September 28, 1995

After signing the Declaration of Principles (DOP) on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, commonly known as the Oslo Accords, on September 13, 1993, Israel and the PLO reached three additional interim agreements before Oslo II:

  • On May 4, 1994, the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, also known as the Cairo Agreement, which implemented the provisions of the DOP, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area, and the transfer of powers from the Israeli military government to the Palestinian Authority.
  • On August 29, 1994, an agreement providing for the transfer of six civil spheres to the Palestinian Authority.
  • On August 27, 1995, an agreement providing for the transfer of an additional eight spheres of authority.

On September 28, 1995, they signed the Interim Agreement for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or Oslo II, which broadly extended Palestinian self-governing arrangements throughout the West Bank. It contained detailed arrangements for the election of a Palestinian self-governing authority with a council and a president. It also provided for the transfer of powers and responsibilities to the council from the Israeli government and Israeli civilian administration, contained extensive security arrangements, stipulated relations between Israel and the Palestinian Council in legal and economic matters, and generally encouraged cooperation between the sides. 

Oslo II ran for more than 400 pages, including seven annexes and maps. Notably, the source of all authority for the Palestinian Council remained the Israeli military administration, and both sides agreed that neither would act to change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent-status negotiations, which were to be completed, but were not, by May 4, 1999. Interim arrangements were not supposed to prejudice permanent-status conclusions. 

Neither the Oslo Accords, signed two years earlier, nor this agreement nor the several interim agreements promised the establishment of a Palestinian state. 

Copious details were provided for the conduct of the Palestinian elections and the structure of the Palestinian Council, its prerogatives, jurisdiction and legislative powers. The council and presidential elections were held with the stipulated international supervision January 20, 1996. The first phase of Israeli redeployment from the major Palestinian cities took place as scheduled before those elections, with the notable exception of a full Israeli withdrawal from Hebron. Israel did promise a further withdrawal from Hebron in the 1998 Wye River Agreement. Subsequent withdrawals were to take place at six-month intervals and were to be completed 18 months after the council’s inauguration in March 1996), or by July 1997. 

In 1996, serial bombings against Israeli civilians in February and March, the election of a Likud government in May, and outbursts of Palestinian-Israeli violence in September were among the reasons why the subsequent Israeli withdrawals did not take place on time.

In 1998, Israel and the PA agreed after nine days of negotiations to uphold all the agreements within the Oslo Accords in the Wye River Agreement. Both sides promised not to engage in unilateral actions, and both sides quickly broke that promise. By 1999, PA and PLO leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally suspended the prerogatives of the elected Palestinian Legislative Council, keeping most authority to himself.

At the end of his administration, U.S. President Bill Clinton made concerted efforts to move Palestinian-Israeli talks toward a political horizon that would end the conflict. But those efforts failed, and the Second Intifada, a bloody Palestinian uprising against the Israeli presence, broke out in September 2000. Once again, Palestinian-Israeli communal violence was interrupted by pauses for discussion and agreement signing, then episodic violence and unilateral actions resumed. 

— Ken Stein, September 2025

Main Points of Oslo II Agreement

Text translated from Tel Aviv-based Hebrew newspaper Ma’ariv, September 20, 1995, pp. 10-11, and published the next day by the Federal Broadcast Information Service-Near East and South Asia, pp. 15-19.

As part of the peace process begun in the Madrid Conference in October 1991, the Israeli Government and the PLO, the representative of the Palestinian people, reaffirm their resolute decision to put an end to the decades-long conflict and to coexist in peace … and their recognition of the political and legitimate rights of each side and their wish to attain a comprehensive, permanent, and just peace, … recognize the fact that the peace process is irreversible and that the purpose of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is to establish a Palestinian self-rule authority for the interim period; namely, an elected council and an elected ra’is for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for the interim period, which will not exceed five years from the day the Gaza-Jericho Agreement was signed on 4 May 1994, which will lead to a permanent arrangement based on U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Both sides reaffirm their understanding that the self-government arrangements for the interim period included in this agreement are an integral part of the entire peace process and that the negotiations on the permanent arrangement, which will begin no later than 4 May 1996, will lead to the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Both sides agree that the elections of the Palestinian council and the ra’is will be a preliminary and significant interim step toward the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and its just demands and will provide a democratic basis for the establishment of Palestinian institutions. Both sides reaffirm their mutual commitment to take immediate, efficient, and effective action against terror activities or threats, violence, and incitement by either Palestinians or Israelis.

Security Appendix

The first stage of the IDF redeployment includes populated areas in the West Bank: cities, villages, refugee camps, etc., as detailed in the security appendix, and it will be completed twenty-two days before the elections to the Palestinian council.

The rest of the redeployment will be affected gradually after the establishment of the council and will be completed within eighteen months from the day the council is established. The Palestinian police will deploy and be responsible for public order and internal security among the Palestinians.

