 2007 appointed Salam Fayyad Prime Minister to form a new government.
Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia said in late June 2007 that the West Bank-based Cabinet formed by Fayyad was the sole legitimate Palestinian government, and Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank.
Hamas, which government has an effective control of the Gaza Strip since 2007, faces international diplomatic and economic isolation. In 2013, political analyst Hillel Frisch from Bar-Ilan University's BESA Center, noted that "The PA is playing a double game...with regards to battling Hamas, there’s coordination if not cooperation with Israel.
But on the political front, the PA is trying to generate a popular intifada." ===Two PNA administrations=== Since the Hamas-Fatah split in 2007, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority based in areas of the West Bank had stabilized, though no significant economic growth had been achieved.
Since 2007 Gaza has been governed by the Hamas Government in Gaza. ==Politics and internal structure== The politics of the Palestinian Authority take place within the framework of a semi-presidential multi-party republic, with the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), an executive President, and a Prime Minister leading a Cabinet.
Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority stayed out of the Gaza War in 2008–2009, which followed the six-month truce, between Hamas and Israel which ended on 19 December 2008.
Hamas claimed that Israel broke the truce on 4 November 2008, though Israel blamed Hamas for an increasing rocket fire directed at southern Israeli towns and cities.
The 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict began on 27 December 2008 (11:30 a.m.
The total amount of foreign aid received directly by the PA was $1.4 billion in 2009 and $1.8 billion in 2008. Palestinian leaders stated the Arab world was "continuing to ignore" repeated requests for help. The US and the EU responded to Hamas' political victory by stopping direct aid to the PA, while the US imposed a financial blockade on PA's banks, impeding some of the Arab League's funds (e.g.
Former prime minister Ahmed Qureia formed his government on 24 February 2005 to wide international praise because, for the first time, most ministries were headed by experts in their field as opposed to political appointees. The presidential mandate of Mahmoud Abbas expired in 2009 and he is no longer recognised by Hamas, among others, as the legitimate Palestinian leader.
The total amount of foreign aid received directly by the PA was $1.4 billion in 2009 and $1.8 billion in 2008. Palestinian leaders stated the Arab world was "continuing to ignore" repeated requests for help. The US and the EU responded to Hamas' political victory by stopping direct aid to the PA, while the US imposed a financial blockade on PA's banks, impeding some of the Arab League's funds (e.g.
This includes lawyers' fees paid directly by the PA and fees paid through the Prisoners Club. In February 2011, The Jerusalem Post revealed that the PA was paying monthly salaries to members of Hamas who are in Israeli prisons. In March 2009, an extra 800 shekels ($190) was added to the stipends given to Palestinians affiliated with PLO factions in Israeli prisons, as confirmed by the head of Palestinian Prisoner Society in Nablus Ra'ed Amer.
In July 2010, with the easing of the blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israel allowed the distribution of the pro-Fatah newspapers al-Quds, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida to Gaza, but Hamas prevented Gazan distributors from retrieving the shipment.
In July 2010, Hamas banned the smoking of hookah by women in public.
According to figures released by the PA, only 22 percent of the $530,000,000 received since the beginning of 2010 came from Arab donors.
Though condemning Israel over attacks on Gaza, the Palestinian Authority erected no actions during the conflict of Israel with Hamas. The reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas reached intermediate results by the two governments, most notably the agreement in Cairo on 27 April 2011, but with no final solution.
The 2011 deal also promised the entry of Hamas into the Palestine Liberation Organization and holding of elections to its Palestine National Council decision-making body, which was not implemented as well.
In February 2011, the Palestinian Authority announced that parliamentary and presidential elections would be held by September 2011. On 27 April 2011, Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad announced the party's signing of a memorandum of understanding with Hamas' leadership, a major step towards reconciliation effectively paving the way for a unity government.
According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, in 2011, there were more assaults on Palestinian press freedom from the PA than from Israel.
The World Bank stated, "The PA's fiscal situation has become increasingly unsustainable mainly as a result of uncontrolled government consumption, in particular a rapidly increasing public sector wage bill, expanding social transfer schemes and rising net lending." In June 2011, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stated that the Palestinian Authority is facing a financial crisis because funds pledged by donor nations have not arrived on time.
Fayyad said that "In 2011, we have been receiving $52.5 million dollars a month from the Arab countries, which is much less than the amount they committed to deliver." In June 2012, the Palestinian Authority was unable to pay its workers' salaries as a result of their financial issues, including a cutback in aid from foreign donors, and Arab countries not fulfilling their pledges to send money to the Palestinian Authority, in which the Palestinian Authority is heavily dependent.
The World Bank report also blamed the financial issues on the absence of a final status agreement that would allow for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict. As of May 2011, the Palestinian Authority spent $4.5 million per month paying Palestinian prisoners.
This includes lawyers' fees paid directly by the PA and fees paid through the Prisoners Club. In February 2011, The Jerusalem Post revealed that the PA was paying monthly salaries to members of Hamas who are in Israeli prisons. In March 2009, an extra 800 shekels ($190) was added to the stipends given to Palestinians affiliated with PLO factions in Israeli prisons, as confirmed by the head of Palestinian Prisoner Society in Nablus Ra'ed Amer.
Until 2012, there had also been no progress in promotion of PNA status in the UN, as well in negotiations with Israel.
