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Updated April 14, 2020
The Palestinians: Overview and Key Issues for U.S. Policy
The Palestinians and their ongoing disputes and interactions
health care, education, and housing assistance to Palestinian
with Israel raise significant issues for U.S. policy (see “Key
refugees.
U.S. Policy Issues” below). U.S.-Palestinian tensions have
International attention to the Palestinians’ situation
risen in connection with Trump Administration actions
increased after Israel’s military gained control over the
generally seen as favoring Israel, including the release of a
West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Direct
U.S. peace plan in January 2020. Within a complicated
U.S. engagement with Palestinians in the West Bank and
legal and political context, the United States suspended
Gaza dates from the establishment of the Palestinian
bilateral aid to the Palestinians in 2019. The resumption of
Authority (PA) in 1994. For the past several years, other
aid may depend on various factors mentioned below,
regional political and security issues have taken some of the
including the public health and economic effects of the
global attention from Palestinian issues.
global COVID-19 pandemic. The virus’s potential impact
on the Gaza Strip—given its infrastructure problems and
Timeline of Key Events Since 1993
high population density—may be of particular concern,
1993-1995
Israel and the PLO mutual y recognize each
with possible ripple effects for Israel.
other and establish the PA, which has limited
The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in
self-rule (subject to overal Israeli control) in
present-day Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Fatah, an
the Gaza Strip and specified areas of the
Arab nationalist faction, is the driving force within the
West Bank.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents
2000-2005
Second Palestinian intifada affects prospects
Palestinians internationally. The Sunni Islamist group
for Israeli-Palestinian peace, leads to
Hamas (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization) has not
tightened Israeli security in the West Bank,
accepted PLO recognition of Israel and constitutes the main
and complicates the U.S. third-party role.
opposition to Fatah.
2004-2005
PLO Chairman/PA President Yasser Arafat
dies; Mahmoud Abbas succeeds him.
2005
Israel unilateral y disengages from Gaza, but
remains in control of airspace and
land/maritime access points.
2006
Hamas wins majority in Palestinian Legislative
Council and leads new PA cabinet; Israel,
United States, and European Union confine
relations to PA President Abbas.
2007
West Bank-Gaza split: Hamas seizes control
of Gaza Strip; Abbas reorganizes PA cabinet
to lead West Bank; this remains the status
quo to date.
2007-present
Various rounds of U.S.-brokered Israeli-
Palestinian peace negotiations (the last in
2013-2014) end unsuccessful y; PLO/PA
increases efforts to gain membership in or
support from international organizations.
Source: Economist Intel igence Unit.
Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli-
2017-present
U.S.-Palestinian tensions rise in connection
Palestinian negotiation.
with various Trump Administration actions
(see “Key U.S. Policy Issues” below).
Of the approximately 12.4 million Palestinians worldwide,
about 4.8 million (98% Sunni Muslim, 1% Christian) live in
PLO/PA: Governance, Security, and Succession
the West Bank and Gaza. About 1.5 million additional
The PA held occasional elections for president and a
Palestinians are citizens of Israel, and 6.1 million more live
legislative council until the Hamas victory in the 2006
elsewhere. Of the total Palestinian population, around 5.4
legislative elections. Since then, it has ruled by presidential
million (roughly 44%) are refugees (registered in the West
decree, and some NGOs have criticized its actions on rule
Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) whose claims to
of law and civil liberties. Given the West Bank-Gaza split
land in present-day Israel constitute a major issue of Israeli-
in 2007, it is unclear if elections will take place again.
Palestinian dispute. The U.N. Relief and W orks Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides
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The Palestinians: Overview and Key Issues for U.S. Policy
After 2007, the United States and some other countries
However, since 2019, Hamas has engaged in fewer
sought to bolster the Abbas-led PA in the West Bank vis-à-
exchanges of fire with Israel. Some observers have argued
vis Hamas, including through economic and nonlethal
that this reduction might reflect an interest by Hamas in an
security assistance. Since the 2019 U.S. suspension of aid,
extended calm with Israel. Action toward that end could
the European Union and Arab Gulf states have continued to
lose Hamas support from Palestinians who warn against
provide external assistance for Palestinians. Israel-PA
abandoning armed resistance to Israel.
security coordination, which has contributed to the West
Bank’s stab
Key U.S. Policy Issues
ility since the end of the second intifada,
The Trump Administration has clashed politically with
continues amid some Palestinian criticism.
Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO/PA. After President Trump
recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017
Mahmoud Abbas’s age (b. 1935) and reports of
and announced his intention to relocate the U.S. embassy
deteriorating health have contributed to speculation about
there, Abbas broke off high-level political contacts with the
who might lead the PA and PLO upon the end of his tenure.
United States and turned to other international actors.
There are a number of possible successors. Majid Faraj
(arguably the advis er most trusted by Abbas) and Saeb
In January 2020, the Trump Administration released a long-
Erekat (the PLO’s top negotiator) have major profiles
awaited “Peace to Prosperity” plan for the Israelis and
internationally, but limited domestic popular support.
Palestinians. Palestinian leaders emphatically rejected the
Mohammed Shtayyeh (PA prime minister since March
plan, which reinforced their concerns that the
2019) is an internationally visible Fatah insider. Other key
Administration has aligned itself with Israel to
Fatah figures include Mahmoud al Aloul and Jibril Rajoub.
predetermine key diplomatic outcomes. In the wake of the
Marwan Barghouti attracts significant popular support, but
U.S. plan’s release, questions include whether Israel might
has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002. Muhammad
unilaterally annex West Bank areas, and how Palestinians
Dahlan enjoys support from some Arab states, but was
and other regional actors who strongly oppose annexation
expelled from Fatah in 2011.
might react.
Hamas and Gaza
Figure 1. U.S. Bilateral Assistance to the Palestinians
Hamas controls Gaza through its security forces and obtains
resources from smuggling, informal “taxes,” and reported
external assistance from some Arab sources and Iran.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader for Gaza, came from
Hamas’s military wing. Hamas also maintains a presence in
the West Bank—possibly for the purpose of increasing its
power there—and a political bureau that conducts Hamas’s
worldwide dealings. Gaza-based Ismail Haniyeh is the
leader of the political bureau. Fatah and Hamas have
reached a number of Egypt-brokered agreements aimed at
ending the West Bank-Gaza split. However, problems with
Sources: U.S. State Department and USAID, adapted by CRS.
implementation have left Hamas in control of Gaza despite
Notes: Al amounts are approximate. Amounts for FY2020 have
PA responsibility for some civil services.
been appropriated but not obligated. NADR = Nonproliferation,
Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs, INCLE =
Hamas and other Gaza-based militants have engaged in
International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, ESF =
three significant conflicts with Israel (2008-2009, 2012,
Economic Support Fund, OCO = Overseas Contingency Operations.
2014). In each conflict, the militants launched rockets
indiscriminately toward Israel, and Israeli military strikes
In the context of U.S.-Palestinian tensions, the aid picture is
largely decimated Gaza’s infrastructure. The actions on
complicated. After actions in 2018 by the Administration
both sides worsened a conundrum for third-party countries
and Congress to reduce bilateral aid, and by the
and international organizations that seek to rebuild Gaza’s
Administration to discontinue contributions to UNRWA,
infrastructure without bolstering Hamas.
Congress enacted the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of
2018 (ATCA; P.L. 115-253). In response to ATCA, the PA
Difficult living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza persist
refused to accept any U.S. bilateral aid in the West Bank
and are exacerbated by uncertainties regarding external
and Gaza—including nonlethal security assistance that
funding. This has led some Members of Congress to call for
Israel supports—beyond January 2019. Accepting aid could
a resumption of U.S. assistance—including in relation to
have subjected the PLO/PA to legal liability in U.S. courts.
the COVID-19 crisis—to help alleviate suffering. Israeli-
Later in 2019, the Promoting Security and Justice for
approved cash transfers from Qatar since late 2018 have
Victims of Terrorism Act (§ 903 of P.L. 116-94) removed
provided some relief for Gazans . To the extent that outside
the provision in ATCA that used U.S. aid as a trigger for
contributions replace funding from the West Bank-based
potential PLO/PA legal liability. This legal change could
PA—whose actions suggest some ambivalence over taking
lead to U.S.-PA discussions on possibly resuming some aid,
responsibility for Gaza—they could undermine prospects
including per FY2020 appropriations shown in Figure 1.
for West Bank-Gaza unity. According to the World Bank,
Gazans’ real per ca
Uncertainty continues regarding aid given questions
pita incomes fell by one-third between
regarding Trump Administration plans, other potential legal
1994 and 2017, owing partly to Israel and Egypt’s tight
liability triggers for Palestinian entities, and COVID-19.
controls on goods and people transiting Gaza’s borders.
Violence flares regularly between Gazans and Israel’s
Jim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
military, periodically escalating toward larger conflict.
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The Palestinians: Overview and Key Issues for U.S. Policy
IF10644
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