By Hilary Andersson in Gaza

The Palestinian Central Council is to meet on Tuesday to decide whether to declare an independent Palestinian state on 4 May.

If the date is approved by the 124-member council it will mark the end of the historic interim Oslo agreement.

But on Monday at a meeting in Ramallah, the elected legislative council adopted a long-awaited resolution on the statehood issue without mentioning any date for the achievement of independence.

The Norwegian peace accords were signed in 1993 amid great hopes and expectations, but those hopes have been dashed.

The peace process has only produced a measure of Palestinian autonomy, and in the absence of good working relations with the Israelis, even this has brought economic hardship.

Farmers in the Gaza Strip produce enough to feed more than a million people, but in the last few years they have suffered as produce has been left rotting at the border, because of the failed peace process, and new barriers with Israel.

'A massive open-air prison'

Gaza is fenced in on all sides, with impenetrable barriers built by the Israelis.

Farmers produce enough to feed a million

There is only one way in or out of this Palestinian-ruled area, used every day by thousands of workers.

The massive border point was just a roadblock before Oslo, now Palestinians have papers specifying which days - even which hours - they can spend outside Gaza.

Inside the border post, Palestinians are made to show three kinds of identification documents. Many complain that the checks are humiliating.

Hilary Andrersson: "The Palestinians need peace with Israel, and open borders"

Our cameras were not allowed in - the Israelis do not want the spectacle to be made public.

It is little surprise that may Palestinians see Gaza as nothing better than a massive open-air prison.

When Yasser Arafat returned to Gaza from exile five years ago after the signing of the accords, Palestinians danced in the streets.

The self-rule promised by the peace pact was supposed to herald dignity and prosperity. The reality for most has been the opposite.

Economic impact

More than 60,0000 workers have lost their jobs in Israel in the years since Israel sealed off Gaza for "security reasons".

There is only one border crossing

The authorities say these are the growing pains of statehood.

Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Abu Rahman said: "The majority of Palestinian people understand we should continue to face the Israeli closure, to face this economic war that this government and Israel declared against Palestinians."

The hopes and dreams of Oslo are dead, but the lessons of the last five years are clear.