As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet with President Trump on Monday, new proposals for ending the Gaza war and governing the territory afterward are circulating. One central question surrounds whether the Palestinian Authority would play any role.
The Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and considers itself the rightful government of any future Palestinian state.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is the Palestinian Authority?
The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 as a result of the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. It was intended as a temporary administration on the way to what many hoped would be the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state.
It administers areas of the West Bank where Palestinians live and cooperates with Israel on security. But relations with Israel have been fraught.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, delivered a video address to the U.N. General Assembly last week in which he accused Israel of committing “war crimes” in Gaza.