Wye Agreement

Wye Agreement (October 1998) Concluded in Wye Plantation near Washington D.C., and mediated by President Clinton, it aimed to revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis following the collapse of the Oslo and Gaza–Jericho Agreements. Israel committed itself to withdrawing from 13 per cent of the West Bank territory within 90 days, and to transfer a further 14 per cent of the land under joint Israeli–Palestinian control to sole control of the Palestinian National Authority. The Palestinians also received a transit corridor that connected its territories in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. In return, the PLO agreed to change its charter which called for the abolition of the state of Israel. However, tensions between Palestinians and the Israeli army continued, so that the Israelis refused to implement most aspects of the agreement. An additional protocol negotiated between Arafat and Barak came into force in 1999. The Israeli army withdrew from further territory, and the transit corridor was opened in 2000. However, even under Barak the agreement was not implemented in full, as violence between Palestinians and Israelis escalated. In March 2002 much of the West Bank was re-occupied by the Israeli army, nullifying all the painful peace accords reached in the 1990s.