Editing Occupied Palestinian territories (section)

==Governance==
{{Politics of Palestine}}
{{see also|Palestinian National Authority|Governance of the Gaza Strip}}

The political status of the territories has been the subject of negotiations between Israel and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] and of a number of statements and resolutions by the United Nations. (See [[List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel]].) Since 1994, the autonomous [[Palestinian National Authority]] has exercised various degrees of control in large parts of the territories, as a result of the Declaration of Principles contained in the [[Oslo Accords]]. The United States government considers the West Bank and Gaza as a single entity for political, economic, legal and other purposes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-03-14/pdf/97-6434.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515014333/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-03-14/pdf/97-6434.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-15 |url-status=live |title=Department of the Treasury, Customs Service, T.D. 97–16, Country of Origin Marking of Products From the West Bank and Gaza |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

The State Department and other U.S. government agencies, such as USAID West Bank and Gaza,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/home.html |title=USAID West Bank/Gaza |publisher=[[USAID]] |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009120535/http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/home.html |archive-date=9 October 2009 }}</ref> have been tasked with projects in the areas of democracy, governance, resources, and infrastructure. Part of the USAID mission is to provide flexible and discrete support for implementation of the Quartet Road Map.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/ane/pdf/294-001.pdf |title=West Bank and Gaza&nbsp;— Strategic Objective: 294-001 |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727093624/http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/ane/pdf/294-001.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2009 }}</ref> The Road Map is an internationally backed plan that calls for the progressive development of a viable Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza. Participating states provide assistance through direct contributions or through the Palestinian State account established by the World Bank.<ref>{{cite web |author=Embassy of France |url=http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article1037 |title=International Donors' Conferences for the Palestinian State |publisher=Ambafrance-us.org |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Gaza City.JPG|thumb|Gaza City in 2007.]]
Hamas won a majority of seats in elections for the Palestinian Parliament in 2006 and formed a government in [[Ramallah]] for the entire PA largely shunned by the United States and Israel. The [[Fatah]] movement continued to dominate the PA security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force, executing PA officers and removing its officials, a number of whom, such as [[Muhammad Dahlan]], escaped the Gaza Strip with their families.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950381.htm|title=British Jewish group sparks outrage with Gaza blockade criticism|access-date=21 December 2008}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Gaza's Future, Henry Siegman, London Review of Books |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n03/sieg01_.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509082132/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n03/sieg01_.html |archive-date=9 May 2008 |access-date=30 June 2010 |publisher=Lrb.co.uk}}</ref>

[[Mahmoud Abbas]] promptly deposed the Hamas-dominated PA government, and two rival administrations were created, a Fatah-controlled one in the West Bank, with which Israel, the US and the EU resumed business, and a Hamas-controlled one in the Gaza Strip which was largely shunned by the world community. After Hamas intensified rocket and mortar fire on Israeli civilian centers from the Gaza Strip, the United States and Israel instituted a military and economic blockade of the Gaza Strip.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/> When that failed to topple the new government, a covert operation was launched to eliminate Hamas by force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/964058.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401074617/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/964058.html|url-status=dead|title=Bay of Pigs in Gaza, Tom Segev, Haaretz|archive-date=1 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Suzanne |last=Goldenberg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/04/usa.israelandthepalestinians |title=US plotted to overthrow Hamas after election victory|newspaper=The Guardian |date= 4 March 2008|access-date=10 June 2022 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=104 |title=Rabin Made Mistake Arming Arafat – Olmert Makes Same Mistake Arming Abbas |publisher=Zoa.org |access-date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511060042/http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=104 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The covert initiative was exposed when confidential State Department documents were accidentally leaked by the U.S. envoy. The talking points delivered to the Fatah leadership said:
{{blockquote|
Hamas should be given a clear choice, with a clear deadline: they either accept a new government that meets the Quartet principles, or they reject it. The consequences of Hamas' decision should also be clear: If Hamas does not agree within the prescribed time, you should make clear your intention to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government explicitly committed to that platform.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804?currentPage=3 |title=The Gaza Bombshell, David Rose, Vanity Fair, April 2008, page 3 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=20 October 2009 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>
}}

Since the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)]], the administration of the territories has been contested by two rival factions of the Palestinian National Authority, with Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and Fatah continuing to administer the West Bank. Both groups claim legitimacy over leadership of the Palestinian territories. Most countries with an interest in the issues, including most of the Arab countries, recognize the administration of [[Mahmoud Abbas]] as the legitimate government over both Palestinian Territories.{{who|date=November 2010}}

During Operation Cast Lead the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1860 (2009), which said that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 that will be a part of the Palestinian state.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/sc9567.doc.htm |title=See the text of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009) |publisher=United Nations |date=8 January 2009 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref>

On 15 December 2011, [[Iceland]] recognized Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the pre-1967 Six-Day War borders; Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, and Dr. Riad Malki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine, formally confirmed the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Iceland and Palestine.<ref>[http://eng.utanrikisraduneyti.is/speeches-and-articles/nr/6847 Iceland Recognizes Palestine], Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs.</ref>

The [[2014 Fatah–Hamas Gaza Agreement]] provided for elections and the formation of a compromise unity government.<ref name=jPostUnity /> The [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict]] intervened, however the unity government survived. In August, Palestinian leaders said they would apply to the [[United Nations Security Council]] for the establishment of a timetable for ending the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The application would be made on 15 September 2014, following an [[Arab League]] meeting on 5 September at which support for the move would be requested. Unless a timetable was established, the Palestinian leadership said it would apply to the [[International Criminal Court]] where it would hold Israel responsible for its actions not only in the West Bank, but in the [[Gaza Strip]].<ref name="PLOun" />