There is a Sound Series, Dead Sea Scrolls: History-Creation of the Palestinian Authority

Shidonna Raven
Sep 25
3 min read

By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Source: Britannica

Article History

Photo Source: Unsplash,

History

Creation of the Palestinian Authority

In 1988 Jordan’s King Hussein renounced all administrative responsibility for the West Bank, thereby severing his country’s remaining connections with the area. Meanwhile, a popular uprising broke out among the Palestinians of the West Bank in December 1987, and the first intifada became virtually a permanent feature of West Bank life for the next few years, despite the Israeli army’s continued attempts to suppress the disorders.

As a result of secret negotiations begun in January 1993, Israel and the PLO in September reached agreement on a plan to gradually extend self-government to the Palestinians of the West Bank (and Gaza Strip) over a five-year period prior to a final settlement of the issue of Palestinian statehood (see Oslo Accords). Under the plan, Israel’s civilian and military administration would be dissolved and the Israeli army withdrawn from populous Palestinian areas. In the West Bank the plan’s actual implementation began in May 1994 with the Israelis’ withdrawal from the town of Jericho and its environs and the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by PLO chair Yasser Arafat. The following year the West Bank was divided into three zones of administration and security during the interim period:

Area A: areas under Palestinian administration and security
Area B: areas under Palestinian administration but joint Israeli-Palestinian security
Area C: areas under Israeli administration and security

But the peace process began to fall apart after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and the subsequent election of Benjamin Netanyahu, an outspoken critic of the Oslo Accords. In 2000, despite expectations of autonomy by the end of the previous decade, the PA controlled less than one-fifth of the West Bank, while Israeli occupation (in some areas, combined with PA local administration) continued in the remainder. With Jerusalem’s status proving to be the most contentious of the outstanding matters, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon made a provocative visit to the Temple Mount (where Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, stands). Frustration boiled over, and a new uprising (often dubbed the “Al-Aqsa intifada”) began, lasting nearly half a decade.

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