OSLO II ACCORDS

   This is a short form for the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, signed by Israel's prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat in Washington, DC, on 28 September 1995. Major elements of the accords included the arrangements for transferring control over six West Bank towns and cities (Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Qalkilieh, and Tulkarm) and surrounding Arab villages to the administration of the Palestinian self-government authority and the future redeployment of Israeli forces and security in part of Hebron; the division of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into three categories: Area A (areas transferred completely to Palestinian authority for the duration of the interim autonomy period), Area B (areas of shared Israeli and Palestinian jurisdiction), and Area C (areas remaining under full Israeli control and to be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction with the exception of areas deemed by Israel to be crucial to security); and the arrangements for electing a Palestinian Legislative Council.

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict.