What are Oslo Accords?

The Oslo Accords, between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, are two agreements primarily consisting of Oslo I Accord signed in Washington D.C. in the year 1993 and Oslo II Accord signed in Taba, Egypt in the year 1995 under the United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Happening to be the first peace treaties between the two leaderships, these became the cornerstone for the first mutual recognition between the two inter alia recognizing that the bilateral negotiations were the only viable path to Palestinian statehood. The first of the agreement led to the establishment of the Palestinian authority imbibing within their rule’ the Gaza strip, and the latter recognized the three zones of the west bank A, B & C respectively.

The first step under the 1993 Accord was the partial withdrawal of Israel military from Gaza and the transfer of powers and responsibilities to an interim Palestinian Authority. Thereafter, Israel was to pave way for Palestinian elections to establish an elected council which would further resolve the territorial and cultural conflict between the two upon the inauguration of the Council.

Two decades later, the peace connotation with the validity period of 5 years still remains the basis of relations and communication between Israel and the purported state. Despite the agreement’s failure, the Palestinian Liberation organization was acknowledged as Israel’s partner in status negotiations over the disputed territories. Howsoever, it failed to resolve the border dispute between the two over the presence of Israel’s military in the promised areas. In furtherance of which it failed to create a Palestinian state.

Presently, with the gained recognition of UN as a non-member observer State with a de-facto government, Palestine has acceded to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the crimes being committed on its territories. What transpires thereafter is yet to be observed.

by Boringbug

References:

[1] Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (DOP), 13 September 1993 ref. http://cis.uchicago.edu

[2] Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 28 September 1995 ref. http://cis.uchicago.edu.

[3] UNSCR no. 242 and 338 resp.

[4] Annex II, Oslo I Accord.

[5] Article 1, Oslo II Assord.

[6] Annex I, Article 1 and 5, Oslo II Accord.