ISRAEL/PALESTINE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Alan Dowty | 280 pages | 19 Jun 2012 | Polity Press | 9780745656120 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom What are Israel and Palestine? Why are they fighting? - Vox

Read Next. Biden-Poroshenko call leaked, shedding light on secrets ke This story has been shared , times. View author archive email the author follow on twitter Get author RSS feed. Name required. Email required. Comment required. More On: israel. Smoke and flames rise after Israeli war planes carried out airstrikes on Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP via Getty Images. Up Next Close The whopping sum insurance companies may pay out over riots. Back Continue. Read Next Biden-Poroshenko call leaked, shedding light on secrets ke Share Selection. Joe insults allies, media shrug and other commentary. Mormon rivals in Utah gov race do the unthinkable amid uber-partisan Both sides accepted Clinton's plan [53] [58] [59] and it became the basis for the negotiations at the Taba Peace summit the following January. The proposition removed the "temporarily Israeli controlled" areas, and the Palestinian side accepted this as a basis for further negotiation. With Israeli elections looming the talks ended without an agreement but the two sides issued a joint statement attesting to the progress they had made: "The sides declare that they have never been closer to reaching an agreement and it is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged with the resumption of negotiations following the Israeli elections. Sharon's new government chose not to resume the high-level talks. This plan did not attempt to resolve difficult questions such as the fate of Jerusalem or Israeli settlements, but left that to be negotiated in later phases of the process. The proposal never made it beyond the first phase, whose goals called for a halt to both Israeli settlement construction and Israeli—Palestinian violence. Neither goal has been achieved as of November The peace initiative is a proposed solution to the Arab—Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli—Palestinian conflict in particular. The initiative was initially published on 28 March , at the Beirut Summit, and agreed upon again in in the Riyadh Summit. It offered full normalization of relations with Israel, in exchange for the withdrawal of its forces from all the occupied territories, including the Golan Heights , to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. A number of Israeli officials have responded to the initiative with both support and criticism. The Israeli government has expressed reservations on 'red line,' issues such as the Palestinian refugee problem, homeland security concerns, and the nature of Jerusalem. The peace process has been predicated on a "two-state solution" thus far, but questions have been raised towards both sides' resolve to end the dispute. Daniel Abraham, an American entrepreneur and founder of the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, US, published on the website of the Atlantic magazine in March , cited the following statistics: "Right now, the total number of Jews and Arabs living At the moment, a shade under 50 percent of the population is Jewish. Israel has had its settlement growth and policies in the Palestinian territories harshly criticized by the European Union citing it as increasingly undermining the viability of the two-state solution and running in contrary to the Israeli-stated commitment to resume negotiations. Britain said that the move was a breach of Israeli commitments under the road map to freeze all settlement expansion in the land captured since The British Foreign Minister stated that the "Systematic, illegal Israeli settlement activity poses the most significant and live threat to the viability of the two state solution". The last of which was the thousands of settler march in East Jerusalem which included slogans inciting to kill, hate and supports violence". In a report published in February covering incidents over the three-year period of —, Amnesty International asserted that Israeli forces employed reckless violence in the West Bank, and in some instances appeared to engage in wilful killings which would be tantamount to war crimes. Besides the numerous fatalities, Amnesty said at least Palestinians, including 67 children, had been gravely injured by Israeli use of live ammunition. In this same period, 45 Palestinians, including 6 children had been killed. Amnesty's review of 25 civilians deaths concluded that in no case was there evidence of the Palestinians posing an imminent threat. At the same time, over 8, Palestinians suffered serious injuries from other means, including rubber-coated metal bullets. The soldier was demoted and given a 1-year sentence with a five-month suspension. The IDF answered the charges stating that its army held itself "to the highest of professional standards," adding that when there was suspicion of wrongdoing, it investigated and took action "where appropriate". Following the Oslo Accords, which was to set up regulative bodies to rein in frictions, Palestinian incitement against Israel, Jews, and Zionism continued, parallel with Israel's pursuance of settlements in the Palestinian territories, [80] though under Abu Mazen it has reportedly dwindled significantly. Both parties to the conflict have been criticized by third-parties for teaching incitement to their children by downplaying each side's historical ties to the area, teaching propagandist maps, or indoctrinate their children to one day join the armed forces. The PLO have campaigned for full member status for the state of Palestine at the UN and for recognition on the borders. A campaign that has received widespread support, [90] [91] though it has been criticised by the US and Israel for allegedly avoiding bilateral negotiation. Polling data has produced mixed results regarding the level of support among Palestinians for the two-state solution. A poll was carried out in by the Hebrew University; it indicated that support for a two-state solution was growing among both Israelis and Palestinians. The following outlined positions are the official positions of the two parties; however, it is important to note that neither side holds a single position. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides include both moderate and extremist bodies as well as dovish and hawkish bodies. One of the primary obstacles to resolving the Israeli—Palestinian conflict is a deep-set and growing distrust between its participants. Unilateral strategies and the rhetoric of hardline political factions, coupled with violence and incitements by civilians against one another, have fostered mutual embitterment and hostility and a loss of faith in the peace process. Support among Palestinians for Hamas is considerable, and as its members consistently call for the destruction of Israel and violence remains a threat, security becomes a prime concern for many Israelis. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has led the majority of Palestinians to believe that Israel is not committed to reaching an agreement, but rather to a pursuit of establishing permanent control over this territory in order to provide that security. The control of Jerusalem is a particularly delicate issue, with each side asserting claims over the city. The three largest Abrahamic religions —Judaism, Christianity, and Islam— hold Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives. Jerusalem is the holiest city for Judaism, being the former location of the Jewish temples on the Temple Mount and the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. The Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court , is located in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in In , Israel passed the Jerusalem Law declaring "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel. Many countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, notable exceptions being Israel, the United States, [] and Russia. As of , there were more than , people living in Jerusalem; , were Jews mostly living in West Jerusalem and , were Muslims mostly living in East Jerusalem. At the Camp David and Taba Summits in —, the United States proposed a plan in which the Arab parts of Jerusalem would be given to the proposed Palestinian state while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem were given to Israel. All archaeological work under the Temple Mount would be jointly controlled by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed. Israel expresses concern over the security of its residents if neighborhoods of Jerusalem are placed under Palestinian control. Jerusalem has been a prime target for attacks by militant groups against civilian targets since Many Jewish neighborhoods have been fired upon from Arab areas. The proximity of the Arab areas, if these regions were to fall in the boundaries of a Palestinian state, would be so close as to