Palestinian Authority in the context of "Palestine Liberation Organization"

The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the West Bank) that make up the State of Palestine in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Its capital and largest city is Gaza City.

The territorial boundaries were established while Gaza was controlled by the Kingdom of Egypt at the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. During that period the All-Palestine Protectorate, also known as All-Palestine, was established with limited recognition and it became a refuge for Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestine war. Later, during the Six-Day War, Israel captured and occupied the Gaza Strip, initiating its decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territories. The mid-1990s Oslo Accords established the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a limited governing authority, initially led by the secular party Fatah until that party's electoral defeat in 2006 to the Sunni Islamic Hamas. Hamas would then take over the governance of Gaza in the Battle of Gaza the next year, subsequently warring with Israel.

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (Greek: Πατριάρχης Ιεροσολύμων Θεόφιλος Γ'; Arabic: غبطة بطريرك المدينة المقدسة اورشليم وسائر أعمال فلسطين كيريوس كيريوس ثيوفيلوس الثالث, romanized: Ghabṭat baṭrīark al-madīnat al-muqaddasa Urshālim wa sā'ir A'māl Filasṭīn Kiryūs Kiryūs Thiyūfīlūs al-thālith; born 4 April 1952) is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Holy Zion.

Theophilos (also spelled Theofilos or Theophilus) was elected unanimously on 22 August 2005 by the Holy Synod of Jerusalem as the 141st primate of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem to succeed the deposed Irenaios. His election was confirmed by the Eastern Orthodox synod of Constantinople, and was endorsed by Jordan on 24 September 2005, and subsequently by the Palestinian Authority. He was enthroned on 22 November 2005, despite initial Israeli objections. The Israeli government officially recognized Theophilos' election on 16 December 2007.

The Civil Administration (Hebrew: המנהל האזרחי, ha-Minhal ha-ʿEzraḥi; Arabic: الإدارة المدنية الإسرائيلية) is the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank. It was established by the government of Israel in 1981, in order to carry out practical bureaucratic functions within the territories captured by Israel in 1967. While formally separate, it was subordinate to the Israeli military.

The Civil Administration is subordinate to a larger entity known as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which is a unit in the Defense Ministry of Israel. Among its functions are coordination with the Palestinian Authority. After 2002, the distinction set forth in the Oslo Accords restricting Israeli military operations in area A was de facto terminated.

The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the start of the Oslo process, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on Resolution 242 and Resolution 338 of the United Nations Security Council. The Oslo process began after secret negotiations in Oslo, Norway, resulting in both the recognition of Israel by the PLO and the recognition by Israel of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as a partner in bilateral negotiations.

Among the notable outcomes of the Oslo Accords was the creation of the Palestinian Authority, which was tasked with the responsibility of conducting limited Palestinian self-governance over parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; and the international acknowledgement of the PLO as Israel's partner in permanent-status negotiations about any remaining issues revolving around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Bilateral dialogue stems from questions related to the international border between Israel and a future Palestinian state: negotiations for this subject are centered around Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, Israel's maintenance of control over security following the establishment of Palestinian autonomy, and the Palestinian right of return. The Oslo Accords did not create a definite Palestinian state.

Area C (Hebrew: שטח C, romanized: Shetakh C; Arabic: منطقة ج, romanized: minṭaqa jīm) is the fully Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves (Areas A and B). Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, containing most Israeli settlements other than those in East Jerusalem, and more than 99% of the area is off limits or heavily restricted for Palestinians. The area was committed in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord to be "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction" (with an option for land swaps under a final agreement), but such transfer did not happen. The area is richly endowed with natural resources.

Area C, along with the rest of the West Bank, has been under Israeli military control since 1967. In 2023, Area C was home to 491,548 Israeli settlers and 354,000 Palestinians. The Jewish population in Area C is administered by the Israeli Judea and Samaria Area administration, into which Israeli law is "pipelined", whereas the Palestinian population is directly administered by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories under military law. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and educational services to Palestinians in Area C; however, infrastructure construction and supervision is done by Israel.

Hamas began governing the Gaza Strip in June 2007 when it took over the territory from the rival Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA). The Hamas administration was first led by Ismail Haniyeh from June 2007 until February 2017; then by Yahya Sinwar until his killing in October 2024; then by Mohammed Sinwar until his assassination in May 2025; and since then by Izz al-Din al-Haddad. During the Gaza war (2023–present), the group lost control over most of the Gaza Strip to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and as a result of the Gaza peace plan, agreed in October 2025, the IDF currently controls approximately 53% of the territory. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on 17 November 2025, contains provisions to effectively place the Gaza Strip under international administration.

After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as the prime minister of the PA, establishing a national unity government with Fatah. This government effectively collapsed with the outbreak of the violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah. After the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas on 14 June 2007, PA president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and appointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister. Though the new Palestinian government's authority was claimed to extend to both the Palestinian territories, in effect it became limited to the West Bank, as Hamas did not recognize the dismissal and continued to rule the Gaza Strip as an effectively separate administration from the PA. There have been reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas since the 2007 split; a brief Palestinian unity government in 2014 failed to organize elections and reunify the Palestinian territories. A third government was formed by Hamas in October 2016.

The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the establishment a single state in former Mandatory Palestine with equal rights for all its inhabitants. The two-state solution is supported by many countries and the Palestinian Authority. Israel currently does not support the idea, though it has in the past.

The first proposal for separate Jewish and Arab states in the territory was made by the British Peel Commission report in 1937. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a partition plan for Palestine, leading to the 1948 Palestine war. As a result, Israel was established on the area the UN had proposed for the Jewish state, as well as almost 60% of the area proposed for the Arab state. Israel took control of West Jerusalem, which was meant to be part of an international zone. Jordan took control of East Jerusalem and what became known as the West Bank, annexing it the following year. The territory which became the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt but never annexed. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, both the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip have been militarily occupied by Israel, becoming known as the Palestinian territories.