On 28 October 1974 , the 1974 Arab League summit held in Rabat designated the PLO as the " sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency . " Legal justification for the declaration was based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 ( II ) of 29 November 1947 , which provided for the termination and partition of the British Mandate into two states . On 14 May 1948 the British mandate ended , the State of Israel was declared and the Arab Legion of Transjordan ( later Jordan ) invaded the West Bank ( only to annex it in 1950 ) . In September 1948 Egyptian forces captured the Gaza strip and kept it under military rule . Until the Six-Day War in June 1967 these two territories remained under Jordanian and Egyptian rule
1974 Arab League summit
1974 Arab League summit
Palestinian Declaration of Independence