Editing Palestinian Authority (section)

===Establishment===
{{for|the history of the area controlled by the Palestinian Authority prior to its establishment|History of Palestine}}
[[File:Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat at the White House 1993-09-13.jpg|thumb|[[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Yasser Arafat]] at the [[Oslo Accords]] signing ceremony on 13 September 1993]]

The Palestinian Authority was created by the [[Gaza–Jericho Agreement]], pursuant to the 1993 [[Oslo Accords#Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council|Oslo Accords]]. 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]].<ref name=Rudoren/><ref name=CNN/>

The PA was envisioned as an interim organization to administer a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the [[Palestinian enclaves]] in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]] for a period of five years, during which final-status negotiations would take place.<ref name="Ref_f">Oslo Accords, Article I</ref><ref name="Ref_g">[[Oslo Accords]], Article V</ref><ref name="Ref_h">[[Gaza–Jericho Agreement]], Article XXIII, Section 3</ref> 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]].<ref name="icj_wall_palestine_written">Pages 44–49 of the [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1555.pdf written statement submitted by Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205004758/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1555.pdf |date=5 February 2009 }}, 29 January 2004, in the International Court of Justice [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=2 Advisory Proceedings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906030830/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=2 |date=6 September 2015 }} on the [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=mwp&case=131&k=5a Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430104232/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=mwp&case=131&k=5a |date=30 April 2008 }}, [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1497.pdf referred to the court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205005443/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1497.pdf |date=5 February 2009 }} by U.N. General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-10/14 (A/ES-10/L.16) adopted on 8 December 2003 at the 23rd Meeting of the Resumed Tenth Emergency Special Session.</ref>

The administrative responsibilities accorded to the PA were limited to civil matters and internal security and did not include external security or foreign affairs.<ref name=Eurp521>{{harvnb|Eur|2003|p=521}}</ref> Palestinians in the [[Palestinian diaspora|diaspora]] and [[Arab citizens of Israel|inside Israel]] were not eligible to vote in elections for the offices of the Palestinian Authority.<ref name=Rothsteinp63>{{harvnb|Rothstein|1999|p=63}}</ref> The PA was legally separate from the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), which continues to enjoy [[Foreign relations of the Palestine Liberation Organization|international recognition]] as the sole legitimate representative of the [[Palestinian people]], representing them at the United Nations under the name "[[United Nations General Assembly observers#Palestine|Palestine]]".<ref name=Brownp49>{{harvnb|Brown|2003|p=49}}</ref><ref name=Watsonp62>{{harvnb|Watson|2000|p=62}}</ref>

General elections were held for its first legislative body, the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]], on 20 January 1996.<ref name="icj_wall_palestine_written"/> The expiration of the body's term was 4 May 1999, but elections were not held because of the "prevailing coercive situation".<ref name="icj_wall_palestine_written"/>