Government of Palestine

The government of Palestine is the government of the Palestinian Authority or State of Palestine. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (EC) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and acts as the government. Since June 2007, there have been two separate administrations in Palestine, one in the West Bank and the other in the Gaza Strip. The government on the West Bank was generally recognised as the Palestinian Authority Government. On the other hand, the government in the Gaza Strip claimed to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian Authority. Until June 2014, when the Palestinian Unity Government was formed, the government in the West Bank was the Fatah-dominated Palestinian government of 2013. In the Gaza Strip, the government was the Hamas government of 2012. Following two Fatah–Hamas Agreements in 2014, on 25 September 2014 Hamas agreed to let the PA Government resume control over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings with Egypt and Israel, but that agreement had broken down by June 2015, after President Abbas said the PA government was unable to operate in the Gaza Strip.

History

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The following organizations have claimed or exercised authority over the Palestinian people in the past:

PNA governments

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Palestinian National Authority was formally an interim administrative body established by the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords of 1993. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords, the PA Government had only authority over some civil rights of the Palestinians in the West Bank Areas A and B and in the Gaza Strip, and over internal security in Area A and in Gaza. One of the security tasks was the security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which among other things aimed at the prevention of Palestinian attacks on the Israeli army and settlers. Until 2007 it exercised control of populated areas in Area A and B of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip:

Split of Fatah and Hamas

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Since June 2007, the Fatah-led government has exercised authority in Ramallah, West Bank, and has been recognized as the official government of the Palestinian Authority; while since Hamas took control in the Gaza Strip, it has exercised de facto control there, ousting Fatah PNA representatives in June 2007.

  • Fatah government in the West Bank
  • Governance of the Gaza Strip
    • First Hamas government 2007–12 (Hamas Administration in Gaza)
    • Second Hamas government September 2012–14 (Hamas Administration in Gaza)
    • Third Hamas government 2016–present is the Gaza-based Hamas-dominated de facto government in Gaza. It is made up of Deputy Ministers, Directors General and other high-level officials, not directly bound to the Ramallah administration. It was initially speculated that the 2016 Hamas government is an attempt by Ismail Haniyeh to return to full control of the Gaza enclave. The United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Israel classify Hamas as a terrorist organization and do not recognize the government. Hamas government is not recognized by the Ramallah administration of the State of Palestine.
  • Palestinian Unity Government
    • The Palestinian Unity Government was formed on 2 June 2014, following the Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement of 23 April 2014. However, the Government was not presented for approval by the Legislative Council, leading to its legitimacy being questioned. The ministers were nominally independent, but overwhelmingly seen as loyal to President Abbas and his Fatah movement or to smaller leftist factions, none of whom were believed to have close ties to Hamas. A feature of this government is the appointment of Deputy Ministers, Directors General and other high-level officials for Gaza, and not directly bound to the Ramallah administration. The government of 2014 resigned on 17 June 2015, under protest from Hamas which was not consulted.[6][7] In July and December 2015, Abbas reshuffled the cabinet and appointed new ministers without consulting Hamas, which was denounced by Hamas. Although Hamas did not recognize the new ministers and rejected the changes, the reshuffling was called "technical and not political",[8] and the new cabinet was presented as a slightly changed existing government, still called "consensus government".[9]

Following 2023-present War

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Following talks mediated by China, on 23 July 2024, Palestinian groups including Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement to end their divisions and form an interim unity government, which they announced in the "Beijing Declaration".[10] The agreement was designed to address governance for "the day after" a ceasefire with Israel.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Abbas confirms resignation from PLO Executive Committee Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. The Middle East Monitor, 24 August 2015
  2. ^ Sayigh, Yezid (1999). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993 (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 624. ISBN 9780198296430.
    "The Palestinian National Council also empowered the central council to form a government-in-exile when appropriate, and the executive committee to perform the functions of government until such time as a government-in-exile was established."
  3. ^ Status of Palestine in the United Nations. UNGA Resolution A/RES/67/19, 29-11-2012
    "Taking into consideration that the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with a decision by the Palestine National Council, is entrusted with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine"
  4. ^ a b PLO vs. PA Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Passia, September 2014
  5. ^ "New Palestinian government sworn in". The Jerusalem Post. 13 April 2019.
  6. ^ Palestinian unity government resigns. Al Jazeera, 17 June 2015
  7. ^ Hamas Rejects 'One-sided' Dissolution of Palestinian Government. Haaretz, 17 June 2015
  8. ^ Abbas to reshuffle Palestinian gov't. Xinhua, 1 July 2015
  9. ^ New cabinet reshuffle on consensus government. Ma’an, 1 July 2015
  10. ^ a b Chen, Laurie; Al-Mulgrabi, Nidal (23 July 2024). "Palestinian Factions Agree to Form Unity Government after Talks in China". Reuters. Retrieved 23 July 2024.