The PLO, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority

Founding, Fatah and the 1968 Charter (1964 to 1988)

The PLO was created in May 1964 at the first session of the Palestine National Council (PNC) in Jerusalem, with the backing of the Arab League. Its first chairman was Ahmad Shukeiri. The PNC acts as the PLO's parliament. An Executive Committee drawn from it runs the organization, and a smaller Central Council acts between PNC sessions. Fatah began separately. Yasser Arafat and other Palestinians working in the Gulf formed it in the late 1950s, and it launched armed attacks on Israel from 1965. After the 1967 war, the guerrilla groups took over the PLO's institutions, and Arafat became chairman of the Executive Committee in 1969. Fatah has been the largest PLO faction since then. Other member factions include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have never joined the PLO. The founding text of 1964 was called the Palestinian National Covenant. The PNC adopted a revised version, the Palestinian National Charter, at its session of 1 to 17 July 1968 [1]. Article 9 of that text stated that armed struggle is "the only way to liberate Palestine" [1]. Article 19 declared the 1947 partition of Palestine and the creation of Israel illegal regardless of the passage of time [1]. Article 33 set the rule for changing the document. An amendment needed a two-thirds majority of all PNC members at a special session called for that purpose [1]. This rule later shaped the dispute over whether the Charter had been amended. The PLO also gained standing abroad. The UN General Assembly granted it observer status in resolution 3237 of 22 November 1974 [2]. On 15 November 1988 the PNC, meeting in Algiers, proclaimed a State of Palestine. General Assembly resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988 acknowledged that proclamation. It also replaced the designation "Palestine Liberation Organization" with "Palestine" throughout the UN system. The vote was 104 in favour, 2 against and 36 abstentions [2].

Mutual Recognition and the Oslo Agreements (1993 to 1995)

Secret talks in Norway led to an exchange of letters on 9 September 1993. In his letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat stated that the PLO recognized the right of Israel to exist in peace and security. He also accepted UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and renounced terrorism and other acts of violence [3]. He wrote that the articles of the Covenant denying Israel's right to exist were now inoperative and no longer valid. He undertook to submit the necessary changes to the PNC for formal approval [3]. Rabin replied that Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and would begin negotiations with it [3]. Four days later, on 13 September 1993, the two sides signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements in Washington [4]. Article I set the aim of creating a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority, an elected Council, for a transitional period of no more than five years. That period was to lead to a permanent settlement based on resolutions 242 and 338 [4]. Article III provided for direct, free and general elections under international observation [4]. Article V left Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements and borders for later permanent status talks [4]. The Palestinian Authority began operating in Gaza and Jericho in 1994. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, known as Oslo II, was signed in Washington on 28 September 1995. The United States, Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Norway and the European Union witnessed it [5]. It set up an elected Council and an executive authority. It divided West Bank land into Areas A, B and C, each with a different split of civil and security powers. It also required security coordination between the two sides [5]. It fixed 4 May 1996 as the latest date for permanent status negotiations to begin [5]. These agreements created two separate bodies that are often confused. The PLO remained the party that signs agreements and represents Palestinians abroad, including at the United Nations. The PA became the administration inside the territories, with authority limited to the areas and powers the agreements transferred to it.

Charter Changes and the Arafat Authority (1996 to 2004)

In January 1996 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza elected Arafat as head of the PA and chose the first Legislative Council. In April 1996 the PNC met in Gaza. It amended the Charter by cancelling the articles that were inconsistent with the PLO's commitments to Israel. According to US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the Israeli government welcomed the step at the time [6]. The resolution did not list which articles it affected. In January 1998 Arafat sent President Bill Clinton a letter that for the first time identified by number every article annulled in 1996 [6]. Albright said the letter also stated that the changes would appear in an official publication of the Charter [6]. The Israeli government argued that these steps did not meet the Charter's own rules. In a letter circulated at the United Nations, Israel's permanent representative wrote that under Article 33 only a two-thirds vote of the PNC could change the text. The letter said Arafat's letters to foreign leaders therefore had no legal bearing on it [7]. It also cited the principle of reciprocity in a Note for the Record signed with US envoy Dennis Ross. Under that principle, Israeli obligations depended on the PLO fulfilling this pledge [7]. On 14 December 1998 Clinton addressed members of the PNC, the Palestinian Central Council and the PLO Executive Committee in Gaza City. He said he was the first American president to address Palestinians in a city governed by Palestinians [8]. At that session, members approved the cancellation of the Charter clauses by a show of hands [9]. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was satisfied with the vote. He still did not carry out the next scheduled Israeli redeployment that week [9]. During these years the PA built the institutions it still has: a president, the Legislative Council, a cabinet of ministries, and a set of security services formed under the Oslo II security annex [5]. A Basic Law served as an interim constitution. The second intifada, which began in September 2000, badly weakened this structure. Arafat died in November 2004. Mahmoud Abbas succeeded him as PLO chairman and won the January 2005 presidential election for a four-year term. The Times of Israel reported in June 2026 that Abbas had stayed in office 15 years beyond the date he was due to seek re-election [10].

