May 4 in History
1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord for self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho
On this day in 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat reached an agreement in Cairo on the first stage of Palestinian self-rule. Made in accordance with the Oslo Accords signed in Washington, DC on September 13, 1993, and known as the Gaza-Jericho agreement, it was the first direct, face-to-face accord between Israel and the Palestinians and acknowledged Israel’s right to exist.
Designed as a framework for future relations between the two parties, the agreement addressed four main issues: security arrangements, civil affairs, legal matters and economic relations. It included an Israeli military withdrawal from about 60% of the Gaza Strip (Jewish settlements and their environs excluded) and the West Bank town of Jericho, land captured by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. The Palestinians agreed to combat terror and prevent violence in the famous “land for peace” bargain. The document also included an agreement to a transfer of authority from the Israeli Civil Administration to the newly created Palestinian Authority, its jurisdiction and legislative powers, a Palestinian police force and relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
– history.com/ENCL
Photo Caption – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, US President Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat at the Oslo Accords signing ceremony on 13 September 1993 –gpo.gov
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