President of the State of Palestine of Palestine declared by the Palestine Liberation Organization, formalized on 2 April 1989. In 1994, he also became the President of the Palestinian National Authority upon the PA's formal inauguration on 5 July. Arafat remained President until his death on 11 November 2004. President of the State of Palestine The President of the State of Palestine is the head of the State of Palestine. He is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority. Both functions were held by Yasser Arafat from 1989 and continued until his death in November 2004, and was continued by his successor Mahmoud Abbas. In
History of the State of Palestine Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Bank and the International Criminal Court, where Palestinian Authority tried to have alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza (2008-2009) investigated. However, in April 2012 prosecutors refused to open the investigation, saying it was not clear if the Palestinians were qualified as a state - as only states can recognize the court's jurisdiction. But the prosecutor confirmed explicitly in 2014 that the upgrade of November 2012 qualified the state of Palestine to join the Rome statute. On 31 December 2014 Palestinian President Abbas signed a declaration in which Palestine recognized the jurisdiction of