threaten the safety of Jewish residents. Israel has concerns regarding the welfare of Jewish holy places under possible Palestinian control. When Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, no Jews were allowed to visit the Western Wall or other Jewish holy places, and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated. Settlers established a yeshiva, installed a Torah scroll and covered the mihrab. During the Second Intifada the site was looted and burned. Palestinians have voiced concerns regarding the welfare of Christian and Muslim holy places under Israeli control. Palestinian refugees are people who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the Arab—Israeli conflict [] and the Six-Day War. The remainder live in and around the cities and towns of these host countries. Most of these people were born outside Israel, but are descendants of original Palestinian refugees. However, according to reports of private peace negotiations with Israel they have countenanced the return of only 10, refugees and their families to Israel as part of a peace settlement. Mahmoud Abbas , the current Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization was reported to have said in private discussion that it is "illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million, or indeed 1 million. That would mean the end of Israel. He later clarified that the remark was his personal opinion and not official policy. The Arab Peace Initiative of declared that it proposed the compromise of a "just resolution" of the refugee problem. Palestinian and international authors have justified the right of return of the Palestinian refugees on several grounds: [] [] []. Shlaim states that from April the military forces of what was to become Israel had embarked on a new offensive strategy which involved destroying Arab villages and the forced removal of civilians. Throughout the conflict, Palestinian violence has been a concern for Israelis. Israel, [] along with the United States [] and the European Union, refer to the violence against Israeli civilians and military forces by Palestinian militants as terrorism. The motivations behind Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians are many, and not all violent Palestinian groups agree with each other on specifics. Nonetheless, a common motive is the desire to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian Arab state. The Israeli government initiated the construction of a security barrier following scores of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in July Israel's coalition government approved the security barrier in the northern part of the green line between Israel and the West Bank. Since , the threat of Qassam rockets fired from Palestinian territories into Israel continues to be of great concern for Israeli defense officials. According to a study conducted by University of Haifa , one in five Israelis have lost a relative or friend in a Palestinian terrorist attack. There is significant debate within Israel about how to deal with the country's security concerns. Options have included military action including targeted killings and house demolitions of terrorist operatives , diplomacy, unilateral gestures toward peace, and increased security measures such as checkpoints, roadblocks and security barriers. The legality and the wisdom of all of the above tactics have been called into question by various commentators. Since mid-June , Israel's primary means of dealing with security concerns in the West Bank has been to cooperate with and permit United States-sponsored training, equipping, and funding of the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which with Israeli help have largely succeeded in quelling West Bank supporters of Hamas. Some Palestinians have committed violent acts over the globe on the pretext of a struggle against Israel. Many foreigners, including Americans [] and Europeans, [] have been killed and injured by Palestinian militants. At least 53 Americans have been killed and 83 injured by Palestinian violence since the signing of the Oslo Accords. During the late s, the PLO became increasingly infamous for its use of international terror. In alone, the PLO was responsible for hijacking 82 planes. El Al Airlines became a regular hijacking target. However, one of the most well-known and notorious terrorist acts was the capture and eventual murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games. Fighting among rival Palestinian and Arab movements has played a crucial role in shaping Israel's security policy towards Palestinian militants, as well as in the Palestinian leadership's own policies. During the Lebanese Civil War , Palestinian baathists broke from the Palestine Liberation Organization and allied with the Shia Amal Movement , fighting a bloody civil war that killed thousands of Palestinians. In the First Intifada , more than a thousand Palestinians were killed in a campaign initiated by the Palestine Liberation Organization to crack down on suspected Israeli security service informers and collaborators. The Palestinian Authority was strongly criticized for its treatment of alleged collaborators, rights groups complaining that those labeled collaborators were denied fair trials. According to a report released by the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group , less than 45 percent of those killed were actually guilty of informing for Israel. The policies towards suspected collaborators contravene agreements signed by the Palestinian leadership. The provision was designed to prevent Palestinian leaders from imposing retribution on fellow Palestinians who had worked on behalf of Israel during the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip , Hamas officials have tortured and killed thousands of Fatah members and other Palestinians who oppose their rule. During the Battle of Gaza , more than Palestinians died over a four-day period. By , more than Palestinian people had died during the struggle between Hamas and Fatah. As far as Israel is concerned, the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority is derived from the Oslo Accords , signed with the PLO, under which it acquired control over cities in the Palestinian territories Area A while the surrounding countryside came either under Israeli security and Palestinian civil administration Area B or complete Israeli civil administration Area C. Israel has built additional highways to allow Israelis to traverse the area without entering Palestinian cities in Area A. The initial areas under Palestinian Authority control are diverse and non-contiguous. According to Palestinians, the separated areas make it impossible to create a viable nation and fails to address Palestinian security needs; Israel has expressed no agreement to withdrawal from some Areas B, resulting in no reduction in the division of the Palestinian areas, and the institution of a safe pass system, without Israeli checkpoints, between these parts. Under the Oslo Accords, as a security measure, Israel has insisted on its control over all land, sea and air border crossings into the Palestinian territories, and the right to set import and export controls. This is to enable Israel to control the entry into the territories of materials of military significance and of potentially dangerous persons. In the Middle East, water resources are of great political concern. Since Israel receives much of its water from two large underground aquifers which continue under the Green Line , the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Although this water was drawn entirely on Israel's own side of the pre border, the sources of the water are nevertheless from the shared groundwater basins located under both West Bank and Israel. In the Oslo II Accord , both sides agreed to maintain "existing quantities of utilization from the resources. Moreover, Israel obligated itself in this agreement to provide water to supplement Palestinian production, and further agreed to allow additional Palestinian drilling in the Eastern Aquifer, also subject to the Joint Water Committee. According to a report of by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, water resources were confiscated for the benefit of the Israeli settlements in the Ghor. Palestinian irrigation pumps on the Jordan River were destroyed or confiscated after the war and Palestinians were not allowed to use water from the Jordan River system. Furthermore, the authorities did not allow any new irrigation wells to be drilled by Palestinian farmers, while it provided fresh water and allowed drilling wells for irrigation purposes at the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A report was released by the UN in August and Max Gaylard , the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, explained at the launch of the publication: "Gaza will have half a million more people by while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school". The report projects that Gaza's