Ministry of Interior (Palestine)

See also: Interior Minister of the Gaza Strip

The Ministry of Interior and National Security^[1][2] is the branch of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) cabinet in charge of the security and the statistics of the population of the State of Palestine. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) is a sub-branch of the Interior Ministry that has the responsibility for the population and economic statistics of the Palestinian territories. Since Hamas' takeover of Gaza, the position of the Interior Ministry within the Palestinian Security Services is unclear.

Ministry of Interior and National Security

وزارة الداخلية والأمن الوطني
Seal of Palestine
Agency overview
Formed	1994
Jurisdiction	Government of Palestine
Headquarters	Ramallah, Palestine Other location: Abu Dis, Jerusalem Governorate, Palestine
Minister responsible	Ziad Hab al-Rih [ar], Minister of Interior and National Security
Child agencies	Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Palestinian Civil Police Force

History

In 2006, the Israeli Defense Forces struck the office building of the Interior Ministry multiple times as a part of a bombing campaign in Gaza. The attacks were in response to the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier.^[3]

In June 2007, the office in Gaza was taken by Said Seyam as part of the Hamas government of June 2007. Fathi Hamad took office in January 2009, following assassination of Said Seyam on 15 January 2009 during the Gaza War. In August 2012, following government reshuffle by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyye, Fathi Hamad remained in position.

List of ministers

Interior Ministers of the Palestinian Authority

#	Name	Party	Time in Office
1	Yasser Arafat[4]	Fatah	5 July 1994 – 13 June 2002
2	Abdel Razzak El-Yehya[5] (Abdul al-Razzaq al-Yahia)	PLO/Independent	13 June 2002 – 29 October 2002
3	Hani al-Hassan[6]	Fatah	29 October 2002 – 30 April 2003
4	Mahmoud Abbas*[7][8][9]	Fatah	30 April 2003 – 6 September 2003
—	— [10] ** Nasser Yousef [ar] was nominated,[11][12] but not appointed.[13] ***	Fatah	7 October 2003 – 12 November 2003
5	Hakam Balawi[14]	Fatah	13 October 2003 – 12 November 2003 (acting) 12 November 2003 – 24 February 2005
6	Nasser Yousef [ar][15]	Fatah	24 February 2005 – 29 March 2006
7	Said Seyam	Hamas	29 March 2006 – 17 March 2007
8	Hani Talab al-Qawasmi[16] ****	Hamas/Independent (unity government)	17 March 2007 – 23 April 2007
9	Ismail Haniyeh	Hamas	23 April 2007 – 14 June 2007
—	Parallel governments
12	Rami Hamdallah[17]	Fatah/Independent (unity government) [18]	2 June 2014 – 14 April 2019
13	Mohammad Shtayyeh	Fatah	13 April 2019 – 1 January 2022
14	Ziad Hab al-Rih [ar]	Fatah	1 January 2022 – present
* Mohammed Dahlan, former Preventive Security Director in the Gaza Strip became Minister of State for Security Affairs ** Emergency government appointed by Presidential Decree *** Yousef refused to be sworn in without a vote of confidence from the PLC **** al-Qawasmi resigned on 23 April 2007 over lack of support for his reform plans for the security services.[19]

Interior Ministers in the West Bank

#	Name	Party	Time in Office
10	Abdel Razzak El-Yehya[20][21] (Abdul al-Razzaq al-Yahia)	PLO/Independent	15 June 2007 – 19 May 2009
11	Saeed Abu Ali[22][23]	Fatah	19 May 2009 – 2 June 2014

Interior and National Security Ministers in the Gaza Strip

#	Name	Party	Time in Office
1	Said Seyam	Hamas	15 June 2007 – 15 January 2009
2	Fathi Hamad[24][25]	Hamas	April 2009 – 2 June 2014

See also

• Palestinian Security Services
• Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority
• Finance Minister of Palestinian Authority