Originally conceived of as the administrative arm of the PLO in the occupied territories, the Palestinian Authority became the seat of Fatah’s political leadership after the Oslo Accords. This had the effect of marginalizing the Palestinian diaspora and Palestinian citizens of Israel within the Palestinian national movement. Under President Abbas, moreover, a deep rift between Hamas and Fatah developed while he persisted with the strategy of delivering security for Israel in a bid to show the PA as a reliable partner capable of implementing the Oslo Accords. Israel’s response was to further accelerate settlement and consolidate its occupation. Together with the increasingly authoritarian leadership style of Abbas, the absence of meaningful resistance gradually put the PA on the path to illegitimacy and irrelevance. After 7 October 2023, it dropped off a cliff as the PA and Fatah’s leadership not only became bystanders to the carnage in Gaza and obstructed meaningful national reconciliation, but also mobilized Palestinian security forces against Palestinian militants in the West Bank. As Israeli strategy shifts toward a dissolution of the PA, effective Palestinian resistance will require a revitalization of the national movement, incorporating Hamas, to pursue a strategy against occupation that is consistent with international law.