special arrangements detailed in the agreement. The voting will take place in localities outside Jerusalem; however, a number of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem will be able to vote by means of special envelopes which will be sent from post offices in Jerusalem to the Central Elections Committee. A Palestinian with a Jerusalem address who wishes to stand for election to the Palestinian Council will be able to do so only if he or she has an additional valid address in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

All stages of the election process will be open to international observation, to ensure that they are free and fair. At the request of the parties, the European Union has agreed to coordinate the election observation. The observer delegation will be composed of representatives from the following states and international organizations: the EU, the UN, the USA, the Russian Federation, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Norway, South Africa, the Non - Aligned Nations, the OAU, and the Islamic Conference Organization.

The Palestinian Council

The Council to be established following the elections will assume various powers and responsibilities in security and civil spheres in the West Bank and Gaza, as detailed below. With the establishment of the Council, the Israeli military government will be withdrawn and the Civil Administration dissolved. The Council will assume responsibility for all rights, liabilities, and obligations in the spheres transferred to it. At the same time Israel will retain those powers and responsibilities not transferred to the Council.

The Council, which will have 82 members, will have legislative and executive powers. The agreement provides that the legislative powers will be exercised by the Council as a whole, while its executive powers will be exercised by a committee of the Council -- the Executive Authority. This committee shall comprise Council members together with a small number of appointed officials.

The powers of the Council will extend to all matters within its jurisdiction. It should be noted that it will not have powers in the sphere of foreign relations. The agreement does, however, provide for a number of areas in which the PLO may, on behalf of the Council, conduct negotiations and sign agreements ( economic, donor countries, regional development ).

Redeployment

The IDF will redeploy in the West Bank according to the timetable set out in the agreement. In the first stage, designed to facilitate the holding of elections, the IDF will withdraw from the populated areas of the West Bank: the six cities -- Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem, Kalkilya, Ramallah and Bethlehem (in the city of Hebron, special arrangements will apply, as detailed below) -- and 450 towns and villages. At the end of this redeployment, there will be almost no IDF presence in Palestinian population centers.

In addition, the agreement provides that a series of further redeployments are to take place at six-month intervals following the inauguration of the Council. In the course of these redeployments, additional parts of Area C will be transferred to the territorial jurisdiction of the Council, so that by the completion of the redeployment phases, Palestinian territorial jurisdiction will cover West Bank territory except for the areas where jurisdiction is to be determined under the final status negotiations (settlements, military locations, etc.).

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