The term "Oslo accords" is used broadly to refer to agreements between the
Palestine Liberation Organization and
Israel signed after the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or
Declaration of Principles (DOP) of 1993.
These were the first direct agreements between Israel and the PLO and were constructed as a framework for future relations between the two sides, to culminate after five years in a final status agreement.
The final text of the Accords was completed in Oslo, Norway on August 20, 1993, and officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 in the presence of PLO chairman
Yasser Arafat, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and US President Bill Clinton, with
Mahmoud Abbas signing for the Palestine Liberation Organization, foreign Minister
Shimon Peres for the State of Israel, Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the United States and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev for Russia.
The accords provided for the creation of a
Palestinian Authority, which was to administer areas of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The accords also called for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Permanent-status negotiations were to commence as soon as possible, but not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period. The transitional period began on May 4, 1994 and was to conclude on May 4, 1999. Permanent issues such as
Jerusalem, Palestinian
refugees, Israeli
settlements, security and borders were deliberately left to be decided at a later stage.
Although permanent-status negotiations did take place, including those at
Camp David in July 2000, no permanent settlement was reached.
Interim self-government was to be granted by Israel in phases. Until a final status accord was established, the West Bank and Gaza would be divided into three zones:
Area A - under complete control of the Palestinian Authority.
Area B - under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control.
Area C - under complete Israeli control. These areas were Israeli settlements and "security zones."
The DOP was succeeded by the following major agreements between Israel and the PLO:
- the
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, signed on May 4, 1994;
- the
Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities, signed on August 29, 1994;
- the
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, signed on September 28, 1995
- the
Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, signed January 15, 1997;
- the
Wye River Memorandum, signed on October 23, 1998;
- the
Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum on Implementation Timeline of Outstanding Commitments of Agreements Signed and the Resumption of Permanent Status Negotiations, signed on September 4, 1999.
Some of these agreements included attachments, such as annexes, maps, agreed minutes, notes for the record, and the like. In total, the Oslo accords comprise some 1,000 pieces of paper.