THE ISRAEL & PALESTINE CONFLICT

Image Credits-Makan

Introduction

Israel and Palestine conflict dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, the British Mandate of Palestine was to be divided into Arab and Jewish states, according to Resolution 181, also known as the Partition Plan, which was ratified by the United Nations in 1947 and aimed to create separate Arab and Jewish states. The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, which precipitated the first Arab-Israeli War. Israel won the battle in 1949. After that 750,000 Palestinians were relocated, and the area was partitioned into the State of Israel, the West Bank (west of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.

Israelis & Arabs

In the ensuing years tension rose, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Egypt, Jordan, and Syria signed agreements on mutual defence after the 1956 Suez Crisis. Following a series of maneuvers by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Syrian and Egyptian air defences in June 1967, igniting a war between Israel and the Arab nations of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan known as the Six-Day War or Arab-Israeli War of 1967, this increased antagonism between the two nations followed Palestinian guerrilla strikes against Israel from Syrian bases. Post war, Israel gained control of the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Sinai Pen insula and Gaza Strip from Egypt. 

Six years later, in what is known as the Yom Kippur War or the October War, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel and invaded two fronts unexpectedly in an effort to reclaim lost territory. Although neither Egypt nor Syria gained much from the conflict neither did Israel or Syria—Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat hailed the conflict as a success for Egypt because it allowed Egypt and Syria to negotiate over previously ceded territory. Representatives from Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, a peace accord that put an end to the thirty-year struggle between the two countries in 1979 after a number of cease-fires and peace talks. Although the agreements known as the Camp David Accords, which were signed on September 17, 1978, between Israel and Egypt, eventually resulted in the first peace treaty between Israel and any of its Arab neighbours the following year. The agreements, officially known as the "Framework for Peace in the Middle East," were mediated by U.S. President Jimmy Carter between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. They later came to be known as the Camp David Accords because the talks took place at the retreat for the president of the United States at Camp David, Maryland, however they remained silent on the question of Palestinian self-government and self-determination. 

The first intifada, which began in 1987, saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rebel and attack against the Israeli authorities.

Oslo Accords

 A foundation for Palestinian self-governance in the West Bank and Gaza was formed by the 1993 Oslo I Accords, it was a attempt to establish a framework that would result in the resolution of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is known as the Oslo I Accord, officially known as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP). Between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), it was their first face-to-face agreement. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA), an interim self-government for Palestinians, was to be established under the terms of the Accord, which also made it possible for Israel's government and the newly established Palestinian authority to recognise one another. On September 13, 1993, in Washington, D.C., the Oslo Accords were formally signed in front of PLO chief Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and American President Bill Clinton. Shimon Peres, the foreign minister of Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, Warren Christopher, the secretary of state of the United States, and Andrei Kozyrev, the foreign minister of Russia. Later on, the Oslo II Accords, which were added in 1995, enlarged on the original accord by requiring Israel to withdraw entirely from 6 cities and 450 communities in the West Bank. Palestinians began the second intifada in 2000, which lasted until 2005. It was partly sparked by Palestinian complaints about Israel's control over the West Bank, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. In response, for protection the Israeli government authorised building a wall around the West Bank in 2002. 

The Oslo agreements failed for the same reasons why most agreements fail: both sides believed that Oslo had fallen short of their expectations. Oslo was always intended to be a bridge agreement before the arduous negotiations that would lead to a final accord. The idea that peace could be disseminated via goodwill on the part of both peoples' leaders was a crucial element of it.

United States made an effort to restart the West Bank peace negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority in 2013. However, peace negotiations were put on hold in 2014 when Fatah, the official party of the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, a splinter group, formed a unity government.

Palestine & Hamas

One of the two main Palestinian political parties, Hamas was established in 1987 after the first intifada and is a breakaway from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. In 1997, the US designated Hamas as an international terrorist organisation. Conflicts in the Palestinian territories in the summer of 2014 led to a military fight between the Israeli military and Hamas, during which Hamas launched over 3,000 cruising missiles towards Israel and Israel responded by launching a defence attack in Gaza. After 73 Israelis and 2,251 Palestinians were killed, the conflict came to an end in late August 2014 with a cease-fire agreement mediated by Egypt. 

