Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron

It concerned the partial redeployment of Israeli military forces from Hebron in accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ("Oslo II").

On 13 January 1997, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Chairman Arafat in the presence of U.S. envoy Dennis Ross.

The Agreements provided: Before the Knesset, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared on 16 January with respect to the Protocol: ″But our goals are different [than those of the previous Governments].

We are using the time interval in the agreement to achieve our goals: to maintain the unity of Jerusalem, to ensure the security depth necessary for the defence of the State, to insist on the right of Jews to settle in their land, and to propose to the Palestinians a suitable arrangement for self-rule but without the sovereign Powers which pose a threat to the State of Israel.″[4] On 29 January, the Israeli Government granted Jewish enclaves in Hebron national priority “A” and “B” to receive special government funding for settlement building.

[2] The protocol was a complex set of arrangements that consisted of a number of segments, in chronological order: The Agreed Minute was concluded on 7 January 1997, and in it Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat agreed that the process of reopening an important street in the West Bank town of Hebron, the al-Shuhada Street, would begin immediately, and would be completed within four months.

In the letter, he explained the policy of the United States to support and promote full implementation of the Interim Agreement.

He had impressed upon Arafat the need for the Palestinian Authority to ensure public order and internal security within the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

[4] The 1996 agreement had provided that as part of the redeployment of Israeli military forces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, there would the establishment of a Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH).

In addition, the TIPH personnel were to assist in the promotion and execution of projects, to encourage economic development and growth in the city and to provide reports.

Practical aspects of their operation and activity were set out in a memorandum of understanding concluded by the participating countries with the agreement of the two sides.