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Israel and the Palestinians ·

The Hebron Protocol, the Wye River Memorandum and the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum

Three agreements implementing the Interim Agreement — not new agreements on the substance of the conflict and not a permanent-status settlement.

In 30 seconds

Between 1997 and 1999 three agreements were signed to carry out what had already been promised in the Interim Agreement: the division of Hebron, the transfer of more land to the Palestinian Authority and new dates for permanent-status talks25. Part was implemented, part was not, and the dates passed without an agreement3.

Where it stands today

The agreements were partly implemented. The division of Hebron into H-1 and H-2 still exists, but as of October 2026 it is being eroded: in June 2026 Israel transferred to its Higher Planning Council planning and building powers in central Hebron that the Palestinian municipality had held since 199789.

In one sentence

To restart the stalled implementation of the Interim Agreement: a redeployment in Hebron, further redeployments in the West Bank and a timetable for permanent status.

The challenge

The 1995 Interim Agreement left Hebron outside Area A — the only major West Bank city not transferred to Palestinian control12.

After the 1996 election a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party took office in Israel3. The Palestinians demanded the promised redeployments; Israel demanded Palestinian action against terrorism and incitement4.

The road there

  1. The Hebron Protocol is signed by Dan Shomron for Netanyahu's government and by Saeb Erekat for the PLO2.
  2. The Wye River Memorandum is signed in Washington by Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, with President Bill Clinton signing as witness5.
  3. The Knesset approves the Wye River Memorandum by 75 votes to 194.
  4. The first redeployment stage is completed; Israel releases 250 Palestinian prisoners6.
  5. The Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum is signed by Ehud Barak and Arafat5.

The people

Negotiated
Saeb Erekat
Mediated
Bill Clinton

What was agreed

  • Hebron 1997: the city is divided into H-1, about 80% of it, which passes to Palestinian control, and H-2, which stays under Israeli control2.
  • Wye River 1998: Israel is to transfer 13% of Area C — 1% to Area A and 12% to Area B — in stages5.
  • Wye River 1998: the Palestinian side is to act to prevent terrorism and incitement, security cooperation is to be widened, and the annulment of the Palestinian Covenant articles is reaffirmed45.
  • Sharm el-Sheikh 1999: a new timetable for the redeployments in three stages, up to 20 January 20005.
  • Sharm el-Sheikh 1999: release of 350 prisoners in two groups, opening of the southern “safe passage” between Gaza and the West Bank, and a start to building a seaport in Gaza5.
  • Sharm el-Sheikh 1999: a framework agreement on permanent status within five months and a comprehensive agreement within a year5.

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The geography

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Schematic map of Israel and its neighbours with line typesWest BankGaza StripJerusalemTel AvivGazaRamallahAmmanRafahNaharayim / Baqura

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Layers · Legend
  • International boundary agreed in a peace treaty
  • Treaty line with Jordan, “without prejudice to the status” of the territory beyond it
  • 1949 armistice line (“Green Line”) — not an agreed final border
  • “Blue Line” — UN line of withdrawal (2000), not a border
  • Ceasefire / disengagement line with Syria (1974)
  • Other international boundary
  • West Bank and Gaza Strip: permanent status not agreed
  • Golan Heights: held by Israel since 1967; annexation not recognised by the UN
  • UN area of separation (UNDOF)

Classification follows the original research as of 7 Oct 2026. This schematic map is not a legal boundary map or a live update.

  • International boundary agreed in a peace treaty
  • Treaty line with Jordan, “without prejudice to the status” of the territory beyond it
  • 1949 armistice line (“Green Line”) — not an agreed final border
  • “Blue Line” — UN line of withdrawal (2000), not a border
  • Ceasefire / disengagement line with Syria (1974)
  • Other international boundary
  • West Bank and Gaza Strip: permanent status not agreed
  • Golan Heights: held by Israel since 1967; annexation not recognised by the UN
  • UN area of separation (UNDOF)

Schematic map. Lines are approximate and are not a legal determination. Data: Natural Earth (public domain), 1:10m scale; line classification and place names by this site. Lines as of October 2026. Peace map

The hard decisions

  • The Knesset approved the Hebron Protocol by 87 votes to 172. It was a Likud government that handed most of the city to Palestinian control.
  • On 6 November 1998, after a car bombing in West Jerusalem, the Israeli cabinet suspended its consideration of the Wye River Memorandum6.
  • According to the US Office of the Historian, infighting over the implementation of Wye brought down Netanyahu's government in January 19993.

What was carried out

  • The Hebron Protocol was carried out: most of the city passed to Palestinian control3.
  • The first stage of Wye was carried out in November 1998: 2% of the West Bank was transferred to joint control and 7.1% to Palestinian control, 250 prisoners were released, and Gaza airport opened on 24 November6.

What was not

  • The remaining Wye redeployment stages were not carried out on time; the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum gave them a new timetable5.
  • The Sharm el-Sheikh targets for permanent status were not met: the Camp David summit of July 2000 ended without an agreement3.

What changed in real life

  • Hebron has lived as a divided city since 199727.
  • According to Peace Now, in June 2026 planning and building powers over settler property in H-2 and over eight religious sites, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs / Ibrahimi Mosque, were taken from the Palestinian municipality of Hebron8. The Palestinian presidency condemned the step; Israel's foreign ministry said the 1997 agreement had not been cancelled9.

What remains open

  • The three agreements show a pattern: each new agreement was needed to carry out an earlier commitment that had not been met on time5.
  • None of them touched the core questions — borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements — which were left to permanent-status negotiations3.

Sources

  1. Research Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF)
    Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II, 1995)
  2. Research Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF)
    Hebron Protocol (1997)
  3. Official archive U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
    The Oslo Accords and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process
  4. Research Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF)
    Wye River Memorandum (1998)
  5. Primary United Nations, Division for Palestinian Rights (UNISPAL)
    Middle East peace process documents, 1998–1999 (texts of the Wye River and Sharm el-Sheikh memoranda)
  6. Primary United Nations, Division for Palestinian Rights (UNISPAL) · November 1998
    Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine, November 1998
  7. Reference נשים עושות שלום
    הסכמים מדיניים עיקריים במזרח התיכון
  8. Reference Peace Now (שלום עכשיו) · 16 June 2026
    Higher Planning Council takes planning powers in Hebron from the Palestinian municipality
  9. Press Al Jazeera · 17 June 2026
    Israel takes control of Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque: What this means

Further reading