Country Profile:
Palestinian Territories
The Palestinian territories consist of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, collectively home to 4.3 million people. The territories are governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), although the 2006 elections and subsequent collapse of the Fatah-Hamas unity government in 2007 mean that Fatah controls the West Bank and Hamas controls Gaza. Consequently, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ruled the West Bank by presidential decree since 2007 (BBC News, 2009; US GAO, 2010: 11).
The Roadmap for Peace (henceforth Roadmap) was endorsed in 2003 by Israel, the PA, and the Quartet on the Middle East (the UN, US, EU and Russia). The plan “calls for an independent Palestinian state coexisting peacefully with the State of Israel and, among other things, presents a plan for establishing the security preconditions necessary for such a state” (Sayigh, 2009: 3). Although the timelines established by the plan have not been met, the Roadmap nevertheless provides both sides with immediate and long-term objectives to facilitate peace (Otterman, 2005).
Finally, the “absence of a functioning parliament and judicial system,” especially following the split between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, leaves the PA in a weakened position to implement necessary reforms (Sayigh, 2009: 3). Nevertheless, both “US and international officials have observed improved security conditions in some areas of the West Bank since the PA began deploying units trained and equipped with USSC assistance” (US GAO, 2010: 25).