population will increase from 1. Numerous foreign nations and international organizations have established bilateral agreements with the Palestinian and Israeli water authorities. In order to support and improve the water sector in the Palestinian territories, a number of bilateral and multilateral agencies have been supporting many different water and sanitation programs. There are three large seawater desalination plants in Israel and two more scheduled to open before Yuval Steinitz. This is also the name used on the UN Partition Plan. In , Israel annexed East Jerusalem. See Interpretations. It has been the position of Israel that the most Arab-populated parts of West Bank without major Jewish settlements , as well as the entire Gaza Strip, must eventually be part of an independent Palestinian State; however, the precise borders of this state are in question. A subsequent settlement proposed by President Clinton offered Palestinian sovereignty over 94 to 96 percent of the West Bank but was similarly rejected with 52 objections. Israel says it is justified in not ceding all this land, because of security concerns, and also because the lack of any valid diplomatic agreement at the time means that ownership and boundaries of this land is open for discussion. In negotiations, they claim that any moves to reduce the boundaries of this land is a hostile move against their key interests. Israel considers this land to be in dispute, and feels the purpose of negotiations is to define what the final borders will be. For this reason, Hamas has viewed the peace process "as religiously forbidden and politically inconceivable". According to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs DEMA , "In the years following the Six-Day War, and especially in the s during the peace process, Israel re-established communities destroyed in and as well as established numerous new settlements in the West Bank. These settlements have been the site of much inter-communal conflict. The United Nations and the European Union have also called the settlements "illegal under international law. However, Israel disputes this; [] several scholars and commentators disagree with the assessment that settlements are illegal, citing in recent historical trends to back up their argument. In , Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a proposal put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , was enacted. All residents of Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip were evacuated, and all residential buildings were demolished. Various mediators and various proposed agreements have shown some degree of openness to Israel retaining some fraction of the settlements which currently exist in the West Bank; this openness is based on a variety of considerations, such as, the desire to find real compromise between Israeli and Palestinian territorial claims. Israel's position that it needs to retain some West Bank land and settlements as a buffer in case of future aggression, [] and Israel's position that some settlements are legitimate, as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement. Bush has stated that he does not expect Israel to return entirely to the armistice lines because of "new realities on the ground. In return, Palestinians would have received some concessions of land in other parts of the country. In May and June , President Barack Obama said, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," [] and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated that the President "wants to see a stop to settlements—not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions. The Israeli government states it is justified under international law to impose a blockade on an enemy for security reasons. The power to impose a naval blockade is established under customary international law and Laws of armed conflict , and a United Nations commission has ruled that Israel's blockade is "both legal and appropriate. This armed conflict has intensified after Hamas violently took over Gaza, in June , and turned the territory under its de facto control into a launching pad of mortar and rocket attacks against Israeli towns and villages in southern Israel. Out of 35, people employed by 3, factories in June , only 1, people remained employed by factories in June In January , the Israeli government calculated how many calories per person were needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, and then subtracted eight percent to adjust for the "culture and experience" of the Gazans. Details of the calculations were released following Israeli human rights organization Gisha 's application to the high court. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who drafted the plan, stated that the scheme was never formally adopted, this was not accepted by Gisha. Starting 7 February , the Israeli Government reduced the electricity it sells directly to Gaza. This follows the ruling of Israel's High Court of Justice's decision, which held, with respect to the amount of industrial fuel supplied to Gaza, that, "The clarification that we made indicates that the supply of industrial diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip in the winter months of last year was comparable to the amount that the Respondents now undertake to allow into the Gaza Strip. This fact also indicates that the amount is reasonable and sufficient to meet the vital humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip. With regard to Israel's plan, the Court stated that, "calls for a reduction of five percent of the power supply in three of the ten power lines that supply electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip, to a level of Our conclusion is based, in part, on the affidavit of the Respondents indicating that the relevant Palestinian officials stated that they can reduce the load in the event limitations are placed on the power lines, and that they had used this capability in the past. On 20 June , Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more — as well as projects that are under international supervision. Since the beginning of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict, the conflict has been about land. In Palestine, agriculture is a mainstay in the economy. The production of agricultural goods supports the population's sustenance needs and fuels Palestine's export economy. Palestinian agriculture suffers from numerous problems including Israeli military and civilian attacks on farms and farmers, blockades to exportation of produce and importation of necessary inputs, widespread confiscation of land for nature reserves as well as military and settler use, confiscation and destruction of wells, and physical barriers within the West Bank. With the construction of the separation barrier , the Israeli state promised free movement across regions. However, border closures, curfews, and checkpoints has significantly restricted Palestinian movement. In Gaza, the agricultural market suffers from economic boycotts and border closures and restrictions placed by Israel. There has also been an economic embargo initiated by the west on Hamas-led Palestine, which has decreased the amount of imports and exports from Palestine. As a result, the PA's , employees have not received their salaries in over one year. In response to a weakening trend in Palestinian violence and growing economic and security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority , the Israeli military has removed over check points in and plans on disengaging from major Palestinian population areas. PA—Israel efforts in the West Bank have "significantly increased investor confidence", and the Palestinian economy grew 6. However, Israeli Arabs are allowed to enter West Bank cities on weekends. The Palestinian Authority has petitioned the Israeli military to allow Jewish tourists to visit West Bank cities as "part of an effort" to improve the Palestinian economy. Israeli general Avi Mizrahi spoke with Palestinian security officers while touring malls and soccer fields in the West Bank. Mizrahi gave permission to allow Israeli tour guides into Bethlehem, a move intended to "contribute to the Palestinian and Israeli economies. Beginning in with the Oslo peace process , Israel recognizes "the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people", though Israel does not recognize the State of Palestine. Despite Yasser Arafat's official renunciation of terrorism and recognition of Israel, some Palestinian groups continue to practice and advocate violence against civilians and do not recognize Israel as a legitimate political entity. It is widely felt among Israelis that Palestinians did not in fact promote acceptance of Israel's right to exist. President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas has in recent years refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state citing concerns for Israeli Arabs and a possible future right to return for Palestinian refugees, though Palestine