Explained | What are core Israel-Palestine issues? What's the future of peace attempts?
Israel conflict
The Israel-Hamas war has become one of the biggest humanitarian crises of this era as the Palestinians who are living in the Gaza Strip are struggling for basic resources such as food and clean water, electricity, and medicines as Israeli forces continue their fight to finish Hamas terrorists after their barbaric attack in southern Israel.
The ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas started in the first week of October after a surprise and unprecedented attack was launched by Hamas, but the war didn't happen overnight, it was building up over the years, keeping West Asia on the edge.
What's the origin of conflict?
The Partition Planwas agreed upon by the United Nations in 1947, which attempted to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, igniting the first Arab-Israeli War.
Although Israel won the war in 1949, 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the land was divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
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What are the coreissues of the conflict?
The main issues include a two-state solution, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and refugees.
First, let's discuss the two-state solution, which is an agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. However, the concept of the two-state solution has been rejected by Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel wants the Palestinian state to be demilitarised, so that it isn't a threat to Israel.
There are also issues with the Israeli settlements as some nations consider Jewish settlements built on land taken by Israel in 1967 to be illegal, but Israel disagrees. It says it has historical and Biblical links to the area. The continuation of its expansion is one of the most controversial problems between Israeland the Palestinians.
Another burning issue, Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes sites sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, to be the capital of their state.
But Israel says Jerusalem should remain its "indivisible and eternal" capital. Israel's claim to the eastern part of Jerusalem is not recognised internationally.
Former US president Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, without specifying the extent of its jurisdiction in the disputed city, and moved the US embassy there in 2018.
The issue of refugees is also crucial to understanding the Israeli-Palestine conflict as today about 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, the majority are descendants of those who fled in 1948, live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian foreign ministry says that about half of registered refugees remain stateless, many living in crowded camps.
What's the future of peace attempts?
There have been several attempts to establish peace between the two, and also in West Asia. Egypt and Israel signed a peace pact in 1979, putting an end to 30 years of hostility.
In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords on limited Palestinian autonomy. Israel and Jordan signed a peace pact in 1994.
Then US president Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat failed to reach a final peace deal with the Camp David summit of 2000. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but ended without an agreement.
In 2002, an Arab plan offered Israel normal ties with all Arab countries in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it took in the 1967 Middle East war, the creation of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.
But the peace efforts have been stalled since 2014 when talks failed between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington. Palestinians also boycotted dealings with the Trump administration over their refusal to endorse the two-state solution.
Watch:Hamas planned to target Israeli schools, 'kill as many people as possible,' says report
What's the future of peace attempts?
With the latest outbreak of war, concerns have grown over the recent attempts by the US to break a deal as on the day Israel declared war, President Joe Biden made a strong statement in support of Israel.
The October conflict threw the United States 2023 effort to help mediate a normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia into disarray.
This war is also a diplomatic challenge for Riyadh as well as for other Arab states, including some Gulf Arab states next to Saudi Arabia, that have signed peace deals with Israel.
Saudi Arabia has historically campaigned for the rights and safety of Israeli Arab Palestinians and a source told the news agency AFP on Oct 13 that Riyadhhas suspended talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel amid raging war.
The source familiar with the discussions told AFP that "Saudi Arabia has decided to pause discussion on possible normalisation and has informed US officials".
(With inputs from agencies)
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