The deal was further ratified in the 2012 Hamas–Fatah Doha agreement, which was made with the background of Hamas relocation from Damascus, due to the simmering Syrian civil war. Since late August 2012, Palestinian National Authority has been swept with social protests aiming against the cost of living.
Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents".
Fayyad said that "In 2011, we have been receiving $52.5 million dollars a month from the Arab countries, which is much less than the amount they committed to deliver." In June 2012, the Palestinian Authority was unable to pay its workers' salaries as a result of their financial issues, including a cutback in aid from foreign donors, and Arab countries not fulfilling their pledges to send money to the Palestinian Authority, in which the Palestinian Authority is heavily dependent.
Adding to the complications are the fact that in the same month, the head of the Palestine Monetary Authority, Jihad Al-Wazir, stated that the Palestinian Authority reached the maximum limit of borrowing from Palestinian banks. In July 2012, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad urged Arab countries to send the money they promised, which amounts to tens of millions of dollars, as they have not made good on their pledges, while Western donors have.
The IMF rejected the proposal because it feared setting a precedent of making IMF money available to non-state entities, like the Palestinian Authority, which as a non-state cannot directly request or receive IMF funding. In mid-July 2012, it was announced that Saudi Arabia would imminently send $100 million to the Palestinian Authority to help relieve them of their financial crisis.
Still, the Palestinian Authority is seeking the support of other countries to send more money to help fix a budget deficit that is approximately $1.5 billion for 2012, and it is estimated that they need approximately $500 million more.
Whenever it is affected, then we will be in crisis." By 15 July 2012, Palestinian Authority workers received only 60% of their salaries for June, which caused discontent against the government. In a "goodwill gesture" to the Palestinian Authority to renew dialogue with Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz decided to give Ramallah a NIS 180 million advance on tax money it transfers on a monthly basis.
One Israeli official said that the money helped the Palestinian Authority pay its salaries before Ramadan, and it was part of Israel's policy of helping to "preserve the Palestinian economy." The World Bank issued a report in July 2012 that the Palestinian economy cannot sustain statehood as long as it continues to heavily rely on foreign donations and the private sector fails to thrive.
29% of Palestinians say people in the West Bank can criticize the government in the West Bank without fear. At a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the United States Congress on 10 July 2012, titled "Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment," it was stated that there is serious corruption within the political establishment and in financial transactions.
Since January 2013, it has used the name "State of Palestine" on official documents (despite the official state being governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization). The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Gaza–Jericho Agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the government of Israel, as a five-year interim body.
Hamas, which government has an effective control of the Gaza Strip since 2007, faces international diplomatic and economic isolation. In 2013, political analyst Hillel Frisch from Bar-Ilan University's BESA Center, noted that "The PA is playing a double game...with regards to battling Hamas, there’s coordination if not cooperation with Israel.
They have allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in USAID contracts." In April 2013, the Palestinian organization Coalition for Transparency in Palestine said it was investigating 29 claims of stolen public funds.
On 6 and 7 May 2006, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza and the West Bank demanding payment of their wages. In 2013 there are 150,000 government employees.
The Palestinian unity government of 2014 formed on 2 June 2014 as a national and political union under Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian unity government first convened in Gaza on 9 October 2014 to discuss the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.
On 30 November 2014, Hamas declared that the unity government had ended with the expiration of the six-month term.
But Fatah subsequently denied the claim, and said that the government is still in force. On 7–8 February 2016, Fatah and Hamas held talks in Doha, Qatar in an attempt to implement the 2014 agreements.
After the 2014 agreement, US President Barack Obama said in April 2014 that President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to form a national unity government with Hamas was "unhelpful" and undermined the negotiations with Israel.
Amin Maqboul, secretary-general of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, told Al-Monitor, "Hamas did not stick to the 2014 agreement, as it has yet to hand over the reins of power over Gaza to the national consensus government and continues to control the crossings.
But Fatah subsequently denied the claim, and said that the government is still in force. On 7–8 February 2016, Fatah and Hamas held talks in Doha, Qatar in an attempt to implement the 2014 agreements.
However, in a speech in 2016 president Abbas said that "The Palestinian Authority exists and it is here," and "The Palestinian Authority is one of our achievements and we won’t give it up." ==Geography== The Palestinian Territories refers to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).
However, on 31 August 2016, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that US federal courts lacked overseas jurisdiction on civil cases. ==Police forces== The creation of a Palestinian police force was called for under the Oslo Accords.
Each PLO-affiliated prisoner receives 1,000 shekels ($238) per month, an extra 300 shekels ($71) if they are married, and an extra 50 shekels ($12) for each child. In 2016 the United Kingdom had a domestic debate about how its aid to the PA ended up funding prisoners incarcerated in Israel.
In October 2016 a sum of £25 million, constituting a third of its aid payments, was withheld pending the results of an investigation. ===James G.
In August 2019, the Palestinian Authority banned LGBTQ organizations from operating in the West Bank, targeting the group Al Qaws. The Fatah–Hamas conflict has further limited the freedom of the press in the PA territories and the distribution of opposing voices in Hamas-controlled Gaza and the West Bank where Fatah still has more influence.
Income to run the government to serve about 4 million citizens, comes from donations from other countries. In 2020, Swedish foreign aid minister Peter Eriksson (Green Party) announced a 1.5 billion SEK support package (about 150 million euro) to the Palestine Authority in 2020–2024.
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