Editing Ramallah (section)

===Palestinian Authority rule===
The years between 1993 and 2000 (known locally as the "Oslo Years") brought relative prosperity to Ramallah. Ramallah and its immediate environs were classified as [[Palestinian enclaves|Area A]] in the [[Oslo II Accord|Oslo Accords]], under full civil and security control of the [[Palestinian Authority]] (PA) administration in September 1995.<ref>[http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=000921 1995 ''Oslo Interim Agreement''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118200125/https://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=000921 |date=January 18, 2019 }}. Text of the Accord</ref> Many expatriates returned to establish businesses there, and the atmosphere was one of optimism. In 2000, unemployment began to rise and the economy of Ramallah declined.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/dps/dps2002/dp2002-100.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102005327/http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/dps/dps2002/dp2002-100.pdf |url-status=dead |title=UNU-WIDER : Publications|archive-date=January 2, 2016|website=UNU-WIDER}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/said-end.html|title=The End of the Peace Process|work=The New York Times|date=2000|last=Said|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Said|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306040006/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/said-end.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Israel Defense Forces]] remained in control of the territories and its government did not restore the freedom of movement enjoyed by Ramallah residents prior to the first Intifada. Travel to [[Jerusalem]] required special permits. The number and size of [[Israeli settlement]]s around Ramallah increased dramatically. A network of bypass roads for use of Israeli citizens only was built around Ramallah, and Israel expropriated land for settlements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ariga.com/5759/law001.htm|title=ariga.com|website=www.ariga.com|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=March 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308214013/http://ariga.com/5759/law001.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-262.htm |title=PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN AND OTHER ARAB TERRITORIES |publisher=United Nations |date=3 July 1995 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021230839/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-262.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Many official documents previously handled by the Israeli Civil Administration were now handled by the Palestinian Authority but still required Israeli approval. A Palestinian passport issued to Ramallah residents was not valid unless the serial number was registered with the Israeli authorities, who controlled border crossings.<ref>[http://www.badil.org/e-library/Resident_PA.htm Badil.org] Badil.org {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111001943/http://www.badil.org/e-library/Resident_PA.htm |date=January 11, 2009 }}</ref>[[File:Psagot Settlement.JPG|thumb|[[Israeli settlement]] of [[Psagot]] on ''Jabal al-Tawil'' (Tawil Hill), east of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (2004)|left]]The failure of the [[Camp David 2000 Summit|Camp David summit]] in July 2000 led to the outbreak of the [[Second Intifada]] (al-Aqsa Intifada) in September 2000. Young Ramallah residents demonstrated daily against the Israeli army, with marches to the Israeli checkpoints at the outskirts of the city. Over time, the marches were replaced by sporadic use of live ammunition against Israeli soldiers; and various attacks targeting Jewish settlers, particularly on the Israeli-only bypass roads. Army checkpoints were established to restrict movement in and out of Ramallah.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=2075 |title=Zmag.org |publisher=Zmag.org |date=July 5, 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20021201010732/http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?sectionid=22&itemid=2075 |archive-date=December 1, 2002 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.miftah.org/PrinterF.cfm?DocId=2294 |title=Miftah.org |publisher=Miftah.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926215508/http://www.miftah.org/PrinterF.cfm?DocId=2294 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.machsomwatch.org/media/tahseenYaqeen.asp?link=media&lang=eng|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101055843/http://www.machsomwatch.org/media/tahseenYaqeen.asp?link=media&lang=eng|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 1, 2007|title=מחסום WATCH|date=November 1, 2007}}</ref> On October 12, 2000, two Israeli army reservists, Vadim Norzhich and Yosef Avrahami were [[2000 Ramallah lynching|lynched in Ramallah]]. They had taken a wrong turn, and were set upon by a mob, enraged in particular by the [[Muhammad al-Durrah incident]] in Gaza.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} A frenzied crowd killed the two IDF reservists, mutilated their bodies, and dragged them through the streets.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm |title=Lynch mob's brutal attack |date=13 October 2000 |access-date=4 October 2018 |work=BBC News |archive-date=January 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129215716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that afternoon, the Israeli army carried out an air strike on Ramallah, demolishing the police station. Israel later succeeded in capturing and prosecuting some of those involved in the deaths of the reservists.[[File:Ramallah Muqata'a 2013.jpg|thumb|[[Mukataa]] in 2013|left]]The IDF has occasionally operated inside Ramallah, in breach of the 1995 Oslo Accords. The first and largest incursion was the 2002 [[Operation Defensive Shield]], with a more recent intervention coming in March 2017 while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist.<ref>Nahum Barnea, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4780153,00.html 'Beitunian nights: The IDF in the West Bank'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118055544/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4780153,00.html |date=November 18, 2016 }}, [[Ynet]] 18 March 2016.</ref><ref name="International Business Times1">{{cite news | last =Lotto Persio | first =Sofia | title =Palestinian militant 'plotting attack in Israel' shot dead by Swat team in West Bank | language =en | publisher =International Business Times (via Yahoo.com) | date =6 March 2017 | url =https://www.yahoo.com/news/palestinian-militant-plotting-attack-israel-111219006.html | access-date =6 March 2017 | archive-date =March 7, 2017 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170307050632/https://www.yahoo.com/news/palestinian-militant-plotting-attack-israel-111219006.html | url-status =live }}</ref> In 2002, the army imposed curfews, electricity cuts, school closures and disruptions of commercial life.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://icph.birzeit.edu/Emergencey%20Publications/Child%20Report%20final%202002.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612000219/http://icph.birzeit.edu/Emergencey%20Publications/Child%20Report%20final%202002.pdf |url-status=dead |title=ICPH.birzeit.edu|archive-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> Many Ramallah institutions, including government ministries, were vandalized, and equipment was destroyed or stolen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretzdaily.com/captcha/index.php?d=haaretzdaily.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081211195047/http://www.haaretzdaily.com/captcha/index.php?d=haaretzdaily.com|url-status=dead|title=banned interdit verboden prohibido vietato proibido|date=December 11, 2008|archive-date=December 11, 2008|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> The IDF took over local Ramallah television stations, and social and economic conditions deteriorated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/wbgaza-4yrassessment.pdf |title=Siteresources.worldbank.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522143641/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/wbgaza-4yrassessment.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Many expatriates left, as did many other Palestinians who complained that the living conditions had become intolerable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestinercs.org/checkpoints.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427173009/http://www.palestinercs.org/checkpoints.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2006|title=Checkpoints|date=April 27, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/English/Freedom_of_Movement/Siege.asp |title=Btselem.org |publisher=Btselem.org |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003615/http://www.btselem.org/English/Freedom_of_Movement/Siege.asp |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1761785.stm |title=The Palestinians under closure |work=BBC News |date=January 20, 2002 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=February 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221181920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1761785.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] has added to Ramallah's isolation. [[Yasser Arafat]] established his West Bank headquarters, the [[Mukataa]], in Ramallah. Although considered an interim solution, Ramallah became the ''de facto'' capital of the Palestinian Authority, now{{When|date=March 2024}} officially{{Clarify|date=March 2024}} known as the State of Palestine.  It hosts almost all governmental headquarters.  In December 2001, Arafat held meetings at the Mukataa, but lived with his wife and daughter in [[Gaza City]]. After suicide bombings in [[Haifa]], Arafat was confined to the Ramallah compound. In 2002, the compound was partly demolished by the Israeli Defense Forces and Arafat's building was cut off from the rest of the compound.

