MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti correspondent Maria Appakova) - On May 4, 1994, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed an agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. This date is considered to be the birth of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), that is, in fact, the entire Palestine Autonomy, but instead it has become a sad holiday.

This date was the start of the five-year transitional period, which should have determined the final status of the Palestinian territories. Fifteen years have passed instead of five and nothing has been made definite. Moreover, the PNA itself is going through one of the worst crises since its establishment.

The real point of departure in Palestine-Israeli relations was the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Interim (Palestine) Self-Government Arrangements in Washington DC on September 13, 1993. This declaration sealed the agreement on the five-year transitional period, which was supposed to begin with the redeployment of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (West Bank of the River Jordan) and be completed with the definition of the final status of the Palestinian territories. Preceded by a whole series of secret negotiations in Oslo, the declaration and the Palestine-Israeli Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, elaborated on its basis and signed in Washington DC on September 28, 1995, are called the Oslo or Norwegian agreements (Oslo I and Oslo II accordingly).

The interim agreements provided for the expansion of Palestinian self-government and the election of an 82-strong Palestinian council for a five-year transitional period (starting from the signing of the Gaza-Jericho accords signed on May 4, 1994). The Oslo process was a breakthrough - Israel expressed readiness to conduct talks with the PLO as a spokesman for the Palestinian people in exchange for its official recognition of the Jewish state's right to existence and renunciation of terror and violence.

It was not easy for the Israelis to start dialogue with the Yasser Arafat-led PLO because for them it was a terrorist organization. But life made its own demands. The Yitzhak Rabin-led Avoda (Labor) Party came to power in Israel in 1992. During the election campaign it had promised its voters to establish peace, but did not renounce the initiative elaborated together with another Israeli major party Likud, which did not even mention any talks with the PLO.

Avoda was hoping to reach agreement with the Palestinians on the land-for-peace formula, which had already produced success at the talks with Egypt. However, to translate it into reality, Israel needed a strong partner from the confronting side. Only the PLO could play such a role. Israel did not wait for the emergence of other Palestinian leaders.

This is how Rabin recalled the days before the signing of the Oslo-I accords: "For a long time I believed that residents of the territories (Palestinian) would produce some Palestinian forces, which would be able to develop their own potentialities. However, in more than a year of negotiations, I came to the conclusion that they were unable to do this. They did not come to Madrid without permission from Tunisia (where the PLO headquarters were located). They could do nothing without faxes and telephone calls from Tunisia. This fact was unpleasant but it was nevertheless a fact. Those who prefer to ignore facts may do so, but those who want to bring peace closer and find a solution cannot afford to act like this."

The PLO did not find this compromise easy, either. Moreover, Arafat's decision led to a split among Palestinians. However, he did not have a choice because he required international recognition and had to return to Palestine by all means. The PLO's long-term exile gradually reduced the influence of its leaders, primarily from its driving force Fatah, among the Palestinians residing on occupied territories. They were being replaced by a new generation. It was in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was becoming markedly active. Initially, Israel tried to use this new force as a counterweight to Yasser Arafat's Fatah.

Paradoxically, in 15 years the situation changed completely. Now Fatah is acting as a counterweight to Hamas, and being in exile, the Islamic leaders are dictating policy to their associates in Palestine from Damascus, and do not want to recognize Israel's right to existence. This attitude is making pointless not only negotiations with Israel but also an opportunity of a normal functioning of the Palestinian administration, which was split in two parts after Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

Since that time, the Arab countries have not stopped their attempts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah, and to form a national unity government. Without this, the life of Palestinians, especially those residing in the Gaza Strip, will be paralyzed. However, all the negotiations are ending in failure. The last round of talks held in Cairo in late April failed to produce tangible results. Fatah is dubious that the government of national unity will meet the requirements of the international community because Hamas does not want to change its position on Israel. The Islamists wonder how they can recognize Israel, which in truth does not recognize Hamas. One of their leaders, Abu Marzook explained: "Fatah has long recognized Israel, but has not reached any peace agreements with it. Israel does not have fixed borders to recognize."

For the time being, there is no hope that Hamas will change its position. However, few people believed that so much would change in 15 years. Probably, this time the circumstances will again prevail over the adamant attitude of politicians. The question is how many human lives will be lost to make this possible.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.