continues to recognize Israel as a state. Hamas' charter openly states they seek Israel's destruction, though Hamas leaders have spoken of long-term truces with Israel in exchange for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Authority is considered corrupt by a wide variety of sources, including some Palestinians. Societal attitudes in both Israel and Palestine are a source of concern to those promoting dispute resolution. According to a May poll carried out by the Palestinian Center For Public Opinion that asked Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem, "which of the following means is the best to end the occupation and lead to the establishing of an independent Palestinian state", 5. Approximately three quarters of Palestinians surveyed believed that a military escalation in the Gaza Strip would be in Israel's interest and Regarding the resumption of launching Al-Qassam missiles from Gaza into Israel, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concerns that Hamas promote incitement against and overall non-acceptance of Israel, including promotion of violence against Israel. The Israeli Cabinet issued a statement [ when? However, Israel has already allowed for the creation of a Palestinian police that can conduct police operations and also carry out limited-scale warfare. Palestinians [ vague ] have argued that the Israel Defense Forces , a large and modern armed force, poses a direct and pressing threat to the sovereignty of any future Palestinian state, making a defensive force for a Palestinian state a matter of necessity. To this, Israelis claim that signing a treaty while building an army is a show of bad intentions. Since , the United States has been training, equipping, and funding the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which have been cooperating with Israel at unprecedented levels in the West Bank to quell supporters of Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamist group that opposes direct negotiations with Israel. A variety of studies provide differing casualty data for the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute , 13, Israelis and Palestinians were killed in conflict with each other between and Note: Figures includes 1, Palestinian fatalities attributed to intra-Palestinian violence. Figures do not include the Palestinians killed by other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since All numbers refer to casualties of direct conflict between Israelis and Palestinians including in IDF military operations, artillery shelling, search and arrest campaigns, Barrier demonstrations, targeted killings, settler violence etc. The figures do not include events indirectly related to the conflict such as casualties from unexploded ordnance, etc. The figures include all reported casualties of all ages and both genders. Figures include both Israeli civilians and security forces casualties in West Bank , Gaza and Israel. As reported by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, since 29 September a total of 7, Palestinian and Israeli individuals were killed due to the conflict. According to the report, 1, of the 6, Palestinians were minors, and at least 2, did not participate in fighting at the time of death. Palestinians killed 1, Israelis, including civilians. Richter and Dr. They argue that B'tselem's report contains "errors of omission, commission and classification bias which result in overestimates of the ratio of non-combatants to combatants. In a study on behalf of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism , Don Radlauer suggested that "almost all Palestinians killed in this conflict have been male — and absent any other reasonable explanation for such a non-random pattern of fatalities — this suggests that large numbers of Palestinian men and teenaged boys made a choice to confront Israeli forces, even after many of their compatriots had been killed in such confrontations. A comprehensive collection mechanism to gather land mine and explosive remnants of war ERW casualty data does not exist for the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian National Security Forces do not have maps or records of the minefields. He promoted the Muslim character of Jerusalem and This was the backdrop to his agitation concerning Jewish rights at the Western Wailing Wall that led to the bloody riots of August From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians that began in the midth century. For the wider regional conflict, primarily from —73, see Arab—Israeli conflict. Ongoing military and political struggle between Israel and Palestine. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these template messages. This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. March This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. March Learn how and when to remove this template message. Supported by:. Main article: Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine. Modern evolution of Palestine v t e. The red line is the "International Administration" proposed in the Sykes—Picot Agreement , the dashed blue line is the Zionist Organization proposal at the Paris Peace Conference , and the thin blue line refers to the final borders of the —48 Mandatory Palestine. An ongoing British Mandate was proposed to keep "the sanctity of Jerusalem and Bethlehem ", in the form of an enclave from Jerusalem to Jaffa , including Lydda and Ramle. The proposal included a Corpus Separatum for Jerusalem , extraterritorial crossroads between the non-contiguous areas, and Jaffa as an Arab exclave. The Jewish population had increased from 83, in to , in Neither Israel's annexation nor Palestine's claim over East Jerusalem has been internationally recognized. Main article: History of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Main article: Israeli—Palestinian peace process. Main article: Oslo Accords. Main article: Camp David Summit. Main article: The Clinton Parameters. Main article: Taba Summit. Main article: Road map for peace. Main article: Arab Peace Initiative. Main article: International recognition of the State of Palestine. Main article: Status of Jerusalem. See also: Palestinian right of return , Palestinian refugee , and Palestinian exodus. See also: United States security assistance to the Palestinian Authority , Palestinian political violence , and Palestinian militancy campaign. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Further information: Water supply and sanitation in the Palestinian territories and Water politics in the Jordan River basin. Main article: Israeli settlement. Main article: Blockade of the Gaza Strip. See also: Israeli casualties of war and Palestinian casualties of war. This table may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. May Learn how and when to remove this template message. Israel portal Palestine portal. First, the 91 percent land offer was based on the Israeli definition of the West Bank, but this differs by approximately 5 percentage points from the Palestinian definition. Palestinians use a total area of 5, square kilometers. Israel, however, omits the area known as No Man's Land 50 km 2 near Latrun , post East Jerusalem 71 km 2 , and the territorial waters of the Dead Sea km 2 , which reduces the total to 5, km 2. Thus, an Israeli offer of 91 percent of 5, km 2 of the West Bank translates into only 86 percent from the Palestinian perspective. Jeremy Pressman, International Security , vol 28, no. On [1]. See pp. Major Episodes of Political Violence Updated 12 June "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 January Retrieved 14 November A History of Conflict. BBC News. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, , p. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 18 February Retrieved 13 March World Bank. Archived from the original PDF on 10 April Retrieved 29 March Currently, freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm contrary to the commitments undertaken in a number of Agreements between GOI and the PA. United States Institute of Peace Press. Retrieved 14 January December Retrieved 14 March New York: Continuum. Yale University Press. Cambridge University Press. United Nations. Archived from the original on 24 May Retrieved 28 May Retrieved 30 May Amnesty International. Retrieved 5 June Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 21 April Retrieved 19 March Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 16 March September A Reply to Ehud Barak. New York: Grove Press, An Interview with Ehud Barak. New York Review of Books. Palestine - HISTORY

