Understanding the Two-State Solution for the Israel-Palestine Conflict
The October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel and Israel’s subsequent military actions in Gaza have once again highlighted the Palestine issue in the Middle East geopolitics. The conflict has caused extensive destruction in Gaza and resulted in the deaths of 37,000 people. This has led to increased international support for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Recently, Spain, Ireland, and Norway recognized Palestine as a state, with more European countries expected to follow suit. Arab nations like Saudi Arabia and Jordan emphasize that lasting peace in the region hinges on resolving the Palestine issue. The internationally endorsed solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, known as the two-state solution, proposes dividing historical Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states to achieve lasting peace.
Understanding the Two-State Solution for the Israel-Palestine Conflict
However, despite Israel’s establishment as a Jewish state in 1948, a recognized Palestinian state remains unrealized. Implementing the two-state solution today would entail creating a legitimate and sovereign Palestinian state with equal rights as any other nation under the UN Charter.
In the 1930s, during British rule in Palestine, the roots of the two-state solution began to take shape. In 1936, the British government formed the Peel Commission, led by Lord William Robert Peel, to investigate Arab-Jewish conflicts in Palestine. By 1937, the commission concluded that the Mandate was no longer feasible and proposed dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.
At that time, Jews constituted about 28% of Palestine’s population. The Peel Commission’s plan envisioned the Arab state comprising the West Bank, Gaza, and the Negev Desert, while the Jewish state would include much of Palestine’s coastline and the fertile Galilee region. However, the Arab population rejected this proposal.
Following World War II, the UN Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) proposed another partition plan after Britain announced its intent to relinquish the Mandate. UNSCOP recommended dividing Palestine into three areas: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. By this time, Jews made up approximately 32% of Palestine’s population. According to the UNSCOP plan, the Jewish state would encompass 56% of Palestine’s land, with the remainder allocated to Arabs.
Understanding the Two-State Solution for the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The partition plan was endorsed by the UN General Assembly as Resolution 181 but did not pass the Security Council. Arab nations rejected the plan, while the Zionist leadership of Jewish settlers in Palestine accepted it.
Following the lack of a UN Security Council decision on partition, Zionists unilaterally declared the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948, just before the expiration of the British Mandate. This action sparked the first Arab-Israeli war. By the ceasefire in 1948, Israel had captured approximately 22% more territory than originally proposed by the UN plan, including West Jerusalem. Jordan seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City, while Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip.
During the war, Israel gained control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Since 1967, Israel has maintained control over the entirety of historical Palestine. Palestinian nationalism grew stronger in the 1960s under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Understanding the Two-State Solution for the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Initially advocating for the liberation of all of Palestine, the PLO shifted its stance during the 1990s Oslo process, recognizing Israel and accepting the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, encompassing approximately 22% of historical Palestine.
Initially rejecting Palestinian territorial claims and labeling the PLO as a terrorist organization, Israel later agreed to the Framework for Peace in the Middle East after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which included establishing a self-governing Palestinian authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and complying with UN Resolution 242, calling for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967.
The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and 1995, aimed to formalize the two-state solution, creating a Palestinian National Authority for self-governance in the West Bank and Gaza. However, the promise of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel has yet to be realized. Several factors contribute to this.
Understanding the Two-State Solution for the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Firstly, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who initiated the Accords, by a Jewish extremist in 1995 led to political shifts favoring more conservative Israeli leadership under Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. Additionally, the rise of Hamas, opposing the Oslo process, and ongoing Israeli settlement expansions in Palestinian territories have complicated peace efforts. Disputes over borders, the status of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Jerusalem’s status, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return further hinder progress toward a lasting resolution. Israel’s right-wing leadership currently shows no inclination to make concessions to the Palestinians.
They view even European recognition of Palestine as a state as rewarding “terrorism.” Israel aims to maintain the status quo of occupation, while Palestinians seek to challenge and change this situation.
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