Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords were the result of secret talks held between the Israelis and the PLO, in the Norwegian capital Oslo from April to August 1993.
They were revealed in September 1993. US President Bill Clinton hosted a historic handshake between Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasir Arafat.
That meeting produced the Declaration of Principles on Palestinian Self-Rule. The accords and the subsequent Palestinian self-rule were intended to settle a war that has lasted for decades.
The agreement did not go down well with a large section of Palestinians and many Israelis.
Each party accused its representative of accepting half solutions. The fact that talks in Oslo were held secretly also had a negative impact.
Tensions intensified in the occupied Palestinian territories after the signing of the 13 September accords. One of Arafat’s aides, Assad Saftawi, was assassinated in a show of discontent.
Israeli settlers who saw the agreement as merely granting Palestinian self-rule in their territories – meaning they would be kicked out of their settlements, illegal under international law – went on strike and attacked Palestinian citizens in the occupied territories.
However despite the level of dissatisfaction the process continued.
The Israelis and the newly formed Palestinian Authority agreed on further exchanges of territory as part of the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip signed in September 1995 and the Wye River Memorandum of October 1998.
The transfers actually occurred more slowly than originally envisaged and the two parties entered a vicious cycle of accusation and counter-accusation.