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. At its heart, it is a conflict between two self-determination movements — the Jewish Zionist project and the Palestinian nationalist project — that lay claim to the same territory. But it is so, so much more complicated than that, with seemingly every fact and historical detail small and large litigated by the two sides and their defenders. This guide is designed to give you an entry point into understanding this immensely complicated conflict. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. This release and the increase of the security forces of the Palestinian Authority led to a cease-fire in the suicide attacks until the outbreak of the Second Intifada. Eventually, the lack of progress of the peace process led to new negotiations, which produced the Wye River Memorandum , which detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to implement the earlier Interim Agreement of In , Ehud Barak was elected prime minister. Barak continued Rabin's policies in supporting the peace process. In , 18 years after Israel occupied Southern Lebanon in the Lebanon War , the occupation ended as Israel unilaterally withdrew its remaining forces from the " security zone " in southern Lebanon. As the violence increased with little hope for diplomacy, in July the Camp David Summit was held which was aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement. The summit collapsed after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Arafat turned down the offer without making a counter-offer. After the signing of the Oslo Accords failed to bring about a Palestinian state , in September the Second Intifada uprising broke out, a period of intensified Palestinian—Israeli violence, which has been taking place until the present day. The Second Intifada has caused thousands of victims on both sides, both among combatants and among civilians, and has been more deadly than the first Intifada. Many Palestinians [ who? The failure of the peace process and the eruption of the Second Intifada, which included increased Palestinian terror attacks being made against Israeli civilians, led much of the Israeli public and political leadership to lose confidence in the Palestinian Authority as a peace partner. Due to an increase in terror attacks during the Second Intifada, mainly carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians, Israeli troops began conducting regular raids and arrests inside the West Bank. In addition, Israel increased the selective assassinations against Hamas operatives. Initially this policy was aimed at active militants but later on it was also aimed at the Hamas leadership as well, including Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. This policy spurred controversy within Israel and worldwide. Sharon invited the Israeli Labor Party into the coalition to shore up support for the disengagement plan. Due to the deterioration of the political situation, he refused to continue negotiations with the Palestinian Authority at the Taba Summit , or under any aspect of the Oslo Accords. At the Beirut Summit in , the Arab League proposed an alternative political plan aimed at ending the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Later on the proposal was formulated as a political plan widely accepted by all Arab states as well as the Arab League. As part of this plan all Arab states would normalize their relations with Israel and bring to an end to the Arab—Israeli conflict in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights , the Gaza Strip and West Bank including East Jerusalem. In addition, the plan required Israel to allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and, what the plan describes as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution Israel rejected the wording of the initiative, but official spokespersons expressed gladness about an Arab initiative for peace and Israel's normalization in the region. Following a period of relative restraint on the part of Israel, after a lethal suicide attack in the Park Hotel in Netanya which happened on March 27, , in which 30 Jews were murdered, Sharon ordered Operation Defensive Shield , a large-scale military operation carried out by the Israel Defense Forces between March 29 until May 10, in Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The operation contributed significantly to the reduction of Palestinian terror attacks in Israel. As part of the efforts to fight Palestinian terrorism, in June , Israel began construction of the West Bank barrier. Following the severe economic and security situation in Israel, the Likud Party headed by Ariel Sharon won the Israeli elections in January in an overwhelming victory. The elections led to a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinians and to the Aquba summit in the May in which Sharon endorsed the Road map for peace put forth by the United States, European Union , and Russia, which opened a dialogue with Mahmoud Abbas , and announced his commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state in the future. The rest of Abbas's term as prime minister continued to be characterized by numerous conflicts between him and Arafat over the distribution of power between the two. Continuing violence and Israeli "target killings" of known terrorists [ citation needed ] forced Abbas to pledge a crackdown in order to uphold the Palestinian Authority's side of the Road map for peace. This led to a power struggle with Arafat over control of the Palestinian security services; Arafat refused to release control to Abbas, thus preventing him from using them in a crackdown on militants. Abbas resigned from the post of Prime Minister in October , citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government. In the end of , Sharon embarked on a course of unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip , while maintaining control of its coastline and airspace. Sharon's plan has been welcomed by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel's left wing as a step towards a final peace settlement. However, it has been greeted with opposition from within his own Likud party and from other right-wing Israelis, [ who? In January , Sharon formed a national unity government that included representatives of Likud, Labor, and Meimad and Degel HaTorah as "out-of-government" supporters without any seats in the government United Torah Judaism parties usually reject having ministerial offices as a policy. Between August 16 and 30, , Sharon controversially expelled 9, Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank. The disengagement plan was implemented in September Following the withdrawal, the Israeli town of Sderot and other Israeli communities near the Gaza strip became subject to constant shelling and mortar bomb attacks from Gaza with only minimal [ clarification needed ] Israeli response. One key allegation which emerged against the Palestinian Authority after Arafat's death was that over the years Arafat and Fatah officials had received billions of dollars in aid from foreign nations and organizations and had never used this money to develop Palestinian society. It was alleged that the money was used for Arafat's personal expenses. These allegations gradually grew in prominence, which increased Palestinian popular support for the group Hamas, which was often perceived by the Palestinian society as being more efficient and honest, primarily because it had built various institutions and social services. Hamas also stated clearly that it did not recognize Israel's right to exist and did not accept the Oslo peace process nor any other peace process with Israel. The strengthening of the Hamas organization amongst the Palestinians, the gradual disintegration of the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah organization, and the Israeli disengagement plan and especially the death of Yasser Arafat led to the policy change of the Hamas movement in early which started putting greater emphasis to its political characteristics of the organization. In November , the Annapolis Conference was held. The conference marked the first time a two-state solution was articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. The conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties. In Palestinian legislative elections Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council , prompting the United States and many European countries to cut off all funds to the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority [80] insisting that the Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace pacts. EU countries and the United States threatened an economic boycott if Hamas will not recognize Israel's existence, not renounce terrorism and shall support the peace agreements signed between the PLO and Israel in the past. Hamas officials have openly stated that the organization does not recognize Israel's right to exist, even though the organization expressed openness to hold a long-term truce. Hamas is considered by Israel and 12 other countries [82] to be a terrorist organization and therefore not entitled to participate in formal peace negotiations. Following the incident and in response to numerous rocket firings by Hamas from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, fighting broke out between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip see Israel-Gaza conflict. In