Editing Palestinian Authority (section)

===Second Intifada===

On 7 July 2004, the [[Quartet on the Middle East|Quartet]] of Middle East mediators informed [[Ahmed Qurei]], [[Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority|Prime Minister]] of the PA from 2003 to 2006, that they were "sick and tired" of the Palestinians failure to carry out promised reforms: "If security reforms are not done, there will be no (more) international support and no funding from the international community"<ref name="Ref_i">{{Citation|title=Mediators tell Palestinians to reform or lose aid |work=China Daily |url=http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/08/content_346590.htm |access-date=19 February 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210062747/http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/08/content_346590.htm |archive-date=10 February 2006 }}</ref>

On 18 July 2004, United States President [[George W. Bush]] stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005 was unlikely due to instability and violence in the Palestinian Authority.<ref name="Ref_j">{{Citation | title=Bataille pour le trésor de l'OLP |work=Le Figaro  | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/ | access-date=6 February 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041109092145/http://www.lefigaro.fr/ |archive-date=9 November 2004 }}</ref>

Following Arafat's death on 11 November 2004, [[Rawhi Fattouh]], leader of the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]] became [[acting president]] of the Palestinian Authority as provided for in Article 54(2) of the Authority's Basic Law and Palestinian Elections Law.<ref name="Ref_k">{{Citation|title=The Basic Law |publisher=miftah.org |url=http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=790&CategoryId=10 |access-date=29 May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619015653/http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=790&CategoryId=10 |archive-date=19 June 2006 }}</ref>

On 19 April 2005, President [[Vladimir Putin]] of Russia agreed to aid the Palestinian Authority stating, "We support the efforts of President Abbas to reform the security services and fight against terrorism [...] If we are waiting for President Abbas to fight terrorism, he cannot do it with the resources he has now. [...] We will give the Palestinian Authority technical help by sending equipment, training people. We will give the Palestinian Authority helicopters and also communication equipment."<ref name="Ref_2005">{{Citation | title= Putin offers to help Palestinians |publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4496273.stm | access-date=19 February 2006 | date=29 April 2005}}</ref>

The Palestinian Authority became responsible for civil administration in some rural areas, as well as security in the major cities of the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]]. Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the [[2000 Camp David Summit]], the [[Taba Summit]], and the unofficial [[Geneva Accords (2003)|Geneva Accords]].

[[File:West Bank July 2008 CIA remote-sensing map 3000px.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] [[Remote sensing|remote-sensing]] map of areas governed by the Palestinian Authority, July 2008.]]
In August 2005, [[Prime Minister of Israel|Israeli Prime Minister]] [[Ariel Sharon]] began his [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza|disengagement from the Gaza Strip]], ceding full effective internal control of the Strip to the Palestinian Authority but retained control of its borders including air and sea (except for the Egyptian border). This increased the percentage of land in the Gaza Strip nominally governed by the PA from 60 percent to 100 percent.