Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron (15 January 1997)

Summary

The Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, headed 15 January 1997 and closed at Jerusalem on 17 January 1997, implementing the Interim Agreement for Hebron: Israeli forces redeploy within ten days, the Palestinian Police assume responsibilities in Area H-1 and Israel retains internal security and public order in Area H-2 and overall security of Israelis, with joint mobile units, joint patrols, a Joint Coordination Center, a 400-person Palestinian Police force in H-1, protection of four named Jewish holy sites in H-1, gradual reopening of Shuhada Road within four months, transfer of 12 civil spheres concurrently, building-height coordination near listed locations, up to 50 unarmed municipal inspectors in H-2, and a Temporary International Presence in Hebron (Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron (15 January 1997), lines 1-294).

What the file is

The Avalon Project reproduction of the Protocol, about 2,528 words in the text copy, lines 1-294: Avalon navigation and footer, Security Arrangements (§§1-9), Civil Arrangements (§§10-16), Miscellaneous (§§17-19), closing and signatory names D. Shomrom for Israel and S. Erakat for the PLO, Appendix 1 (map, not reproduced), Appendix 2 (Agreed Adjacent Area) and Appendix 3 (list of locations). The heading dates the Protocol 15 January 1997; the closing dates it 17 January 1997. The attached map is not in the text copy.

Section by section

• Heading and §1, Redeployment (lines 1-45). Redeployment under the Interim Agreement and this Protocol, completed not later than ten days from signing; both sides to prevent friction; full implementation for Hebron unless otherwise provided in Article VII of Annex I.
• §2, Security powers (lines 45-60). Palestinian Police in H-1 as in other West Bank cities; Israel retains H-2 internal security and public order and overall security of Israelis; reaffirmed Interim Agreement Articles XII and XV and Annex I Articles II, VII and XI.
• §3, Agreed security arrangements (lines 60-75). Special arrangements in H-1 adjacent to Israeli-responsibility areas, between Appendix 1 checkpoints and those areas, to prevent entry of armed persons and demonstrators threatening security and public order.
• §4, Joint security measures (lines 75-105). DCO sub-office; JMU in H-2 for incidents involving Palestinians only; Joint Mobile Units at Abu Sneinah, Harat A-Sheikh, Sha’aba and the high ground overlooking new Route No. 35; two Joint Patrols in H-1; equivalent JMU weapons (Mini-Ingraham for Palestinians, short M16s for Israelis); Joint Coordination Center at Har Manoah/Jabel Manoah.
• §5, Palestinian Police (lines 105-135). Up to 400 policemen in H-1, 20 vehicles, 200 pistols, 100 rifles for police-station protection; four Rapid Response Teams of up to 16, rifles exclusively for RRTs; free operation in H-1, JCC agreement for rifle activity in the Agreed Adjacent Area; pre-deployment security check for all policemen.
• §6, Holy Sites (lines 135-150). Four H-1 sites — Cave of Othniel Ben Knaz/El-Khalil, Elonei Mamre/Haram Er-Rameh, Eshel Avraham/Balotat Ibrahim, Maayan Sarah/Ein Sarah — protected by Palestinian Police, visits accompanied by a Joint Mobile Unit.
• §7, Normalization of life in the Old City (lines 150-165). Hasbahe wholesale market opened as a retail market; Shuhada Road vehicle movement gradually returned within 4 months to the situation prior to February 1994.
• §8, Imara (lines 165-170). Turned over on completion of redeployment as Palestinian Police headquarters.
• §9, City of Hebron (lines 170-180). Unity of the city, division of security responsibility will not divide it, smooth movement without obstacles or barriers.
• §10, Transfer of civil powers (lines 180-195). Twelve spheres transferred concurrently with the start of redeployment; in H-2, powers except those relating to Israelis and their property.
• §11, Planning, zoning and building (lines 195-220). Historic character preserved; DCL coordination for height and use thresholds within 50 and 100 meters of Appendix 3 locations and within 50 meters of the listed road; exemption for existing buildings and permits approved before January 15th, 1997.
• §12-16, Infrastructure, transportation, inspectors, offices, services (lines 220-260). Forty-eight hours’ notice for infrastructure work affecting H-2; Palestinian determination of bus stops and traffic, H-2 arrangements frozen at redeployment; up to 50 plainclothes unarmed municipal inspectors in H-2; Council offices in H-2 to avoid provocation; municipal services to all parts at the same quality and cost.
• §17-19 and closing (lines 260-280). Temporary International Presence in Hebron, modalities agreed by both sides; no derogation from Annex I; appendices integral. Done at Jerusalem, 17 January 1997.
• Appendices 1-3 (lines 280-294). Map not reproduced; Agreed Adjacent Area by reference points RP 100-108 and checkpoints; list of nine location entries including Al Haram Al Ibrahimi/the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Osama School/Beit Romano (including the military location in its vicinity), Beit Hadasseh, Tel Rumeida, the Jewish Cemeteries, Tel Al Jaabra/Givaat Avot Neighborhood (including the police station in its vicinity) and the road to Qiryat Arba.

Key passages

• “the unity of the City of Hebron” (lines 170-180).
• Visits to the H-1 holy sites are to ensure “free, unimpeded and secure access to the Holy Sites” (lines 135-150).

Evidence the work relies on

The Protocol relies on the Interim Agreement it implements, citing its Articles XII and XV, Annex I Articles II, VII and XI, and Annex III Appendix 1 Article 32, and on its own Appendices 1-3 (map, Agreed Adjacent Area, list of locations). No other evidence is presented; it is an operative agreement text.

Analysis

An operative implementation protocol, not an argument. Its terms divide security responsibility by area while stating the city remains undivided, cap and condition the Palestinian Police presence in detail (numbers, vehicles, weapons, team structure, vetting, JCC consent in the adjacent area), and subject Palestinian building near listed Israeli locations to coordination through the DCL. Civil transfer in H-2 excludes Israelis and their property. What the file does not contain — the Appendix 1 map — is the spatial definition on which the checkpoint and adjacent-area arrangements depend.

People, organizations, places and events

Hebron, Palestinian Police, Temporary International Presence in Hebron, Hebron Protocol, Interim Agreement, Area A, Kiryat Arba

Concepts

Safe passage

How it relates to other sources

This is the primary text for the Hebron Protocol that Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: Part V (1989-2000) summarized secondhand (division into H-1 and H-2, TIPH as a component). It implements Annex I Article VII of Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (28 September 1995), whose Hebron provisions it cites throughout. The The Wye River Memorandum (23 October 1998) lists its companion Note for the Record of January 17, 1997 among the prior agreements, and The Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum on Implementation Timeline of Outstanding Commitments of Agreements Signed and the Resumption of Permanent Status Negotiations (4 September 1999) returns to its unfinished Hebron items (Shuhada Road, Hasbahe market).

Open questions

• The heading dates the Protocol 15 January 1997 and the closing dates it 17 January 1997; the UN Part V study records signing on 17 January 1997 and a Note for the Record of 15 January 1997 — the file itself gives both dates without explaining the difference.
• Appendix 3 is headed “(Article 12)” in the text copy, while the list is invoked by §11 (Planning, Zoning and Building); §12 is Infrastructure.
• “Mini-Ingraham” is as printed; the weapon name is not further identified in the file.

Coverage

lines 1-294 of 294, read in full