the summer of a Fatah—Hamas conflict broke out, which eventually led Hamas taking control of the Gaza strip, which in practice divided the Palestinian Authority into two. Various forces affiliated with Fatah engaged in combat with Hamas, in numerous gun battles. Most Fatah leaders escaped to Egypt and the West Bank, while some were captured and killed. Fatah remained in control of the West Bank, and President Abbas formed a new governing coalition, which some critics of Fatah said subverts the Palestinian Constitution and excludes the majority government of Hamas. A fragile six-month truce between Hamas and Israel expired on December 19, The Israeli operation began with an intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip , [88] targeting Hamas bases, police training camps, [89] police headquarters and offices. Israel has said many of these buildings were used by combatants, and as storage spaces for weapons and rockets. The operation resulted in the deaths of more than 1, Palestinians. On November 14, Israel began Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip with the stated aims being to halt the indiscriminate rocket attacks originating from the Gaza Strip [97] [98] and to disrupt the capabilities of militant organizations. The IDF stated it targeted more than 1, military sites in Gaza Strip, including rocket launching pads, smuggling tunnels, command centers, weapons manufacturing, and storage buildings. By November 19, over Israelis were physically injured in rocket attacks. In October , a deal was reached between Israel and Hamas , by which the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit would be released in exchange for 1, Palestinians and Arab-Israeli prisoners, of whom had been sentenced to life in prison for planning and perpetrating various terror attacks against Israeli targets. In , another war between Israel and Gaza occurred resulting in over 70 Israeli casualties and over Palestinians casualties. Since , the Obama administration has repeatedly pressured the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and reignite the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian people. It is time for these settlements to stop. On June 14, ten days after Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he endorsed, for the first time, a "Demilitarized Palestinian State", after two months of refusing to commit to anything other than a self-ruling autonomy when coming into office. The speech was widely seen as a response to Obama's speech. He also claimed the right for a "natural growth" in the existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank while their permanent status is up to further negotiation. In general, the address represented a complete turnaround for his previously hawkish positions against the Israeli—Palestinian peace process. On November 25, , Israel imposed a month construction freeze on all of its settlements in the West Bank. Israel's decision was widely seen as due to pressure from the Obama administration, which urged the sides to seize the opportunity to resume talks. In his announcement Netanyahu called the move "a painful step that will encourage the peace process" and urged the Palestinians to respond. Nevertheless, soon afterwards, when Israeli partial moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank was about to expire, the Palestinian leadership announced that they plan to leave the negotiations if the moratorium is not renewed. Israel state that it would not renew this gesture of goodwill and urged the Palestinian leadership to continue the negotiations. Later on Israel offered to renew the moratorium in exchange for a Palestinian Authority recognition of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. This request was rejected by the Palestinians leadership. During September the Palestinian Authority led a diplomatic campaign aimed at getting recognition of the State of Palestine within the borders , with East Jerusalem as its capital, by the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Security Council has yet to vote on it. The decision was labeled by the Israeli government as a unilateral step. In , the Palestinian Authority applied for admission as a United Nations non-member state , which requires only a majority vote by the United Nations General Assembly. Hamas also backed the motion. Israel indicated that an actual, real-world Palestinian state can only come into existence if Palestinians succeed in negotiating peace with Israel. The following section presents the demographic history of the Jewish and Arab populations in Palestine , Israel and the Palestinian territories spanning through the last two centuries which has been taken from census results and official documents which mention demographic composition. He promoted the Muslim character of Jerusalem and This was the backdrop to his agitation concerning Jewish rights at the Western Wailing Wall that led to the bloody riots of August From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It has been suggested that this article be merged into Timeline of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Discuss Proposed since October See also: Zionism , Arab nationalism , and Palestinian nationalism. Further information: Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Main article: Timeline of intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine. See also: Palestinian nationalism , Zionism , and Mandatory Palestine. For a chronological guide to this subject, see Timeline of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Main article: Terrorism and the Soviet Union. Main article: Oslo Accords. Main articles: Gaza—Israel conflict and Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Play media. Main article: Demographic history of Palestine region. Further information: Demographics of Israel and Demographics of the Palestinian territories. See also: Demographic history of Jerusalem. April 1, New York: Continuum, The Zionist press had besides accused the revolutionary movement in Russia of being in a way to blame for the pogromist activity of the Russian Government. An estimated 80 percent of those who emigrated went to the United States; between and the number of Russian Jews to enter the United States totalled , S. Jewish immigration to the United States from — [New York, ], p 93 for the Jewish intellectuals who favoured emigration the main issue was: America or Palestine. Avraham Sela. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. January 1, The Arab League. Infobase Publishing. November Archived from the original on November 3, Retrieved November 11, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Gorny, , 'Zionism and the Arabs, —', p. University of Nebraska Press, p. In his note to the text p. November 12, Plan on partition with economic union: Recommendations: A. Partition and independence: 1". 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Retrieved November 22, Overall, in that same time period, more than 1, rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. Approximately were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. Since Israel's targeted assassination from the air, on 14 November, of Ahmed Jaabari, chief of Hamas' military wing, and with Israel's offensive in Gaza in its eighth day, the Israel Defense Forces publicly reported that it has conducted strikes at more than 1, targets in Gaza. Archived from the original on November 15, The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 26, Retrieved November 21, Retrieved on IBN Live. Retrieved October 16, Archived from the original on October 20, Fox News. FOX News. June 3, The National. June 15, The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 14, Retrieved December 14, France November 26, Archived from the original on November 28, Retrieved August 1, International Middle East Media Center. 