PA (Palestinian Authority)

Extracted Attributes

• President

  Mahmoud Abbas

• Headquarters

  Ramallah, West Bank

• Founding Date

  1994-05-04

• Official Name

  Palestinian National Authority (al-Sulၩah al-Waၩanĩyah al-Filasၩĩnĩyah)

• Major Factions

  Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

• Prime Minister

  Mohammad Mustafa

• Governing Document

  2002 Basic Law

• Martyrs Fund Budget (2018)

  $330,000,000 (7% of annual budget)

Timeline

• The Palestinian Central Council implements the agreement to form the PA during a meeting in Tunis. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1993-10-10

• Formal establishment of the Palestinian Authority pursuant to the Gaza-Jericho Agreement. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1994-05-04

• Yasser Arafat signs the Palestinian Basic Law, serving as an interim constitution. (Source: Britannica)

  2002-01-01

• Hamas wins the majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections. (Source: OFAC)

  2006-01-01

• Hamas takes control of the Gaza Strip, ending de facto PA governance in the region. (Source: Britannica)

  2007-06-01

• PA transfers management of the Martyrs Fund to the PLO's Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2014-01-01

• Mohammad Mustafa replaces Mohammad Shtayyeh as Prime Minister. (Source: Council on Foreign Relations)

  2024-03-01

• President Mahmoud Abbas signs a decree to end the Martyrs Fund and shift to need-based stipends. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-02-10

• Israeli authorities allege evidence indicates the Martyrs Fund remains active despite the February decree. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-10-01

Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund

The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund is a financial program operated by the Palestinian Authority (PA). It operates through two main channels: The Foundation for the Care of the Families of Martyrs that provides monthly financial support to the families of Palestinians who were killed, injured, or detained in connection with acts of violence against Israelis; and the Prisoners Fund that delivers payments to Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons. As of 2018, the stipends amounted to $330 million, or 7% of the PA's annual budget. Critics often call the fund "pay for slay" and blame the payments for "encouraging terrorism". In 2007, the World Bank argued that the fund did "not seem justified from a welfare or fiscal perspective." By 2014, mounting criticism of the payments led to the PA transferring management of the Martyrs Fund to the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which now disburses the government-funding to recipients and their families. On 10 February 2025, PA president Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree to end the Martyrs Fund to provide stipends based on financial need. As of October 2025, Israeli authorities alleged that evidence indicated the fund was still active.

Web Search Results

• Palestinian Authority (PA) | Leaders, History, Government, & PLO vs ...

  Palestinian Authority (PA), governing body of the Palestinian autonomous regions in the West Bank. Established in 1994 as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the PA also has de jure governing authority over the entirety of the Gaza Strip, but it has not exercised de facto control there since 2007, when Hamas took control of the region by force. Although the PA was, until then, democratic, Pres. Mahmoud Abbas has since ruled by decree and indefinitely delayed elections. By 2011 the PA had built up institutions for a functioning state, but it later suffered repeated financial crises under pressure from Israel and others. [...] # Palestinian Authority Palestinian government Also known as: PA, Palestinian National Authority, al-Sulṭah al-Waṭanīyah al-Filasṭīnīyah(Show More) Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated •History Top Questions What is the Palestinian Authority? Why was the Palestinian Authority created? Which areas does the Palestinian Authority govern? Who leads the Palestinian Authority? How does the Palestinian Authority interact with Israel and other countries? What challenges does the Palestinian Authority face in governing its territories? [...] The PA is governed by an interim constitution known as the Basic Law, which may be amended by the legislature by a two-thirds majority. The president is elected directly to a four-year term, with a limit of two terms. The president is the commander in chief of the security forces, manages foreign relations, has the power to veto legislation, and may issue decrees when the legislature is not in session. The prime minister, appointed by the president, and the council of ministers hold primary executive authority, subject to the confidence of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The PLC consists of 132 members elected to four-year terms. According to the 2005 amendment to the Basic Law, the 2006 election was a mixed majority and proportional representation system. This resulted in the