On November 11, 2004, Arafat died at the [[Percy training hospital of the Armies]] near Paris. He was buried in the courtyard of the Mukataa on November 12, 2004. The site still serves as the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, as well the official West Bank office of [[Mahmoud Abbas]]. Throughout 2005, while the [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza|Disengagement Plan]] was underway, some US government officials suggested to the Palestinian leadership to move the provisional capital back to Gaza, where it had been when the Palestinian Authority was first established in 1994. President Abbas, however, refrained from doing so, arguing that at this point, it was important to keep the administrative center in the West Bank in order to remind the international community that the West Bank was still awaiting a territorial solution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thepalestinepapers.com/files/5129.PDF |title=Meeting minutes between Saeb Erekat and David Welch, ''Palestine Papers'', 16 June 2005 |access-date=January 23, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123172148/http://thepalestinepapers.com/files/5129.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Ramallah Residential.JPG|thumb|right|Residential neighborhood in Ramallah, 2005]]

In December 2005, local elections were held in Ramallah in which candidates from three different factions competed for the 15-seat municipal council for a four-year term. The council elected [[Janet Mikhail]] as mayor, the first woman to hold the post.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle.asp?section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2006/january/middleeast_january34.xml |title=Khaleejtimes.com |publisher=Khaleejtimes.com |date=January 2, 2006 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024336/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle.asp?section=middleeast&xfile=data%2Fmiddleeast%2F2006%2Fjanuary%2Fmiddleeast_january34.xml |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Karin Laub |url=http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060101/NEWS/201010358/1004/news |title=Ocala.com |publisher=Ocala.com |date=January 1, 2006 |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928100717/http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20060101%2FNEWS%2F201010358%2F1004%2Fnews |url-status=live }}</ref>

Munir Hamdan, a member of [[Fatah]] and a Ramallah businessman, discussed the concentration of government offices with a journalist. He said, "The president and prime minister have their offices here.<ref name="Toameh">[http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283 "'Palestine's new bride'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823005912/http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283|date=August 23, 2010}}, Khaled Abu Toameh, ''Jerusalem Post'', 20 August 2010</ref> So do the parliament and all the government ministries", representing a "collusion" between the Palestinian Authority and Israel to turn Ramallah into the political as well as the financial capital of the Palestinians. He is particularly worried by the construction of a large new governmental complex by the PA.<ref name=Toameh/> [[Hatem Abdel Kader]], a Jerusalem resident, Fatah legislator and former Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, complained that "If they are building a new government compound here, that means they have no plans to be based in Jerusalem... Unfortunately, the Palestinian government of [[Salam Fayyad]] has abandoned Jerusalem in favor of Ramallah."<ref name=Toameh/> In November 2011, King [[Abdullah II of Jordan]] visited Ramallah for the first time since 2000.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 21, 2011 |title=Jordan's King Abdullah visits West Bank for first time in decade |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8904168/Jordans-King-Abdullah-visits-West-Bank-for-first-time-in-decade.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222090641/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/8904168/Jordans-King-Abdullah-visits-West-Bank-for-first-time-in-decade.html |archive-date=December 22, 2016 |access-date=April 3, 2018 |work=telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>