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Here is how conflict over ownership of the region has played out over the last 70 years. Rescue workers searching for victims among the rubble of the destroyed buildings Ben Yehuda Street in downtown Jerusalem at the beginning of the first Jewish-Arab conflict, started in February before the proclamation of the State of Israel, 14 May Credit: Hugo H. Before Israel became a nation, the majority of people dwelling in the region were Palestinians—Arabs who lived in what was then known as Palestine. On May 14, , Israel was officially declared a state, marking the first Jewish state in over 2, years. In the aftermath of the war, scholars estimate that more than , Palestinians left or were forced to flee their homes in the newly- formed Jewish Israel. Thousands of Palestinian refugees settled in the Gaza Strip. As of , most of the Palestinian inhabitants are the original war refugees and their descendants, many of them still living in refugee camps. Egypt controlled Gaza until the Six-Day War in , when Israel seized the strip, along with several other important areas of land. An Islamist political group called Hamas won elections and took control of Gaza in Since then, Hamas has occupied the strip, which has become a site for protests, bombings, land assaults and other acts of violence. Israel and the United States, as well as several other countries, consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Since Israel controls the Gaza coastline and all entry points into the region, experts believe many of these weapons are smuggled into the region or provided by anti-Israeli allies in other countries, such as Iran. Three major conflicts between Israel and Hamas have taken place in Gaza since In this same period, 45 Palestinians, including 6 children had been killed. Amnesty's review of 25 civilians deaths concluded that in no case was there evidence of the Palestinians posing an imminent threat. At the same time, over 8, Palestinians suffered serious injuries from other means, including rubber-coated metal bullets. The soldier was demoted and given a 1-year sentence with a five-month suspension. The IDF answered the charges stating that its army held itself "to the highest of professional standards," adding that when there was suspicion of wrongdoing, it investigated and took action "where appropriate". Following the Oslo Accords, which was to set up regulative bodies to rein in frictions, Palestinian incitement against Israel, Jews, and Zionism continued, parallel with Israel's pursuance of settlements in the Palestinian territories, [80] though under Abu Mazen it has reportedly dwindled significantly. Both parties to the conflict have been criticized by third-parties for teaching incitement to their children by downplaying each side's historical ties to the area, teaching propagandist maps, or indoctrinate their children to one day join the armed forces. The PLO have campaigned for full member status for the state of Palestine at the UN and for recognition on the borders. A campaign that has received widespread support, [90] [91] though it has been criticised by the US and Israel for allegedly avoiding bilateral negotiation. Polling data has produced mixed results regarding the level of support among Palestinians for the two-state solution. A poll was carried out in by the Hebrew University; it indicated that support for a two-state solution was growing among both Israelis and Palestinians. The following outlined positions are the official positions of the two parties; however, it is important to note that neither side holds a single position. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides include both moderate and extremist bodies as well as dovish and hawkish bodies. One of the primary obstacles to resolving the Israeli— Palestinian conflict is a deep-set and growing distrust between its participants. Unilateral strategies and the rhetoric of hardline political factions, coupled with violence and incitements by civilians against one another, have fostered mutual embitterment and hostility and a loss of faith in the peace process. Support among Palestinians for Hamas is considerable, and as its members consistently call for the destruction of Israel and violence remains a threat, security becomes a prime concern for many Israelis. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has led the majority of Palestinians to believe that Israel is not committed to reaching an agreement, but rather to a pursuit of establishing permanent control over this territory in order to provide that security. The control of Jerusalem is a particularly delicate issue, with each side asserting claims over the city. The three largest Abrahamic religions —Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—hold Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives. Jerusalem is the holiest city for Judaism, being the former location of the Jewish temples on the Temple Mount and the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. The Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court , is located in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in In , Israel passed the Jerusalem Law declaring "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel. Many countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, notable exceptions being Israel, the United States, [] and Russia. As of , there were more than , people living in Jerusalem; , were Jews mostly living in West Jerusalem and , were Muslims mostly living in East Jerusalem. At the Camp David and Taba Summits in —, the United States proposed a plan in which the Arab parts of Jerusalem would be given to the proposed Palestinian state while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem were given to Israel. All archaeological work under the Temple Mount would be jointly controlled by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed. Israel expresses concern over the security of its residents if neighborhoods of Jerusalem are placed under Palestinian control. Jerusalem has been a prime target for attacks by militant groups against civilian targets since Many Jewish neighborhoods have been fired upon from Arab areas. The proximity of the Arab areas, if these regions were to fall in the boundaries of a Palestinian state, would be so close as to threaten the safety of Jewish residents. Israel has concerns regarding the welfare of Jewish holy places under possible Palestinian control. When Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, no Jews were allowed to visit the Western Wall or other Jewish holy places, and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated. Settlers established a yeshiva, installed a Torah scroll and covered the mihrab. During the Second Intifada the site was looted and burned. Palestinians have voiced concerns regarding the welfare of Christian and Muslim holy places under Israeli control. Palestinian refugees are people who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the Arab—Israeli conflict [] and the Six-Day War. The remainder live in and around the cities and towns of these host countries. Most of these people were born outside Israel, but are descendants of original Palestinian refugees. However, according to reports of private peace negotiations with Israel they have countenanced the return of only 10, refugees and their families to Israel as part of a peace settlement. Mahmoud Abbas , the current Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization was reported to have said in private discussion that it is "illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million, or indeed 1 million. That would mean the end of Israel. He later clarified that the remark was his personal opinion and not official policy. The Arab Peace Initiative of declared that it proposed the compromise of a "just resolution" of the refugee problem. Palestinian and international authors have justified the right of return of the Palestinian refugees on several grounds: [] [] []. Shlaim states that from April the military forces of what was to become Israel had embarked on a new offensive strategy which involved destroying Arab villages and the forced removal of civilians. Throughout the conflict, Palestinian violence has been a concern for Israelis. Israel, [] along with the United States [] and the European Union, refer to the violence against Israeli civilians and military forces by Palestinian militants as terrorism. The motivations behind Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians are many, and not all violent Palestinian groups agree with each other on specifics. Nonetheless, a common motive is the desire to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian Arab state. The Israeli government initiated the construction of a security barrier following scores of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in July Israel's coalition government approved the security barrier in the northern part of the green line between Israel and the West Bank. Since , the threat of Qassam rockets fired from Palestinian territories into Israel continues to be of great concern for Israeli defense officials. According to a study conducted by University of Haifa , one in five Israelis have lost a relative or friend in a Palestinian terrorist attack. There is significant debate within Israel about how to deal with the country's security concerns. Options have included military action including targeted killings and house demolitions of terrorist operatives , diplomacy, unilateral gestures toward peace, and increased security measures such as checkpoints, roadblocks and security barriers. The legality and the wisdom of all of the above tactics have been called into question by various commentators. Since mid-June , Israel's primary means of dealing with security concerns in the West Bank has been to cooperate with and permit United States-sponsored training, equipping, and funding of the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which with Israeli help have largely succeeded in quelling West Bank supporters of Hamas. Some Palestinians