• Who Governs the Palestinians? - Council on Foreign Relations

  The PA is headquartered in the West Bank, where it operates from the city of Ramallah. Officially named the Palestinian National Authority, it comprises most major Palestinian factions, such as Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), but excludes militant groups such as Hamas and PIJ. The authority’s responsibilities are spelled out in the 2002 Basic Law [PDF] that serves as an interim Palestinian constitution. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas simultaneously serves as leader of the PA, the PLO, and his party, Fatah, which has the greatest representation in the PA of any faction. In March 2024, Abbas’s longtime economic advisor Mohammad Mustafa replaced Mohammad Shtayyeh as PA prime minister, a position that gives him little power compared to Abbas. His [...] Officially, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) represents Palestinians worldwide at international fora, while the Palestinian Authority (PA), a newer institution led by a PLO faction known as Fatah, is supposed to govern most of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In reality, the PA has overshadowed the PLO, and both are deeply troubled; Israel has exercised significant control over the Palestinian territories, de facto and official; and Gaza has been ruled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which Israel and multiple other countries have designated as a terrorist organization. Palestinian leaders will have to grapple with these and other challenges—including succession concerns and yet another war between Israel and Hamas—to deliver their peoples’ dream of an independent [...] Updated Last updated May 28, 2024 2:23 pm (EST) Summary Millions of Palestinians live under the control of a mix of authorities in the Palestinian territories and in refugee camps across the Middle East. In recent decades, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has controlled parts of the West Bank, and the militant group Hamas has run the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israel has exercised power over both areas in different ways. Amid the latest Israel-Hamas war, the PA is facing heightened scrutiny about its ability to run Gaza if Israel destroys Hamas. Related What Is U.S. Policy on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? by Kali Robinson What to Know About the Arab Citizens of Israel by Kali Robinson More on: Palestinian Territories Israel Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

• Palestinian Authority - Wikipedia

  Main article: Politics of the Palestinian National Authority The politics of the Palestinian Authority take place within the framework of a semi-presidential multi-party republic, with the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), an executive president, and a prime minister leading a Cabinet. According to the Palestinian Basic Law which was signed by Arafat in 2002 after a long delay, the current structure of the PA is based on three separate branches of power: executive, legislative, and judiciary. The PA was created by, is ultimately accountable to, and has historically been associated with, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), with whom Israel negotiated the Oslo Accords. [...] The Palestinian Authority was formed on 4 May 1994, pursuant to the Gaza–Jericho Agreement between the PLO and the government of Israel, and was intended to be a five-year interim body. Further negotiations were then meant to take place between the two parties regarding its final status. According to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was designated to have exclusive control over both security-related and civilian issues[clarification needed] in Palestinian urban areas (referred to as "Area A") and only civilian control over Palestinian rural areas ("Area B"). The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley region and bypass roads between Palestinian communities, were to remain under Israeli control ("Area C "Area C (West Bank)")"). East [...] 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. 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.

• Government of Palestine - Wikipedia

  The government of Palestine is the government of the Palestinian Authority or State of Palestine. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (EC) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and acts as the government. Since June 2007, there have been two separate administrations in Palestine, one in the West Bank and the other in the Gaza Strip. The government on the West Bank was generally recognised as the Palestinian Authority Government. On the other hand, the government in the Gaza Strip claimed to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian Authority. Until June 2014, when the Palestinian Unity Government was formed, the government in the West Bank was the Fatah-dominated Palestinian government of 2013. In the Gaza Strip, the [...] ### PNA governments Main article: Politics of the Palestinian National Authority Palestinian National Authority was formally an interim administrative body established by the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords of 1993. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords, the PA Government had only authority over some civil rights of the Palestinians in the West Bank Areas A and B and in the Gaza Strip, and over internal security in Area A and in Gaza. One of the security tasks was the security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which among other things aimed at the prevention of Palestinian attacks on the Israeli army and settlers. Until 2007 it exercised control of populated areas in Area A and B of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip: [...] Palestine Liberation Organization has been the official representative of the Palestinian people internationally since 1964. On 22 November 1974, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236 recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty in Palestine "Palestine (region)"). It also recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and accorded it observer status in the United Nations.

• Palestinian Authority | Office of Foreign Assets Control

  As a result of elections held in January, 2006, representatives of HAMAS currently form the majority party within the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and hold high-level offices within the Palestinian Authority (PA) including the position of Prime Minister. HAMAS is a target of three OFAC terrorism sanctions programs, resulting in the blocking of any property and interests in property of HAMAS that are in the United States or hereafter come within the United States , or that are in or hereafter come within the possession or control of a United States person. OFAC has determined that, as a result of the recent elections, HAMAS has a property interest in the transactions of the Palestinian Authority. Accordingly, pursuant to OFAC's terrorism sanctions programs, U.S. persons are