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Updated May 24, 2023
The Palestinians: Overview, Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
The Palestinians are an Arab people whose origins are in
the West Bank and Gaza. About 1.6 million additional
present-day Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Their ongoing
Palestinians are citizens of Israel, and about 6.7 million
disputes and interactions with Israel raise significant issues
more live elsewhere. Of the total Palestinian population,
for U.S. policy (see “U.S. Policy Issues and Aid†below).
more than 5.7 million (roughly 43%) are refugees
After a serious rupture in U.S.-Palestinian relations during
(registered in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and
the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration
Syria) whose claims to land in present-day Israel constitute
reengaged with the Palestinian people and their leaders in
a major issue of Israeli-Palestinian dispute. The U.N. Relief
the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), and
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
resumed aid—with hopes of preserving the viability of a
(UNRWA)—funded mostly by voluntary contributions
negotiated two-state solution. The Palestinians aspire to an
from the United States and other countries—is mandated by
independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
the U.N. General Assembly to provide protection and
Near-term prospects for diplomatic progress toward Israeli-
essential services to these registered Palestinian refugees,
Palestinian peace reportedly remain dim. Palestinian leaders
including health care, education, and housing assistance.
lamented some Arab states’ normalization of relations with
International attention to the Palestinians’ situation
Israel near the end of the Trump Administration because it
increased after Israel’s military gained control over the
could undermine past Arab efforts to link such
West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Direct
improvements with addressing Palestinian negotiating
U.S. engagement with Palestinians in the West Bank and
demands. Domestic political uncertainty among both
Gaza dates from the establishment of the PA in 1994. Since
Palestinians and Israelis also presents challenges to a return
the 2010s, other regional political and security issues have
to Israeli-Palestinian talks.
taken some of the global attention from Palestinian issues.
Palestinian domestic politics are dominated by two factions.
Reduced international focus on the Palestinians may affect
Fatah, an Arab nationalist faction, is the driving force
their economy, which faces political risk challenges related
within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which
to unrest and violence, as well as considerable Israeli
represents Palestinians internationally. The Sunni Islamist
movement, access, and land use restrictions. According to
group Hamas (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization) has
the World Bank, external aid to the PA declined from 27%
not accepted PLO recognition of Israel and constitutes the
of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 to just under 2%
main opposition to Fatah. Since 2007, the United States and
in 2022, contributing to large fiscal deficits that endanger
other Western countries have generally sought to bolster the
the economy’s sustainability. The World Bank estimated
Fatah-led PA vis-Ã -vis Hamas.
end-2022 unemployment as 45% in Gaza and 13% in the
West Bank. Price hikes connected to the Russia-Ukraine
war, including on grain, affect Palestinians alongside others
in the region.
Timeline of Key Events Since 1993
1993-1995
Israel and the PLO mutually recognize each
other and establish the PA, which has limited
self-rule (subject to overall Israeli control) in
the Gaza Strip and specified areas of the
West Bank.
2000-2005
Second Palestinian intifada affects prospects
for Israeli-Palestinian peace, leads to
tightened Israeli security in the West Bank,
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
Source: Economist Intel igence Unit.
land/maritime access points.
Note: West Bank and Gaza Strip borders remain subject to Israeli-
2006
Hamas wins majority in Palestinian Legislative
Palestinian negotiation.
Council and leads new PA cabinet; Israel,
Of the approximately 13.4 million Palestinians worldwide,
United States, and European Union confine
about 5.1 million (98% Sunni Muslim, 1% Christian) live in
relations to PA President Abbas.
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The Palestinians: Overview, Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
2007
West Bank-Gaza split: Hamas seizes control
Difficult living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza persist
of Gaza Strip; Abbas reorganizes PA cabinet
and are exacerbated by uncertainties regarding external
to lead West Bank; this remains the status
funding. Israeli-approved funding transfers from Qatar
quo to date.
since 2018 have provided some relief for Gazans. To the
extent that outside contributions replace funding from the
2007-present
Various rounds of U.S.-brokered Israeli-
West Bank-based PA—whose actions suggest ambivalence
Palestinian peace negotiations (the last in
over taking responsibility for Gaza—they could undermine
2013-2014) end unsuccessful y; PLO/PA
prospects for West Bank-Gaza unity.
increases efforts to gain membership in or
support from international organizations.
