link to page 2 link to page 2 
Updated May 26, 2021
The Palestinians: Overview, 2021 Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
The Palestinians and their ongoing disputes and interactions
million (roughly 44%) are refugees (registered in the West
with Israel raise significant issues for U.S. policy (see “U.S.
Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) whose claims to
Policy Issues and 2021 Aid Announcements” below). After
land in present-day Israel constitute a major issue of Israeli-
a serious rupture in U.S.-Palestinian relations during the
Palestinian dispute. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for
Trump Administration, the Biden Administration has
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is mandated
started reengaging with the Palestinian people and their
by the U.N. General Assembly to provide protection and
leaders, and resuming some economic development and
essential services to these registered Palestinian refugees,
humanitarian aid—with hopes of preserving the viability of
including health care, education, and housing assistance.
a negotiated two-state solution. In the aftermath of the May
International attention to the Palestinians’ situation
2021 conflict involving Israel and Gaza, U.S. officials have
increased after Israel’s military gained control over the
announced additional aid (also see below) and other efforts
West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Direct
to help with recovery and engage with the West Bank-based
U.S. engagement with Palestinians in the West Bank and
Palestinian Authority (PA), but near-term prospects for
Gaza dates from the establishment of the PA in 1994. For
diplomatic progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace
the past several years, other regional political and security
reportedly remain dim. Palestinian leaders have lamented
issues have taken some of the global attention from
some Arab states’ recent normalization of relations with
Palestinian issues.
Israel because it could undermine past Arab efforts to link
such improvements with addressing Palestinian negotiating
Timeline of Key Events Since 1993
demands.
1993-1995
Israel and the PLO mutual y recognize each
The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in
other and establish the PA, which has limited
present-day Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Fatah, an
self-rule (subject to overal Israeli control) in
Arab nationalist faction, is the driving force within the
the Gaza Strip and specified areas of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents
West Bank.
Palestinians internationally. The Sunni Islamist group
2000-2005
Second Palestinian intifada affects prospects
Hamas (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization) has not
for Israeli-Palestinian peace, leads to
accepted PLO recognition of Israel and constitutes the main
tightened Israeli security in the West Bank,
opposition to Fatah.
and complicates the U.S. third-party role.
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
Source: Economist Intel igence Unit.
support from international organizations.
Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli-
Palestinian negotiation.
2017-2020
U.S.-Palestinian tensions rise during the
Trump Administration.
Of the approximately 12.4 million Palestinians worldwide,
about 4.8 million (98% Sunni Muslim, 1% Christian) live in
2021
Biden Administration resumes aid and takes
the West Bank and Gaza. About 1.5 million additional
additional steps to reengage Palestinians; May
Palestinians are citizens of Israel, and 6.1 million more live
2021 Israel-Gaza conflict and aftermath
elsewhere. Of the total Palestinian population, more than 5
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Palestinians: Overview , 2021 Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
PLO/PA: Governance, Security, and Succession
Difficult living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza persist
The PA held occasional elections for president and a
and are exacerbated by uncertainties regarding external
legislative council until the Hamas victory in the 2006
funding. Israeli-approved cash transfers from Qatar since
legislative elections. Since then, it has ruled by presidential
late 2018 have provided some relief for Gazans . To the
decree, and some NGOs have criticized its actions on rule
extent that outside contributions replace funding from the
of law and civil liberties . Given the West Bank-Gaza split
West Bank-based PA—whose actions suggest some
in 2007, it is unclear if elections will take place again. After
ambivalence over taking responsibility for Gaza—they
announcing elections for mid-2021, Abbas postponed them
could undermine prospects for West Bank-Gaza unity.
in April, generating significant domestic criticism.
According to the World Bank, Gazans’ real per capita
After 2007, the United States and some other countries
incomes fell by one-third between 1994 and 2017, owing
sought to bolster the Abbas-led PA in the West Bank vis-à-
partly to Israel and Egypt’s tight controls on goods and
vis Hamas, including through economic and nonlethal
people transiting Gaza’s borders.
security assistance. Since the U.S. suspension of aid in
U.S. Policy Issues and 2021 Aid Announcements
2019, the European Union and Arab Gulf states have
The extent to which the Biden Administration might
continued to provide external assistance for Palestinians,
improve U.S.-Palestinian relations remains unclear.
though some Gulf states may have reduced funding. Given
Relations significantly worsened in light of various
measures to control the Coronavirus Disease 2019
developments during the Trump Administration, including
pandemic, the West Bank and Gaza economy contracted by
the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the
11.5% in 2020 and the Economist Intelligence Unit
suspension of U.S. aid, and actions aimed at legitimizing
forecasts a relatively slow 2021 recovery (2.2%).
