1 - Borders Under Oslo
2 - The Israeli Position
3 - The Palestinian Position
4 - During the Interim Period
5 - Proposals
4 - During the Interim Period
During the interim phase there have been a number of successive Israeli troop
redeployments from areas of the West Bank and Gaza. The first redeployment was in May 1994
from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jericho, in accord with the Gaza Jericho
Agreement. The second phase was the redeployment from six major Palestinian population
centers in the West Bank. This phase was concluded over a two-month period in November and
December 1996, in accord with the Interim Agreement. The third, and most contentious,
redeployment was from the city of Hebron in January 1997.
As previously mentioned, the Interim Agreement also mandates three further Israeli
redeployments from parts of Area C. This would leave the Palestinian Authority responsible
for areas of the West Bank with the exception of Israeli settlements and the
Israeli-designated military areas. The scope of these "Israeli-designated military
areas" has been the center of continued controversy. The main question is whether the
size of these "areas" is to be determined by Israel alone, or in coordination
with the Palestinian Authority.
In accordance with the Interim Agreement and the letter from Warren Christopher
attached to the Hebron Agreement, in March 1997 Prime Minister Netanyahu presented
Israel's proposed schedule for the first of three "further redeployments" from
the West Bank. According to this proposal, Israel would withdraw from 9 percent of the
West Bank -- 7 percent from Areas A and B, and 2 percent from Area C (the specific area
from which the further redeployments are required). The Palestinians immediately rejected
this plan as insufficient, claiming that the first redeployment should include at least 30
percent of the West Bank. Given this wide gap of opinion, controversy over the further
redeployment schedule is likely to continue.
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