Mahmoud Abbas, also known by the kunya Abu Mazen, is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) since 2005. He has been the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 2004, PNA president since January 2005, and State of Palestine president since May 2005. Abbas is also a member of the Fatah party and was elected chairman in 2009.
Elections for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) were held in Palestinian Autonomous areas from 1994 until their transition into the State of Palestine in 2013. Elections were scheduled to be held in 2009, but was postponed because of the Fatah–Hamas conflict. President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to stay on until the next election, but he was recognized as president only in the West Bank and not by Hamas in Gaza. The Palestinian National Authority has held several elections in the Palestinian territories, including elections for president, the legislature and local councils. The PNA has a multi-party system, with numerous parties. In this system, Fatah is the dominant party.
Aziz Dweik is a Palestinian politician of Hamas who was elected the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on 18 January 2006.
The Palestinian Authority Government of March 2006, also known as the First Haniyeh Government, was a government of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), led by Ismail Haniyeh, that was sworn in on 29 March 2006 and was followed by the Palestinian unity government of 17 March 2007. On 25 January 2006, Hamas won the election for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with 44.4% of the vote vs Fatah's 41.4%, and its leader Haniyeh formed the government, which comprised mostly Hamas members as well as four independents, after Fatah and other factions had refused to form a government with Hamas. It was the first Hamas-led PA government in the Palestinian territories.
The Fatah–Hamas conflict is an ongoing political and strategic conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian political parties in the Palestinian territories, leading to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The reconciliation process and unification of Hamas and Fatah administrations remains unfinalized and the situation is deemed a frozen conflict.
The Second Haniyeh Government, also known as the Palestinian National Unity Government of March 2007, was a Palestinian Authority unity government headed by Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority that was formed on 17 March 2007 and dissolved on 14 June 2007.
Palestinian Authority Governments of June and July 2007 is a conciliation pact between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian Authority. This agreement convened a council (PA) of emergency cabinets led by Salam Fayyad established by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by presidential decree. The first Fayyad government was formed on 14 June 2007. Although widely supported by the international community, its creation is controversial as it was established under the Basic Law which requires the approval of the new government by Palestinian Legislative Council. President Abbas has enacted some articles of the Basic Law to allow cabinets to be sworn in with the approval of the PLC.
The next legislative elections in Palestine have been repeatedly postponed or cancelled. Most recently it was scheduled for 22 May 2021 according to a decree by President Mahmoud Abbas on 15 January 2021, but was indefinitely postponed on 29 April 2021.
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip in Palestine since its takeover of the region from rival party Fatah in June 2007. Hamas' government was led by Ismail Haniyeh from 2007 until February 2017, when Haniyeh was replaced as leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip by Yahya Sinwar. Until October 2024, Yahya Sinwar was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In January 2024, due to the ongoing Israel–Hamas war, Israel said that Hamas lost control of most of the northern part of the Gaza Strip. In May 2024, Hamas regrouped in the north.
The prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority was the position of the official head of government of the Palestinian Authority government, which operated between 2003 and January 2013, when it was officially transformed into the State of Palestine. Some still refer to the position of the prime minister of the Gaza Strip as the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
The president of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). From 2003 to 2013, the president appointed the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority, who normally required approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and who shares executive and administrative power with the president. In 2013 that position was abolished and substituted by the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine position.
Legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories on 25 January 2006 in order to elect the second Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The result was a victory for Hamas, contesting under the list name of Change and Reform, which received 44.45% of the vote and won 74 of the 132 seats, whilst the ruling Fatah received 41.43% of the vote and won 45 seats.
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts of the Palestinian Authority. The PLC has a quorum requirement of two-thirds, and since 2006 Hamas and Hamas-affiliated members have held 74 of the 132 seats in the PLC. The PLC's activities were suspended in 2007 and remained so as of November 2023, while PLC committees continue working at a low rate and parliamentary panel discussions are still occurring.
The Battle of Gaza, also known as the Gaza civil war, was a brief civil war between Fatah and Hamas that took place in the Gaza Strip from 10 to 15 June 2007. It was a prominent event in the Fatah–Hamas conflict, centered on the struggle for power after Fatah lost the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. The battle resulted in the dissolution of the unity government and the de facto division of the Palestinian territories into two entities: the West Bank governed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and the Gaza Strip governed by Hamas. Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah officials were either taken as prisoners, executed, or expelled. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that at least 161 people were killed and more than 700 were wounded during the fighting.
Ismail Haniyeh was a Palestinian politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination in July 2024. He also served as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from March 2006 until June 2014 and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip from June 2007 until February 2017, where he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar.
The 2014 Fatah–Hamas Agreements were two successive reconciliation agreements between Fatah and Hamas, concluded in 2014. The Gaza Agreement was signed in Gaza City on 23 April 2014 by Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas administration in Gaza, and a senior Palestine Liberation Organisation delegation dispatched by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Its main purpose was reconciliation between the parties and the formation of a Palestinian Unity Government within five weeks, to be followed by general elections within six months. The Unity Government was formed on 2 June 2014.
A series of attempts to resolve the hostility between Fatah and Hamas have been made since their 2006–2007 conflict and the subsequent violent conflict over the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Cairo Declaration was a declaration signed on 19 March 2005 by twelve Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). The Cairo Declaration affirmed the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people through the participation in it of all forces and factions according to democratic principles. The Declaration implied a reform of the PLO by the inclusion in the PLO of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Hamas government of October 2016 is a faction of the Palestinian government based in Gaza and is effectively the third Hamas-dominated government in the Gaza Strip since the takeover of Gaza by Hamas. On October 17, 2016, the Supreme Administrative Committee began the process of building progressive ministries in Gaza, reshuffled active ministries and repositioned 16 deputy ministers and director generals in government institutions. The government in Gaza is composed of deputy ministers, governors-general and other high-level officials linked directly to the Ramallah administration. Initially, it was speculated that the formation of the Hamas government in 2016 was an attempt by Ismail Haniyeh to return to full Hamas control of Gaza. As part of government reform, it was decided to expand the Ministry of Planning. The United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Israel classify Hamas as a state institution in Gaza associated with the PLO government and recognize the PLO government as the legitimate government of Gaza territory. The Hamas government is recognized by the Palestine State Administration in Ramallah.
The 2022 Palestinian reconciliation agreement, officially the Algerian Document for Palestinian Reconciliation and also referred to as the Algiers Declaration, was signed by 14 different Palestinian political organizations, including Fatah and Hamas. It was brokered in Algiers as part of the Fatah–Hamas reconciliation process, though it has not been successful in ending the Fatah–Hamas conflict, which began in the aftermath of the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and the subsequent 2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. Months of talks leading to the deal were conducted in Algeria in preparation for the 2022 Arab League summit.
Member state of the Arab League 
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