Israelis & Palestinian

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared that the Oslo Accords' territorial boundaries would no longer apply to the Palestinians following a spate of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in 2015. The Gaza Strip's Palestinian residents held weekly protests near the Israel-Gaza border between March and May of 2018. The final demonstration took place on the seventh anniversary of the Nakba, the expulsion of the Palestinians that followed Israel's establishment. Some of the demonstrators stormed the perimeter fence and attacked, flung rocks along with other things. The deadliest violent period since 2014 began in May 2018 when the Israeli forces and Hamas clashed. Terrorists from Gaza fired more than 100 missiles into Israel prior to a cease-fire being negotiated. During the 24-hour flare-up, Israel retaliated by conducting air strikes in Gaza. 

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United States & the conflict

The administration of Donald J. Trump made an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians a top goal in its foreign policy. In 2018, the Trump administration reversed a long-standing U.S. policy and cut off financing to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which aids Palestinian refugees. It also moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Israeli government applauded the decision to move the American embassy, but other Middle Eastern and European governments as well as Palestinian officials denounced it. East Jerusalem is the claimed capital of a future Palestinian state, whereas Israel claims the "complete and united Jerusalem" as its capital. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain decided to restore diplomatic ties with Israel in August and September 2020, becoming the third and fourth nations in the region to do so, after Egypt and Jordan in 1979 and 1994, respectively. The agreements, referred to as the Abraham Accords, came into effect more than 18 months after the United States hosted Israel and a number of Arab countries for ministerial talks on the future of Middle Eastern peace in Warsaw, Poland. 

The agreements were rejected by both Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, collapse of the normalisation agreements reached in 2020 between Israel and Arab nations. These agreements were aggressively promoted as helping to bring about peace between the states but they have shown that they fell short in both. 

The Capital

The concerns that a third intifada might start and that current tensions would worsen into widespread bloodshed. A sustainable agreement between Israel and the Palestinian territories would enhance regional security, and the United States has an interest in ensuring the security of its longtime ally Israel. Israeli court ordered Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, an area of East Jerusalem to relocate, by May 2021 and rightfully transferred the land to Jewish people in October 2020. A number of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah appealed the court's decision in February 2021, which led to demonstrations calling for a halt in the process.

In April 2021, Palestinians started protesting the impending relocation process in the streets of Jerusalem, and Sheikh Jarrah's residents and other activists started holding nightly sit-ins. After a judge decided in favour of the relocation in early May, the protests grew violently and Israeli police had to use force against the protesters. At the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, heavy violence broke out on May 7 after weeks of daily protests and rising tensions between protesters, Israeli settlers, and police during the month of Ramadan. Due to the clashes in Jerusalem's Old City, tension in East Jerusalem rose, which was exacerbated by Jerusalem Day celebrations. Following many days of nonstop fighting in Jerusalem and the deployment of nonlethal force by Israeli police, Hamas, the militant organisation in control of Gaza, and other Palestinian militant organisations fired hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory on May 10. In response, Israel launched airstrikes followed by retaliation on sites in Gaza. Israel expanded its struck targets like Hamas, other militants, and their infrastructure, including tunnels and rocket launchers. 

Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire on May 21, 2021, which was mediated by Egypt. Both sides declared success, and there were no apprehensions of violations. 

The scenario in 2022

In December 2022 re-elected for fifth time, Israel's right-wing and a religious government came to power. The coalition government is headed by Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu (Israel’s longest serving leader) and his Likud party and consists of three right-parties, including the Religious Zionism party, an nationalist group linked to the West Bank settler movement. The government has expressed preference for the growth and development of Israeli settlements. Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism group, was assigned to a ministerial position in charge of West Bank settlement policy, while Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power party was named national security minister. According to the UN Middle East envoy, 2022 saw both Israelis and Palestinians lose the most people to conflict-related deaths since 2015, which puts the new government in charge at a precarious time. The government has taken a tough line towards the Palestinians, putting security concerns at the top and keeping national interest as their priority. 

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BY- Ramanshi Dwivedi

Ramanshi Dwivedi is a third year student in Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is currently pursuing Political Science Honours with Economics as her minor. She takes keen interest in the understanding of International Relations, Diplomacy and Economic developments, she believes that international relations paired with economics is a surefire way to hone our decision-making, analytical, and interpersonal skills. She holds great adoration for India and wants to serve her country in the best way.

She hopes to contribute towards a better society and be a value addition!

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References-

Grossman, David. To the End of the Land. Random House, 2010.

Oren, Michael. “Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.” 

Oren, Michael B. Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide. Random House, 2015.

Rea, Tony, and John Wright. 

The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Oxford UP, USA, 1997.

Ross, Stewart. 

Causes and Consequences of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Evans Brothers, 2004.

Times of Israel.