Israel will continue to bear responsibility for external security, as well as for the overall security of the Israelis.

Upon the signing of the agreement, an Israel-Palestinian cooperation and coordination mechanism on security issues will be formed. It will be headed by a joint committee for coordination and cooperation which will meet on a biweekly basis. Two regional security committees (in Gaza and the West Bank) will be subordinate to it. All these bodies will determine their modus operandi on their own. The regional coordination offices will be informed about any development in the field which might affect one of the sides, such as terror actions, blocking of roads, or hospitalization of Israelis in Palestinian hospitals (and vice versa). The same offices will also be responsible for the joint patrols.

The list of recruits must obtain the approval of both sides before they are appointed to their jobs. Among policemen who are already discharging such duties, the employment of anybody convicted of a serious crime, and of those who prove to have been involved in terrorist activities after their recruitment, will be terminated. Their weapons and police badges will be impounded.

While in the cities responsibility for security will lie with the Palestinians alone, Israel proposes that in the villages and small towns the Palestinian police see to law and order among the Palestinians while the Israeli forces defend Israeli citizens from terrorist actions. The Palestinian Authority (PA) will be in charge of security in the Jewish Holy Sites, but a motorized unit (a type of joint patrol) will operate nearby. Israel also wants plainclothes Israeli policemen to be present in those places.

As for the roads: Israel will provide a safe passage through its territory between both parts of the PA at least ten hours a day. At the same time, Israel retains the right to prevent free passage from anybody abusing this right. Those not allowed to enter Israel will be transported in police-escorted buses escorted twice a week.

Israeli vehicles driving in the West Bank will be stopped only for documentation checks and only by a joint patrol. On other roads, the Palestinian police will be allowed to stop Israeli cars for identification only. The Palestinians will not be allowed to stop or incarcerate Israelis under any circumstances whatsoever, but they will be allowed to detain Israelis who violate the law, while seeing to their safety until the arrival of the joint patrol.

Legal Appendix

The Palestinian Council’s criminal jurisdiction will apply to any offense committed by Palestinians and/or non-Israelis in all areas of the PA, excluding settlements, army bases, and Area C. It will also apply to offenses involving Palestinians and their visitors outside the PA’s boundaries, excluding issues pertaining to Israel’s security, as well as to offenses committed by Israelis doing continuing business within the boundaries of the PA, including Israeli-owned firms. Israel retains the right to arrest suspects who commit offenses cited in the Israeli penal code within the boundaries of the PA when the offender is an Israeli.

In the event of an offense within the boundaries of the PA against Israel or Israelis, the Palestinian Council will inform Israel about the outcome of the investigation and the legal proceedings. In addition to that, Israel retains its criminal jurisdiction with regard to offenses committed within the boundaries of the PA against Israel or Israelis. Tourists who commit offenses within the boundaries of the PA will be detained by the Palestinians until the arrival of the Israeli forces, who will deal with them from that point onward.

The Palestinian Council will be entitled to take all necessary measures about Israeli cars or Israeli property if these are used to commit a crime or pose an immediate danger to the public’s security or health. In that event, the PA will notify the Israeli authorities at once.

Israel demands that the PA hand over to it without any delay any offender suspected of having committed any offense which falls within Israeli’s exclusive jurisdiction. For its part, Israel proposes to extradite to the Palestinians any non-Israeli charged with an offense which falls within the Palestinian Council’s jurisdiction, on condition that it is not a security-related offense. Both sides will prevent people sought by the other side from leaving their territory.

Testimony from an Israeli about a case within the PA’s jurisdiction will be collected by an Israeli policeman accompanied by a Palestinian policeman, and vice versa; a Palestinian policeman accompanied by an Israeli colleague will collect the testimony of a non-Israeli witness in the PA about an Israeli criminal case. In special cases, an escort of the opposite sex will not be required.

The Palestinians are entitled to request the extradition of wanted non-Israelis, while Israel is entitled to request the extradition of an offender encountered within the boundaries of the PA. The extradition request must include a court-issued arrest warrant. A person facing a death sentence will not be extradited under any circumstances unless the side requesting the extradition pledges not to sentence him to death.

Civilian Appendix

The civilian appendix defines the various powers that will be transferred to the PA and the way in which they will be transferred. A joint Israeli-Palestinian coordination and cooperation committee will decide on civilian issues pertaining to both sides.

In the area of agriculture, the Palestinians will receive very broad powers, including the authority to issue licenses and to oversee the marketing of agricultural products (including imports and exports), veterinary services, irrigation, etc.

Archaeology: The authority to issue licenses as well as to oversee the preservation, management, and inspection of archaeological sites is being transferred to the PA.

Other areas included in the civilian appendix:

Banking and finances: In effect, the Palestinian monetary authority will inherit the functions of the Bank of Israel in the territories. The Bank of Israel will provide its cooperation and assistance, among other things, by providing it with information about banking activities in the territories until the transfer of powers takes place.