The 2006 Election and the Split (2006 to 2007)

The second Legislative Council election took place on 25 January 2006. Hamas ran under the list name Change and Reform. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) released final results on 29 January 2006 [11]:

• Change and Reform: 74 seats
• Fatah: 45 seats
• PFLP's Martyr Abu Ali Mustapha list: 3 seats
• The Alternative: 2 seats
• Independent Palestine: 2 seats
• The Third Way: 2 seats
• Independents: 4 seats

That made 132 seats in total. The CEC said the complaints it received dealt mainly with campaign conduct and had no effect on the results [11]. The Middle East Quartet of the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States responded on 30 January 2006. It said all members of a future Palestinian government must commit to non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements. It added that donors would review future aid to any new government against those principles [12]. A Hamas-led government under Ismail Haniyeh took office in March 2006. After talks in Mecca in early 2007, a national unity government of Hamas and Fatah followed [13]. Fighting between the factions resumed. According to UN Special Coordinator Michael Williams, Hamas's military wing and its Executive Force took control of the Gaza Strip from PA security forces between 9 and 15 June 2007 [13]. He reported that in the month before his briefing of 20 June 2007, violence among Palestinians killed 218 Palestinians and injured 910 [13]. On 14 June Abbas dismissed Haniyeh and declared a 30-day state of emergency under the Basic Law. He appointed Salam Fayyad to lead an emergency government of 11 independents, mainly technocrats [13]. The UN Relief and Works Agency reported the financial effects. After Hamas left the PA government, the Western aid embargo on the PA was lifted. Israel announced it would release PA tax revenues it had held since the January 2006 election [14]. From that point two administrations existed: the PA in Ramallah, governing parts of the West Bank, and Hamas authorities in Gaza. Several reconciliation agreements were signed in later years, and none reunified the two.

How the Authority Is Funded (1994 to 2026)

The PA depends on three main sources of money: taxes it collects itself, clearance revenues, and foreign aid. Clearance revenues are mostly value-added tax and import duties. Israel collects them on the PA's behalf under the 1994 Paris Protocol and transfers them each month after keeping a 3 % administrative fee [15]. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) states that these collections make up more than two thirds of Palestinian fiscal revenue [16]. Any Israeli decision to withhold or deduct these funds therefore affects the PA budget directly. The World Bank measures the PA deficit before aid and after Israeli deductions. On that basis, the deficit fell from 27 % of GDP in 2006 to about 3.7 % in 2022 [17]. It then widened to 6 % of GDP in 2023 and 15 % in 2024 [17]. Deductions are a disputed issue. In July 2018 the Knesset passed a law by 87 votes to 15. The law deducts from transfers an amount equal to PA payments to Palestinian prisoners and to families of those killed [18]. Ynet reported that Israel's stated aim was to pressure the PA to stop payments that Israel says encourage attacks [19]. Abbas had defended the payments as "a social responsibility" toward families [20]. The World Bank notes that limited data exchange between the parties prevents independent checking of transfers, withholdings and deductions, and that these remain disputed [15]. According to the World Bank, clearance transfers stopped completely in May 2025 [15]. UNCTAD reports that they stayed fully withheld through mid-2026 [16]. The World Bank's figures for 2025, in US dollars, are [15]:

• Deficit before grants: $1.03 billion
• Donor support: $938 million
• Effective financing gap, after Israeli deductions: about $1.3 billion

The PA covered this gap through unpaid bills and borrowing. By the end of 2025 it owed $1.82 billion in arrears to private suppliers and $2.85 billion to its own employees. Its public debt stood at $4.8 billion, of which $3.3 billion was owed to domestic banks [15]. Public employees received 50 to 70 % of their wages through 2025. In January 2026 every employee received a flat NIS 2,000, three months late [15]. The World Bank projected that the 2026 deficit could reach $3.8 billion if transfers remain halted [15].

