The '''Palestinian Authority''', officially known as the '''"State of Palestine"''', is the Arab governmental unit that governs parts of the [[West Bank]] and claims [[Gaza Strip]] but lost control over it in 2006.
Was == History ==The state was unilaterally declared on November 15, 1988 in [[Algiers]] at an extraordinary session in exile of the [[Palestine National Council]], the legislative arm of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]. Legal justification for this act was based on [[United Nations General Assembly]] Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and partition of the [[British Mandate for Palestine]] into two states.<ref>[http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253 Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine] - United Nations</ref> It was established in May 1994 after the [[Oslo Accords]].<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-history-and-overview The Palestinian Authority: History & Overview]. ''Jewish Virtual Library''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestinian-Authority Palestinian Authority]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref> In January 2013 president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] signed a presidential decree which officially changed the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine".<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-pa-changes-name-to-palestine-1.5288367 Palestinian Authority Officially Changes Name to 'State of Palestine']. ''Haaretz''. Retrieved August 21, 2018.</ref>
At the time, the PLO did not have control over any part of "[[Palestine]]" (or any other territory), and therefore the "State of Palestine" failed to meet one of the main defining aspects of a real [[state]] - namely, occupying a territory. Today the state only controls parts of the [[West Bank]] not run by Israel since the [[Oslo Accords]] from the 90s. The Gaza Strip was taken over in a [[coup d'état]] by the terrorist organization [[Hamas]] in 2006 against the political organization [[Fatah]] which is the moderate wing of the Palestinian Politics and runs the National Authority Government.