The Holy See has been an ardent supporter of the Palestinian political struggle for an independent state since 1967. This support, in addition to the desire to gain support for the Catholic Church from within the Palestinian community in the Palestinian territories under Israeli control, led to a process of gradually growing cooperation between the Holy See and the PLO, and later also the Palestinian authority. One such step was the meeting of
Pope John Paul II and PLO chairman
Yasser Arafat in 1987. Following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority under the
Oslo Accords, the Holy See embarked on negotiations with the Palestinian leadership to regulate Catholic Church activities in areas under Palestinian control. This was done in parallel with negotiations with the Israel to the same effect in Israeli controlled territories. Relations of special nature not defined as "diplomatic" were established between the Holy See and PLO on 26 October 1994. Negotiations between the Holy See and the PLO led to the signing of a Basic Agreement on 15 February 2000, which committed the PLO to respect freedom of religion in general, as well as freedom of action for Catholic communities and establishments under Palestinian control. A more comprehensive agreement was concluded on 26 June 2015, with effect on 2 January 2016. ==Provisions of the agreement==