Israeli settlement activity and the possibility of annexation
Mahmoud Abbas’s age (b. 1935) and reports of health
in the West Bank. The Biden Administration announced its
problems have contributed to speculation about who might
intention in May 2021 to reopen the U.S. consulate general
lead the PLO and PA upon the end of his tenure. There are
in Jerusalem that the Trump Administration subsumed into
a number of possible successors. Top security adviser
the U.S. embassy to Israel in 2019. The Biden
Majid Faraj (arguably the figure most trusted by Abbas) has
Administration also has stated opposition to certain
a major profile internationally, but limited domestic popular
unilateral Israeli or Palestinian actions, including
support. Mohammed Shtayyeh (PA prime minister since
annexation, settlement activity, house demolitions and
March 2019) is an internationally visible Fatah insider.
evictions, or incitement to violence.
Other key Fatah figures include Mahmoud al Aloul and
While the Biden Administration is resuming some types of
Jibril Rajoub. Marwan Barghouti attracts significant
bilateral aid and voluntary contributions to UNRWA, some
popular support, but has been imprisoned by Israel since
complications remain. The Taylor Force Act (Div. S, Title
2002. Nasser al Qudwa is another prominent figure who
X of P.L. 115-141) prohibits most Economic Support Fund
formed a list with Barghouti to rival Fatah for the
(ESF) aid directly benefitting the PA unless the PLO/PA
postponed 2021 elections. Mohammed Dahlan enjoys
curtails domestically popular payments that arguably
support from some Arab states, but was expelled from
incentivize acts of terror. The Nita M. Lowey Middle East
Fatah in 2011.
Partnership for Peace Act of 2020 (Div. K, Title VIII of
P.L. 116-260) has authorized future Israeli-Palestinian
Hamas and Gaza
people-to-people and economic cooperation initiatives.
Hamas controls Gaza through its security forces and obtains
resources from smuggling, informal “taxes,” and reported
In April and May 2021, the Administration announced the
following aid amounts for Palestinians:
external assistance from some Arab sources and Iran.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader for Gaza, came from
$183 million in contributions to UNRWA from the
Hamas’s military wing. Hamas also maintains a presence in
Migration and Refugee Assistance account.
the West Bank. Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh is the leader of
$150 million from ESF funds that the Administration
the political bureau that conducts Hamas’s worldwide
says are mostly not for the PA
dealings. Fatah and Hamas have reached a number of
($75 million each from FY2020 and FY2021).
Egypt-brokered agreements aimed at ending the West
$40 million for nonlethal security assistance for the
Bank-Gaza split. However, problems with implementation
West Bank-based PA from International Narcotics
have left Hamas in control of Gaza despite PA
Control and Law Enforcement.
responsibility for some civil services.
$10 million for Israeli-Palestinian people-to-people
In May 2021, Hamas and other Gaza-based militants
programs from Development Assistance.
became involved with Israel in a significant 11-day conflict
that also included some Arab-Jewish unrest and violence in
$5.5 million for Gaza from International Disaster
Israeli cities, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. In a pattern
Assistance.
that echoed past conflicts from 2008-2009, 2012, and 2014,
For more, see CRS Insight IN11649, U.S. Resumption of
the militants launched rockets indiscriminately toward
Foreign Aid to the Palestinians, by Jim Zanotti and Rhoda
Israel, and Israeli military strikes largely decimated Gaza’s
Margesson; and CRS Report RL34074, The Palestinians:
infrastructure. The actions on both sides worsened a
Back ground and U.S. Relations, by Jim Zanotti.
conundrum for international actors seeking to rebuild
Gaza’s infrastructure without bolstering Hamas.
Jim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
IF10644
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Palestinians: Overview , 2021 Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permissio n of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10644 · VERSION 19 · UPDATED