The Current Governance Position (2018 to September 2026)

The Legislative Council could not meet after 2007, so the president governed through decrees. In December 2018 a ruling of the Palestinian Constitutional Court led to the council's formal dissolution [21]. Sanaa Alsarghali of An-Najah National University writes that the court's rulings have tended to favour presidential authority [21]. On 15 January 2021 Abbas called presidential and legislative elections by decree. After nominations closed at the end of April 2021 he postponed them, saying they could only be held once conditions allowed voting in all Palestinian territories, especially Jerusalem [22]. Executive posts have since changed without elections. In March 2024 Abbas appointed Mohammad Mustafa, his longtime economic adviser, as prime minister [23]. In April 2025 the PLO Central Council created the post of PLO vice president, and Hussein al-Sheikh was appointed to it. The appointment placed him in line to succeed Abbas [24]. Fatah opened its eighth General Conference in Ramallah on 14 May 2026. The conference elected the movement's central committee for the first time in 10 years and re-elected Abbas as leader [25]. His son, Yasser Abbas, won a seat on the central committee [10]. The World Bank describes the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire, UN Security Council resolution 2803, and new transitional arrangements that include a Board of Peace as the framework for Gaza's recovery [15]. Much of the international community wants the PA to play a central role in governing Gaza again, and Israel opposes PA involvement [10]. A June 2026 presidential decree made the following changes [10]:

• Presidential elections set for 2027, with no specific date
• PNC elections set for November 2026
• Legislative Council enlarged to 200 seats
• Electoral threshold lowered to 1 %
• Each list required to include one woman for every three candidates

The Times of Israel cited an October 2025 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR). It found that 80 % of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza wanted Abbas, now 90, to resign [10]. In September 2026 the Jerusalem Post reported doubt over whether the legislative vote would take place. It cited analysts and reports that al-Sheikh was urging postponement on the grounds that the CEC cannot run elections in Gaza [26]. On 16 September 2026 the US State Department reported to Congress that the PLO and the PA had again failed to meet their commitments under US laws of 1989 and 2002. It also announced sanctions on officials of both bodies [27]. Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly by video on 24 September 2026 after the United States again denied him an entry visa [28].

In One Paragraph

The PLO, founded in 1964 and led by Fatah since 1969, adopted a 1968 Charter that named armed struggle as the only path to liberating Palestine. In September 1993 it recognized Israel, and the Oslo agreements of 1993 and 1995 created the Palestinian Authority as an interim government for parts of the West Bank and Gaza. The PNC cancelled the Charter's anti-Israel clauses in 1996 and reaffirmed this in 1998, while Israel argued the procedure fell short of the Charter's own amendment rule. Hamas won the 2006 legislative election and seized Gaza in June 2007, leaving the PA governing only parts of the West Bank. Mahmoud Abbas has held power since 2005 without a new vote. The PA depends on Israeli-collected revenues, which were fully withheld from May 2025, and carries billions of dollars in arrears and debt. New elections have been promised, with the PNC vote set for November 2026 and a presidential vote for 2027.

Sources

1. Palestine National Council. “The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council, July 1–17, 1968.” Articles 9, 19, 33. The Avalon Project, Yale Law School.https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp.
2. United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 43/177, “Question of Palestine,” A/RES/43/177, December 15, 1988, paras. 1 and 3 and recorded vote.https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/146E6838D505833F852560D600471E25.pdf.
3. Arafat, Yasser, and Yitzhak Rabin. “Israel-PLO Recognition: Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat,” September 9, 1993. UNISPAL.https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-205528.
4. Government of Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization. “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements,” September 13, 1993, arts. I, III, V. UN doc. A/48/486–S/26560.https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IL%20PS_930913_DeclarationPrinciplesnterimSelf-Government%28Oslo%20Accords%29.pdf.https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-180015/.
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