Israel-Palestinian dispute hinges on statehood, land, Jerusalem,
refugees
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[October 10, 2023]
(Reuters) - The fighting between Israel and Hamas, which
launched a surprise attack on Saturday, is the latest in seven decades
of war and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that has drawn in
outside powers and destabilized the wider Middle East.
WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT?
The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long
regarded as a hostile region against Palestinian aspirations for a state
of their own.
Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of
Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a safe-haven for Jews fleeing
persecution and seeking a national home on land to which they cite deep
ties over generations.
Palestinians lament Israel's creation as the Nakba, or catastrophe, that
resulted in their dispossession and blocked their dreams of statehood.
In the war that followed, some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab
population of what was British-ruled Palestine, fled or were driven from
their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in Gaza,
the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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Israel, a close U.S. ally, contests the assertion it drove Palestinians
from their homes and points out it was attacked by five Arab states the
day after its creation. Armistice pacts halted the fighting in 1949 but
there was no formal peace.
Palestinians who stayed put in the war today form the Arab Israeli
community, making up about 20% of Israel's population.
WHAT MAJOR WARS HAVE BEEN FOUGHT SINCE THEN?
In 1967, Israel made a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and Syria,
launching the Six-Day War. Israel has occupied the West Bank, Arab East
Jerusalem, which it captured from Jordan, and Syria's Golan Heights ever
since.
In 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions along the Suez Canal
and Golan Heights, beginning the Yom Kippur War. Israel pushed both
armies back within three weeks.
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and thousands of Palestinian fighters
under Yasser Arafat were evacuated by sea after a 10-week siege. In
2006, war erupted in Lebanon again when Hezbollah militants captured two
Israeli soldiers and Israel retaliated.
In 2005 Israel quit Gaza, which it had captured from Egypt in 1967. But
Gaza saw major flare-ups in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021 that
involved Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket fire, and sometimes
also cross border incursions by either side.
As well as wars, there have been two Palestinian intifadas or uprisings
between 1987-1993 and again in 2000-05. The second saw waves of Hamas
suicide bombings against Israelis.
WHAT ATTEMPTS HAVE THERE BEEN TO MAKE PEACE?
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, ending 30 years of
hostility. In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat
shook hands on the Oslo Accords on limited Palestinian autonomy. In
1994, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan.
The Camp David summit of 2000 saw President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat fail to reach a final peace deal.
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A view shows houses and buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in
Gaza City, October 10, 2023. REUTERS/Shadi Tabatibi
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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, creation of a Palestinian state and a
"just solution" for Palestinian refugees.
Peace efforts have been stalled since 2014, when talks failed
between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington.
Palestinians later boycotted dealings with the administration of
U.S. President Donald Trump since it reversed decades of U.S. policy
by refusing to endorse the two-state solution - the peace formula
that envisages a Palestinian state established in territory that
Israel captured in 1967.
WHERE DO PEACE EFFORTS STAND NOW?
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has focused on trying
to secure a "grand bargain" in the Middle East that includes
normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia,
custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines.
The latest war is diplomatically awkward 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.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ISSUES?
A two-state solution, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem,
and refugees are at the core of the dispute.
Two-state solution - an agreement that would create a state for the
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Hamas
rejects the two-state solution and is sworn to Israel's destruction.
Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarized so as not
to threaten Israel.
Settlements - Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land
Israel occupied in 1967 as illegal. Israel disputes this and cites
historical and Biblical ties to the land. Their continued expansion
is among the most contentious issues between Israel, the
Palestinians and the international community.
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Jerusalem - Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which includes sites
sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, to be the capital of their
state. Israel says Jerusalem should remain its "indivisible and
eternal" capital. Israel's claim to the eastern part of Jerusalem is
not recognized internationally. Trump recognized Jerusalem as
Israel's capital – without specifying the extent of its jurisdiction
in the disputed city - and moved the U.S. embassy there in 2018.
Refugees - Today about 5.6 million Palestinian refugees - mainly
descendants of those who fled in 1948 - live in Jordan, Lebanon,
Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. About half of
registered refugees remain stateless, according to the Palestinian
foreign ministry, many living in crowded camps.
Palestinians have long demanded that refugees should be allowed to
return, along with millions of their descendants. Israel says any
resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside of its
borders.
(Compiled by Reuters journalists; Editing by Edmund Blair)
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