In the fall of 1993, after a series of secret negotiations in Norway, Israeli and Palestinian officials singed a peace agreement called The Oslo Accords. The Oslo agenda divided the peace process into an interim phase to establish limited Palestinian autonomy and a final status phase to discuss more explosive issues, including the Palestinians refugee problem. When the Oslo Accords expired in 1999, the interim phase remained incomplete and discussion of the final status issues now appears extremely remote.

Although the 1993 Oslo Memorandum is considered by the international community to be the official beginning of the "peace process" between Palestinians and Israelis, the desperate conditions faced by Palestinians in the post-Oslo period show that negotiations geared toward a truly lasting peace remain in the future. Under the Oslo framework, the Palestinian population within the Occupied Territories has become more defeated and helpless as the Israeli state continues to strengthen and expand. In the words of the Palestinian Society for Human Rights and Environment (LAW), "the Oslo Accords have given the Israeli fovernment a unique opportunity to undermine Palestinian life."

On September 19, 1993, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhaq Rabin signed the Declaration of Principles, i.e. the Oslo Accords, on the White House lawn under the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton.

The provisions of the Oslo Memorandum include the following:

1. The creation of the Palestinian National Authority and future PNA democratic elections.
2. Newly recognized Palestinian entities, i.e. the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
3. A gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Occupied Territories (OCT).
4. The transfer of authority of the OCT from Israel to the PNA over a five-year period.
5. A final status agreement between both camps based on UN Resolutions 338 and 242.

Two years later, on September 28, 1995, the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip was ratified. In addition to other provisions including those outlined in Oslo I, this document, commonly known as Oslo II, detailed the implementation of the second phase of Palestinian self-rule in the Occupied Territories.

Its provisions included the following:

1. Elections for the Council of the Palestinian National Authority
2. A gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the centers of Palestinian populated areas.
3. The establishment of Palestinian self-rule in the OCT.
4. The prohibition of any change in the status of the West Bank and Gaza pending the outcome of final status negotiations.
5. The transfer of planning and zoning authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from the Israeli Military Authorities to the PNA.
6. The division of the West Bank into areas A, B, and C. Area C, under complete Israeli military control, includes 70 percent of the West Bank whereas Area A, under complete PA control, makes up 3%. The remaining Area B is under joint Palestinian-Israeli control.

In both the Oslo I and II treaties, many important issues were either left ambiguous or not addressed at all. The status of Jerusalem, the future of Palestinian refugees, and the right to and boundaries of a future Palestinian state were all issues left untouched in the Memorandum and set aside for final negotiations. The language surrounding other vital issues such as water control, security protocol, and the expansion of Jewish settlements was vague, assigning the more powerful Israeli government a license to proceed however it felt necessary to protect its own interests, even at the loss of Palestinian human rights and self-determination.

In the post-Oslo period, the Palestinians within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip remains under Israeli military occupation and has been subject to gross human rights violations and unjust acts simply because they are Palestinians. The practice of administrative detention, in which the Israeli government legally persecutes and imprisons individuals without due process or a public trial, continues to be practiced. In 1998, 98 Palestinians were placed in Israeli prisons under administrative detention. Jewish settlements continue to be both built and expanded alongside Israeli bypass roads and industrial sites causing the displacement of Palestinian families, the expropriation of their land, and the demolition of their homes. Over 800 Palestinian homes have been demolished since Oslo I, and the number continues to increase. Today, 2,000 Palestinian homes have outstanding demolition orders.

Curfews, military checkpoints, and closure policies continue to regulate and restrict the movement of the Palestinian population within both Gaza and the West Bank. In 1999, only 600 Palestinians were given permits by Israel to enter and exit the West Bank and Gaza, leaving the approximately 2 million Palestinians without the right to travel outside their permitted place of residence. The Palestinian economy has and continues to deteriorate under Israel's closure policy, which effectively prevents normal trade relations between the Occupied Territories themselves and with their neighboring states. In 1993 alone, the GDP of the Palestinian economy shrunk 22 percent, and the trend has yet to significantly change.

Oslo I and II have been perceived by the international community as a step toward "peace" in the Middle East. However, if one examines the provisions that were never implemented and the day-to-day struggle of Palestinians within the Occupied Territories to maintain their livelihood, the post-Oslo period has not improved but rather worsened the condition of Palestinian existence within the West Bank and Gaza.