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Middle East and North Africa
Palestinian Territories |
|
Last Reviewed: 3 February 2010 |
Country information
POLITICS
The Palestinian Authority was established in May 1994 following the signature of the Oslo Accord (which included the Declaration of Principles) in September 1993. The Interim Agreement (1995) gave the PA legislative, executive and judicial authority (but not sovereignty) and paved the way for the first presidential and legislative elections in January 1996.
Mahmoud Abbas became President on 15 January 2005 after winning the majority of the vote in presidential elections held on 9 January 2005. He replaced Yasser Arafat, who died in November 2004.
Palestinian Legislative Council elections were held on 25 January 2006 (the first parliamentary elections since 1996). Hamas won 74 out of the 132 seats. In June 2007, following prolonged violence between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force. President Abbas responded by dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation.
Jerusalem
Under the UN partition resolution (1947) Jerusalem was to be a corpus separatum under a UN administered Special Regime. But in the 1948 war, Israel occupied West Jerusalem and Jordan occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City.
In the 1967 war, Israel also occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli government immediately extended its civil law to the whole city, simultaneously greatly enlarging the municipal boundaries into the West Bank. This purported annexation of East Jerusalem was affirmed in 1980 when Israel enacted its 'Jerusalem Law', formally declaring East and West Jerusalem together, 'whole and united', to be 'the capital of Israel'.
The 1993 Declaration of Principles and the 1995 Interim Agreement left the issue of Jerusalem to be decided in "permanent status" negotiations between the two parties.
The UK position on Jerusalem
The UK position was formally expressed in April 1950, when HMG extended simultaneous de jure recognition to both Jordan and Israel. However, the statement withheld recognition of the sovereignty of either Jordan or Israel over the sectors of the city which each then held, within the area of the corpus separatum as stipulated in UN General Resolutions 181 of 1947 and 303 (IV) of 1949. In the British view, no such recognition was possible before a final determination of the status of this area, although HMG did recognise that both Jordan and Israel exercised 'de facto authority' over those parts of the city and area which each held.
Since the war of 1967, HMG has regarded Israel as being in military occupation of East Jerusalem, and in this connection subject to the rules of law applicable to such an occupation, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. HMG also holds that the provisions of Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) on the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 war applies to East Jerusalem. The Venice Declaration and subsequent statements (both by the UK alone and with EU partners) have made clear that unilateral attempts to change the status of Jerusalem are invalid.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 478 of 1980 in response to the Israeli annexation, declaring it to be a violation of international law. The UK rejects the Israeli measures taken in 1980 to change the status of Jerusalem.
Our Embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. In East Jerusalem we have a Consulate-General, with a Consul-General who is not accredited to any state: this is an expression of our view that no state has sovereignty over Jerusalem. The UK believes that the city's status has yet to be determined, and maintains that it should be settled in an overall agreement between the parties concerned.
The British Government supports the right of the Palestinian people to establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian state and looks forward to early fulfilment of this right, provided there is a concomitant recognition of Israel's right as a state, and the right of its citizens to live in peace with security.
HUMAN RIGHTS
On several occasions the Palestinian Authority has stated its commitment to respecting all internationally recognised human rights standards and to incorporating them fully into Palestinian law.
Concerns remain about arbitrary detention and mistreatment of prisoners; further details can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Human Rights Report.