U.S. Policy Issues and Aid
The extent to which the Biden Administration might help
2017-2021
U.S.-Palestinian relations worsen during the
improve U.S.-Palestinian relations remains unclear.
Trump Administration. Biden Administration
Tensions increased in 2018 after President Trump
resumes aid and reengages diplomatically.
recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (without specifying
2022-2023
Domestic tensions increase in northern West
the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty within the city). The
Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin, contributing
Biden Administration has occasionally stated its intention
to heightened Israeli-Palestinian violence.
to reopen the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem that the
Trump Administration subsumed into the U.S. embassy to
PLO/PA: Governance, Security, and Succession
Israel in 2019, but has not specified the timing amid
Since the Hamas victory in 2006 PA legislative elections,
opposition from Israeli officials and some Members of
the PA has ruled by presidential decree, and has drawn
Congress. In 2022, the Biden Administration appointed a
some international criticism for alleged violations of the
Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs. The Office
rule of law and civil liberties. While women hold some
of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem operates under the
prominent positions, including within the PA cabinet, men
auspices of the U.S. embassy to Israel, while reporting
still largely outnumber them in traditional leadership roles.
directly to the State Department in Washington, DC. The
Given the West Bank-Gaza split in 2007, it is unclear if
Biden Administration has stated opposition to Israeli or
elections will take place again. After announcing elections
Palestinian incitement to violence, and to other unilateral
for 2021, PA President Mahmoud Abbas indefinitely
actions with the potential to affect a two-state solution—
postponed them, generating significant domestic criticism.
including Israeli settlement building and Palestinian
Abbas’s age (
initiatives in international fora. The Administration also is
b. 1935) and reports of health problems have
reportedly seeking to boost PA security forces’ capacities to
contributed to speculation about who might lead the PLO
counter rising militancy in key West Bank areas via the
and PA upon the end of his tenure. Top advisers Hussein al
ongoing U.S. nonlethal assistance program.
Sheikh (on political affairs) and Majid Faraj (on security)
have major profiles internationally, but limited domestic
In the context of U.S. bilateral aid (see Figure 1), the
popular support. Marwan Barghouti attracts significant
Taylor Force Act (Div. S, Title X of P.L. 115-141) prohibits
popular support, but has been imprisoned by Israel since
most Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance directly
2002. Mohammed Dahlan enjoys support from some Arab
benefitting the PA unless the PLO/PA were to curtail
states, but was expelled from Fatah in 2011.
domestically popular payments that arguably incentivize
acts of terror. Since FY2021, Congress also has funded
Hamas and Gaza
initiatives aimed at strengthening Israeli-Palestinian
Hamas controls Gaza through its security forces and obtains
cooperation and the Palestinian economy under the Nita M.
resources from smuggling, informal “taxes,†and reported
Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020 (Div.
external assistance from some Arab sources and Iran.
K, Title VIII of P.L. 116-260).
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader for Gaza, came from
Hamas’s military wing. Hamas also maintains a presence in
Figure 1. U.S. Bilateral Aid to the Palestinians
the West Bank. Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh is the leader of
the political bureau that conducts Hamas’s worldwide
dealings. Fatah and Hamas have reached a number of
Egypt-brokered agreements aimed at ending the West
Bank-Gaza split. However, problems with implementation
have left Hamas in control of Gaza despite PA
responsibility for some civil services. For security reasons,
Israel and Egypt maintain tight controls on goods and
people transiting Gaza’s borders.
Hamas and other Gaza-based militants have engaged in
Source: U.S. Department of State.
occasional conflict with Israel since Hamas seized Gaza by
Notes: NADR=Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and
force in 2007. During major escalations in 2008-2009,
Related Programs; INCLE=International Narcotics Control and Law
2012, 2014, and 2021, Hamas and other militants launched
Enforcement; ESF=Economic Support Fund; OCO=Overseas
rockets indiscriminately toward Israel, and Israeli military
Contingency Operations.
strikes largely decimated Gaza’s infrastructure. This has
perpetuated challenges for international actors who seek to
Jim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
rebuild Gaza without bolstering Hamas.
IF10644
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The Palestinians: Overview, Aid, and U.S. Policy Issues
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