Palestinian Authority

(PA)

   The name initially given to the Palestinian self-government authority established in 1994 with the implementation of the "Gaza-Jericho First Agreement" (Cairo Agreement). The name was subsequently applied to the body administering affairs of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that were transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction pursuant to the Early Empowerment Agreement (24 August 1994), the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II) Agreement of 28 September 1995, the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron of 17 January 1997, and the Wye River Memorandum of October 1998. Under the terms of article 4 of the Cairo Agreement, the "Palestinian Authority will consist of one body of 24 members which shall carry out and be responsible for all the legislative and executive powers and responsibilities transferred to it under the Agreement . . . and shall be responsible for the exercise of judicial functions." These terms of reference were subsequently superseded by chapter 1 of the Oslo II Agreement, which permitted the election of a Palestinian Legislative Council comprised of 82 representatives, from which would be constituted an executive authority composed of a Ra'ees (chairman or president), who was to be directly elected in a separate simultaneous vote, and an indeterminate number of members.

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict; Declaration of Principles (13 September 1993).