The recent attacks on Israeli territory by Hamas are the culmination of years of violence and just the latest event of the Israel-Palestine conflict, ongoing since 1948.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in a 1948 war following the establishment of the State of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine. This initial conflict, the “First Arab-Israeli War,” is known as the “War of Independence” in Israel. The war marked the beginning of the “Nakba” (an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe”) in Palestine, displacing at least 700,000 Palestinians.
Since the conflict’s inception, Israel and Palestine have seen decades of continuous violence, as diplomacy has been met with little success.
Hamas, a Palestinian political party designated as a terrorist organization by most of the Western world, has killed more than 1,200 Israeli citizens. However, the Israeli military has killed 11,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
For reference, Hamas is one of Palestine’s two major political parties, but it only exercises direct control over the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Liberation Organization is internationally recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people, has engaged in talks with Israel and recognizes Israel. Additionally, Palestinian Authority, an agency of PLO, has control over most of the West Bank Palestinian territories.
Israel has declared war on Hamas, mobilizing its military, and considered a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, calling for a complete civilian evacuation of Northern Gaza. But, so far, the conflict has been confined to airstrikes and artillery fire on the Israeli side.
For both sides of the conflict, engagements have been indiscriminate, with civilians and even children caught in the crossfire. Recently, a rocket hit a hospital in Gaza, with both sides blaming the other for the attack, leading to between 100 and 300 deaths.
The two-state solution, recognized by Israeli leadership as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization during the 1993 Oslo Accords, has essentially stagnated and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. Mutual distrust, encroaching Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory, and logistical and security challenges have rendered the creation of an independent Palestinian state unlikely for the time being.
Israeli leadership has affirmed its commitment to a two-state solution, even as a historically right-wing government, known for being tough on the Palestine issue, was sworn in earlier this year.
With the Israeli encroachment into the West Bank, Palestinian support and patience for the two-state solution seems to be dwindling. It is in the best interest of Israel and Palestine to seek a quick and fair resolution to the current situation. While the specifics of such a resolution wait to be determined, it is abundantly clear that Palestinians deserve the right to statehood.
The United States and other Western governments must affirm their commitment to support a Palestinian state to assure Palestinian citizens that their situation is not going ignored. There is room to support the Palestinian population while also condemning the loss of life that we have seen in the past weeks.
Arshaan Radman is a freshman at UT studying global health and biology. He can be reached at [email protected].
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Citizens of Knoxville gather at Market Square for a rally for Palestine in the wake of the recent and ongoing Israeli aggression. Friday, Oct.20, 2023.
