Palestine ( Arabic : فلسطين ) , officially the State of Palestine ( Arabic : دولة فلسطين , translit. Dawlat Filasṭīn , Hebrew : מדינה פלסטינית ), is a country in Western Asia , between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River . Established on 15 November 1988 and officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), it claims the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip as its territory, all of which have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. The West Bank contains 165 Palestinian enclaves, some of which are under Palestinian control, but the rest, including 200 Israeli settlements, are under full Israeli control. The Gaza Strip was ruled by Egypt but was conquered by Israel in 1967. Israel ruled the territory until withdrawing in 2005. Hamas seized power there after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. The Gaza Strip has since been blockaded by Israel and Egypt . Most countries in the world including members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation , the Arab League , the Non-Aligned Movement , the Association of Southeast Asian Nations , and some former Soviet Union countries have recognized the existence of Palestine as a sovereign state. The Palestinian territories are currently divided into two political entities, namely the Israeli-occupied territories and the Palestinian National Authority . The Palestinian Declaration of Independence was declared on 15 November 1988 in Algiers by the Palestinian National Council and the Palestine Liberation Organization . [9] [10] In 1974, the Arab League designated the Palestine Liberation Organization as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state on an urgent basis. The Palestine Liberation Organization has had observer status at the United Nations as a "non-state entity" since 22 November 1974, which gives it the right to speak in the United Nations General Assembly , but not to vote. After the Declaration of Independence, the United Nations General Assembly officially "recognized" the proclamation and chose to use the designation "Palestine" instead of "Palestine Liberation Organization" when referring to the permanent observers of Palestine. In this decision, the Palestine Liberation Organization does not participate in the United Nations in its capacity as the government of the state of Palestine. Since 1998, the Palestine Liberation Organization has been seated in the United Nations General Assembly immediately after non-member states and before all other observers. In 1993, in the Oslo Accords , Israel recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization's negotiating team as "representing the Palestinian people", in exchange for the Palestine Liberation Organization recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace, acceptance of United Nations Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and its rejection of "violence and terrorism". While Israel occupied the Palestinian territories, as a result of the Oslo Accords, the Palestine Liberation Organization established an interim administrative body: the Palestinian National Authority , which has some governmental functions in parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip . The takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas divided the Palestinian territories politically, with Fatah led by Mahmoud Abbas controlling the West Bank and internationally recognized as the official Palestinian Authority, while Hamas has secured its control over the Gaza Strip. In April 2011, the two sides signed a reconciliation agreement, but its implementation has stalled. As of 18 January 2012, 129 (66.8%) of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognized Palestine as a state. Many states do not recognize the state of Palestine but recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization as the "representative of the Palestinian people". In addition, the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization is empowered by the Palestine National Council to perform the functions of the government of the state of Palestine.