The Israel-Palestine Conflict
The United Nations has warned wthat fighting between Israelis and Palestinians could escalate into an “all-out war” as it has intensified.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas attacks. As a result, the supply of electricity, food, fuel, and water to Gaza has been cut off.
A new humanitarian crisis could begin in Gaza if the blockade is not lifted.
The Gaza Power Plant is now their only source of electricity. It may run out of fuel in the next few days. But what is the history behind this prolonged conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?
A century-old crisis
The area in the Middle East called Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire. However, after the Ottomans’ defeat in World War I, Britain took control of Palestine.
Most of those who lived in Palestine then were Arabs, with some Jews, who were a minority.
However, tensions between the two communities began to rise when the international community tasked Britain with establishing a state in Palestine for the Jewish population.
Jews claim this region as the land of their ancestors. But the Arabs also claim the land as theirs and oppose attempts to establish a state there for the Jews.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, Jews from Europe began moving to Palestine in droves, and their numbers grew. After the persecution of Jews in Europe and the terrible extermination of Jews in World War II, they fled from there and dreamed of creating a new homeland.
Violence broke out between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, and at the same time, violence against British rule was increasing.
In 1947, the United Nations voted to divide Palestine into two separate Jewish and Arab states. Jerusalem will remain an international city. The Jewish leaders accepted the proposal, but the Arab leaders rejected it. This UN plan was never implemented.
The Establishment of Israel and the ‘Great Tribulation’
The British left Palestine in 1948 after failing to find any solution to this problem. Jewish leaders then announced the establishment of the State of Israel.
Many Palestinians protested, and fighting ensued. Soldiers from neighboring Arab countries also go to fight.
Thousands of Palestinians were then either forced to flee their homes or leave. Palestinians call this event ‘ Al-Nakba’ or ‘The Great Catastrophe.’
By the time the war ended in a cease-fire the following year, Israel had occupied most of Palestine. Jordan occupied an area now known as the West Bank. And Egypt occupied Gaza.
Jerusalem was divided, with Israeli forces occupying the western part of the city and Jordanian forces occupying the eastern part.
Since no peace agreement was ever reached between the two sides, both sides continued to blame the other. The two sides fought many more wars in the following decades.
In another war in 1967, Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza, and Egypt’s Sinai region from the Palestinians.
Most Palestinian refugees live in Gaza and the West Bank. There are also many Palestinians in neighboring Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
Israel has not allowed these Palestinians and their descendants to return to their homes. Israel says if they are allowed to return, Israel will not be able to take that pressure, and the existence of Israel as a Jewish state will be threatened.
Israel still occupies the West Bank. Although they have withdrawn troops from Gaza, it is still an area under Israeli occupation, according to the United Nations.
Israel now claims the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians, on the other hand, want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Only a handful of countries, including the United States, recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
For the past 50 years, Israel has been establishing Jewish settlements in these occupied areas. More than six million Jews now live in these areas.
Palestinians say these are illegal settlements under international law and an obstacle to peace. But Israel doesn’t think so.
What is happening now?
Israeli tensions often boil over with Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.
Gaza is ruled by the radical Palestinian group Hamas. They have fought many times with Israel. Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza’s borders so that no weapons can reach Hamas.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they are in dire straits because of Israel’s actions and strict restrictions. On the other hand, Israel claims they have to do this to protect themselves from Palestinian violence.
What are the main problems?
Israel and the Palestinians disagree on several issues.
These include what will happen to Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements in the West Bank will remain or be removed, and the city of Jerusalem will be divided between the two. And the most complex issue is the question of forming an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
For the last 25 years, peace talks have been going on intermittently. But a solution to the conflict has yet to be found.
What is the future?
In short, there will be no solution to this situation very soon.
The most recent initiative to address the crisis came from the United States when Donald Trump was president. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as the ‘deal of the century.’ However, the Palestinians rejected the initiative as entirely one-sided. The work of the United States has yet to progress.
Before any future peace agreement, the two sides must agree on a solution to all the critical issues.
Until that happens, the conflict between the two sides will continue.