Civil Administration workers: The PA will continue to employ these workers.

Trade and industry: Both sides promise that the establishment and operation of industrial plants in the West Bank and Gaza will be done in such a way as not to harm the security of the other side or the environment. The powers of the Palestinians in this area are subject to security restrictions described in the interim arrangement’s security appendix.

Employment: Applications by Palestinians to work in Israel or in the settlements will be filed via the PA, which undertakes to provide the information necessary for their approval. For its part, Israel will ensure the rights of Palestinian laborers employed in its territory or in the settlements.

Gas, oil, and fuel: The powers in this area do not just apply to the authority to issue licenses and to the inspection and control of the relevant installations (gas stations, terminals, and infrastructure), but also to the formulation and implementation of an independent policy in this area, as well as the dissemination, distribution, sale, storage, supply, and importation and exportation of the relevant products.

Land and real estate: For the most part, the Palestinians will be in charge of state land, absentee land, and real estate. Decisions about some of these assets will be made at a later stage.

The agreement covers all areas of administration: health, insurance, internal affairs, labor issues, land registration, judicial administration, local government, nature reserves, parks, regional and industrial planning, population registry and identification, postal services, public works and construction, quarries, minerals, land mining, religious affairs, social welfare, statistics, telecommunications, tourism, transportation, treasury, water, and sewage.

Economic Appendix

Mutual tax exemptions will go into effect as soon as the IDF redeployment is completed; namely, no later than twenty-two days before the Palestinian elections. At the same time, Israel is prepared to take the PA’s needs into consideration and in the two months after the signing of the agreement transfer to it 50 percent of the tax revenues on goods shipped to the West Bank and on fuel purchased by the Palestinians for the West Bank, as well as 100 percent of the tax revenues collected between the last transfer and the aforementioned date. Israel will also transfer to the PA 15 million shekels as an advance payment on the surplus budget of the Civil Administration and 12 million shekels to cover the expenses of the eight powers which were handed over to the PA as of 1 September 1995. Israel will deduct three percent from each transfer of import taxes and other indirect taxes to cover collection expenses.

Elections Appendix

Pursuant to Chapter 3 of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) and in accordance with the stipulations in this appendix, direct, free, and general elections to the council and the job of ra’is (president) will be held simultaneously.

The right to vote will be general, regardless of gender, race, religion, opinion, social background, education, or status. Every eligible voter will be entitled to register. In order to enter the voter registry, eligible voters must be Palestinian, over the age of 17, reside in the voting area where they are registered, and appear in the population registry of the PA or the Israeli authorities.

The election process will be open to international supervision, in accordance with accepted international norms. A certain number of Palestinians in Jerusalem will vote in post offices in Jerusalem.

The elections will be held as soon as possible after the IDF redeployment.

The council and the ra’is will be elected directly and simultaneously by the Palestinian people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza for an interim period that will not exceed five years from the signing of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement on 4 May 1994. The council, in its executive role, will be responsible for the operation of the offices, services, and departments that will be handed over to it and will decide on its modus operandi and decision-making process.

A committee that will serve as an executive authority will be set up within the council. The ra’is will be an ex-officio member of the executive authority. All other members of the executive authority will be members of the council. They will be chosen by the ra’is, who will submit them to the council for approval.

The ra’is will be entitled to appoint several members who will not be members of the council — these will not exceed twenty percent of the total number of members of the executive authority — to jobs in the executive authority. These members will not be allowed to vote in the council’s sessions.

Members of the executive authority not elected to the council must have a residence address within the boundaries of the PA.

The president of the council will also be the president of the executive authority and will assign portfolios to members of the executive authority.

The powers and jurisdiction of the executive authority: The council will have legislative and executive powers. The executive powers will apply to all the issues within its boundaries according to the agreement, including the power to formulate and conduct a Palestinian policy and responsibility for its implementation.

According to the DOP, the council will have no powers or responsibility over foreign relations, including the establishment of embassies, consulates, or any other type of foreign diplomatic legations abroad, or to permit their establishment in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

At the same time, the PLO will be entitled to conduct negotiations and sign agreements with countries or international bodies on behalf of the council, such as: economic accords; agreements with donor countries; agreements on the execution of development projects in the region; as well as cultural, scientific, and educational agreements.

Within its boundaries, the council will have an independent judicial system of Palestinian courts and tribunals.

Cooperation Appendix

Both sides seek to cooperate in a bid to bring about a full reconciliation and the implementation of the permanent agreement on the basis of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

The main areas of cooperation planned are: preservation of the environment, economy, science and technology, culture, and education. This cooperation will consist of joint economic enterprises, transfer of agricultural know-how, development and implementation of methods for the handling of toxic and dangerous materials, and the development of environment-friendly energy sources. A permanent cooperation committee will be established to that end, which will decide on its working procedures on its own.