The second Oslo agreement turned the 1993 plan into a system of temporary rule. It divided the West Bank into areas with different civil and security rules. It also set rules for Palestinian elections. The text named the powers of the temporary Palestinian government.
The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was signed in Washington on September 28, 1995. The State Department’s Office of the Historian calls it the main deal that put Oslo into practice. The terms Area A, Area B, and Area C come from this temporary system.
What the agreement established
Article XI and Annex I created Areas A, B, and C. The Palestinian side received civil and internal security power in Area A. It received civil power in Area B. Israel kept the main security role there. Area C stayed under Israeli control until final talks.
The deal also allowed Palestinian elections. It moved set civil powers to the Palestinian side. It laid out security work and rules for the temporary period.
Why it still matters
Areas A, B, and C are not timeless facts. A 1995 deal created them for a changeover period. That agreement still explains why power in the West Bank is split today.
The deal moved real powers through talks. The system was partial and unstable. Still, it went beyond broad promises.
Why the interim did not stay interim
The agreement was written as a changeover, not a lasting system. Work slowed after Rabin was killed. More partial deals became necessary. The State Department says the peace process had stalled by the end of the Clinton years.
Its detailed map for temporary rule took effect in important ways. The deal did not settle sovereignty or final borders, but its temporary map still shapes daily life. That shows both the agreement’s lasting effect and the failure to complete the planned changeover.