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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
ieExplains: What is the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict?
Britain has said it will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps including alleviating the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and committing to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution. The announcement, coming after France declared that it will recognise a Palestinian state in September, has put renewed focus on the two-state solution to the conflict. Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has also announced his country plans to formally recognise Palestine during the UN general assembly if certain conditions were met. This is the idea of bringing peace through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war. But the idea has long faced obstacles, and these have only grown with time. They include accelerating Jewish settlement in occupied land, and uncompromising positions on core issues including borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the status of Jerusalem. WHAT ARE TWO-STATE SOLUTION'S ORIGINS? Conflict occurred in British-ruled Palestine between Arabs and Jews who had migrated to the area, seeking a national home as they fled antisemitic persecution in Europe and citing biblical ties to the land throughout centuries in exile. In 1947, the United Nations agreed a plan partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with international rule over Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, which gave them 56% of the land. The Arab League rejected it. The state of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948. A day later, five Arab states attacked. The war ended with Israel controlling 77% of the territory. Palestinians inspect the site struck by an Israeli bombardment in Muwasi, Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In a 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, securing control of all territory from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley. Although 147 of the 193 U.N. member states already recognise Palestine as a state, it is not itself a U.N. member, meaning most Palestinians are not recognised by the world body as citizens of any state. Around 3.5 million live as refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and 5.5 million live in territories captured by Israel in 1967. Another 2 million live in Israel as Israeli citizens. HAS A DEAL EVER BEEN CLOSE? The two-state solution was the bedrock of the US-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The accords led the PLO to recognise Israel's right to exist and renounce violence, and to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinians hoped this would be a step towards an independent state, with East Jerusalem as the capital. The process suffered heavy pushback on both sides. Hamas, an Islamist movement, carried out suicide attacks that killed scores of Israelis, and in 2007 seized Gaza from the PA in a brief civil war. Hamas' 1988 charter advocates Israel's demise, though in recent years it has said it would accept a Palestinian state along 1967 borders. Israel says such statements by Hamas are a ruse. In 1995, Rabin was assassinated by an ultranationalist Jew seeking to derail any land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians. In 2000, US President Bill Clinton brought Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Camp David to clinch a deal, but the effort failed. The fate of Jerusalem, deemed by Israel as its "eternal and indivisible" capital, was the main obstacle. The conflict escalated with a second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000-2005. US administrations sought to revive peacemaking - to no avail, with the last bid collapsing in 2014. WHAT MIGHT PALESTINE LOOK LIKE? Advocates of the two-state solution have envisaged a Palestine in the Gaza Strip and West Bank linked by a corridor through Israel. Palestinians heading to receive food and humanitarian aid packages from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) Two decades ago, details of how it might work were set out in a blueprint by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. Known as The Geneva Accord, opens new tab, its principles include recognition of Jerusalem's Jewish neighbourhoods as the Israeli capital, and recognition of its Arab neighbourhoods as the Palestinian capital, and a demilitarised Palestinian state. Israel would annex big settlements and cede other land in a swap, and resettle Jewish settlers in Palestinian sovereign territory outside there. IS A TWO-STATE SOLUTION POSSIBLE? While Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, settlements expanded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, their population rising from 250,000 in 1993 to 700,000 three decades later, according to Israeli organisation Peace Now. Palestinians say this undermines the basis of a viable state. Jewish settlement in the West Bank has accelerated sharply since the start of the Gaza war. During the Second Intifada two decades ago, Israel also constructed a barrier that it said was intended to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from entering its cities. Palestinians call it a land grab. The PA led by President Mahmoud Abbas administers islands of West Bank land enveloped by a zone of Israeli control comprising 60% of the territory, including the Jordanian border and the settlements - arrangements set out in the Oslo Accords. Netanyahu's government is the most right-wing in Israeli history and includes religious nationalists who draw support from settlers. The far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said there is no such thing as a Palestinian people. Netanyahu said on July 7 he wanted peace with the Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, saying control of security must remain with Israel. Hamas won elections in 2006 and a year later drove forces loyal to Abbas out of Gaza, fragmenting the territories where the Palestinians hope to establish their state. Hamas and Israel have fought repeated wars since then, culminating in the attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that ignited the current Gaza war.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Dozens more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire as war drags on
Israeli strikes and gunfire in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight into Wednesday morning, most of them among crowds seeking food, hospitals said. The dead include more than 30 people who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to a hospital that treated dozens of wounded people. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes, but says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) The deaths came as the UK announced it would recognise a Palestinian state in September, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, after a similar declaration by France's president. Israel's foreign ministry said that it rejected the British statement. The Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds waiting for aid trucks coming from the Zikim crossing in north-western Gaza. Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. In the southern city of Khan Younis, the Nasser hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people it says were killed on Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which separates Khan Younis from the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body, of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians who it says were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Seven more Palestinians, including a child, have died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Wednesday. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Hamas started the war with a militant-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, though Israel believes that more than half are dead. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
South Wales Argus
2 days ago
- Health
- South Wales Argus
Dozens more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire as war drags on
The dead include more than 30 people who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to a hospital that treated dozens of wounded people. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes, but says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) The deaths came as the UK announced it would recognise a Palestinian state in September, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, after a similar declaration by France's president. Israel's foreign ministry said that it rejected the British statement. The Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds waiting for aid trucks coming from the Zikim crossing in north-western Gaza. Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. In the southern city of Khan Younis, the Nasser hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people it says were killed on Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which separates Khan Younis from the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body, of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians who it says were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Seven more Palestinians, including a child, have died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Wednesday. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Hamas started the war with a militant-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, though Israel believes that more than half are dead. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Western Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Western Telegraph
Dozens more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire as war drags on
The dead include more than 30 people who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to a hospital that treated dozens of wounded people. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes, but says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) The deaths came as the UK announced it would recognise a Palestinian state in September, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, after a similar declaration by France's president. Israel's foreign ministry said that it rejected the British statement. The Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds waiting for aid trucks coming from the Zikim crossing in north-western Gaza. Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. In the southern city of Khan Younis, the Nasser hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people it says were killed on Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which separates Khan Younis from the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body, of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians who it says were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Seven more Palestinians, including a child, have died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Wednesday. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Hamas started the war with a militant-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, though Israel believes that more than half are dead. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Deaths written off as necessary consequence of Israel achieving objectives
Palestinians inspect the site struck by an Israeli bombardment in Muwasi, Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Monday (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) Two Israeli human rights groups have now accused Israel of 'committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza'. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... One of them, B'Tselem, said in a report on Monday that it had reached that 'unequivocal conclusion' after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack'. It went on to say that what is happening 'cannot be justified or explained as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas regime or its military capabilities'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Their report was based on data collected over the last 20 months including information on 'thousands of cases' allegedly committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israeli territory. The second group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, stated that it agreed that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. It published a separate legal and medical report documenting what it termed as a 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza'. Condemnation of Israeli Defence Force tactics from within Israel itself is a welcome development and will hopefully encourage others to speak up. The Israeli Government has been exposed as a brutal, intransigent manifestation of downright malice, intent on wiping out men, women and children whom it perceives pose a threat to Israel's status. No matter that thousands upon thousands of the victims have barely learned to walk or talk – they are seen to be the enemy in the eyes of the Israeli state and their deaths are written off as a necessary consequence of Israel achieving its objectives.