have committed violent acts over the globe on the pretext of a struggle against Israel. Many foreigners, including Americans [] and Europeans, [] have been killed and injured by Palestinian militants. At least 53 Americans have been killed and 83 injured by Palestinian violence since the signing of the Oslo Accords. During the late s, the PLO became increasingly infamous for its use of international terror. In alone, the PLO was responsible for hijacking 82 planes. El Al Airlines became a regular hijacking target. However, one of the most well-known and notorious terrorist acts was the capture and eventual murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games. Fighting among rival Palestinian and Arab movements has played a crucial role in shaping Israel's security policy towards Palestinian militants, as well as in the Palestinian leadership's own policies. During the Lebanese Civil War , Palestinian baathists broke from the Palestine Liberation Organization and allied with the Shia Amal Movement , fighting a bloody civil war that killed thousands of Palestinians. In the First Intifada , more than a thousand Palestinians were killed in a campaign initiated by the Palestine Liberation Organization to crack down on suspected Israeli security service informers and collaborators. The Palestinian Authority was strongly criticized for its treatment of alleged collaborators, rights groups complaining that those labeled collaborators were denied fair trials. According to a report released by the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group , less than 45 percent of those killed were actually guilty of informing for Israel. The policies towards suspected collaborators contravene agreements signed by the Palestinian leadership. The provision was designed to prevent Palestinian leaders from imposing retribution on fellow Palestinians who had worked on behalf of Israel during the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip , Hamas officials have tortured and killed thousands of Fatah members and other Palestinians who oppose their rule. During the Battle of Gaza , more than Palestinians died over a four-day period. By , more than Palestinian people had died during the struggle between Hamas and Fatah. As far as Israel is concerned, the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority is derived from the Oslo Accords , signed with the PLO, under which it acquired control over cities in the Palestinian territories Area A while the surrounding countryside came either under Israeli security and Palestinian civil administration Area B or complete Israeli civil administration Area C. Israel has built additional highways to allow Israelis to traverse the area without entering Palestinian cities in Area A. The initial areas under Palestinian Authority control are diverse and non-contiguous. According to Palestinians, the separated areas make it impossible to create a viable nation and fails to address Palestinian security needs; Israel has expressed no agreement to withdrawal from some Areas B, resulting in no reduction in the division of the Palestinian areas, and the institution of a safe pass system, without Israeli checkpoints, between these parts. Under the Oslo Accords, as a security measure, Israel has insisted on its control over all land, sea and air border crossings into the Palestinian territories, and the right to set import and export controls. This is to enable Israel to control the entry into the territories of materials of military significance and of potentially dangerous persons. In the Middle East, water resources are of great political concern. Since Israel receives much of its water from two large underground aquifers which continue under the Green Line , the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli— Palestinian conflict. Although this water was drawn entirely on Israel's own side of the pre border, the sources of the water are nevertheless from the shared groundwater basins located under both West Bank and Israel. In the Oslo II Accord , both sides agreed to maintain "existing quantities of utilization from the resources. Moreover, Israel obligated itself in this agreement to provide water to supplement Palestinian production, and further agreed to allow additional Palestinian drilling in the Eastern Aquifer, also subject to the Joint Water Committee. According to a report of by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, water resources were confiscated for the benefit of the Israeli settlements in the Ghor. Palestinian irrigation pumps on the Jordan River were destroyed or confiscated after the war and Palestinians were not allowed to use water from the Jordan River system. Furthermore, the authorities did not allow any new irrigation wells to be drilled by Palestinian farmers, while it provided fresh water and allowed drilling wells for irrigation purposes at the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A report was released by the UN in August and Max Gaylard , the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, explained at the launch of the publication: "Gaza will have half a million more people by while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school". The report projects that Gaza's population will increase from 1. Numerous foreign nations and international organizations have established bilateral agreements with the Palestinian and Israeli water authorities. In order to support and improve the water sector in the Palestinian territories, a number of bilateral and multilateral agencies have been supporting many different water and sanitation programs. There are three large seawater desalination plants in Israel and two more scheduled to open before Yuval Steinitz. This is also the name used on the UN Partition Plan. In , Israel annexed East Jerusalem. See Interpretations. It has been the position of Israel that the most Arab-populated parts of West Bank without major Jewish settlements , as well as the entire Gaza Strip, must eventually be part of an independent Palestinian State; however, the precise borders of this state are in question. A subsequent settlement proposed by President Clinton offered Palestinian sovereignty over 94 to 96 percent of the West Bank but was similarly rejected with 52 objections. Israel says it is justified in not ceding all this land, because of security concerns, and also because the lack of any valid diplomatic agreement at the time means that ownership and boundaries of this land is open for discussion. In negotiations, they claim that any moves to reduce the boundaries of this land is a hostile move against their key interests. Israel considers this land to be in dispute, and feels the purpose of negotiations is to define what the final borders will be. For this reason, Hamas has viewed the peace process "as religiously forbidden and politically inconceivable". According to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs DEMA , "In the years following the Six- Day War, and especially in the s during the peace process, Israel re-established communities destroyed in and as well as established numerous new settlements in the West Bank. These settlements have been the site of much inter-communal conflict. The United Nations and the European Union have also called the settlements "illegal under international law. However, Israel disputes this; [] several scholars and commentators disagree with the assessment that settlements are illegal, citing in recent historical trends to back up their argument. In , Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a proposal put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , was enacted. All residents of Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip were evacuated, and all residential buildings were demolished. Various mediators and various proposed agreements have shown some degree of openness to Israel retaining some fraction of the settlements which currently exist in the West Bank; this openness is based on a variety of considerations, such as, the desire to find real compromise between Israeli and Palestinian territorial claims. Israel's position that it needs to retain some West Bank land and settlements as a buffer in case of future aggression, [] and Israel's position that some settlements are legitimate, as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement. Bush has stated that he does not expect Israel to return entirely to the armistice lines because of "new realities on the ground. In return, Palestinians would have received some concessions of land in other parts of the country. In May and June , President Barack Obama said, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," [] and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated that the President "wants to see a stop to settlements—not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions. The Israeli government states it is justified under international law to impose a blockade on an enemy for security reasons. The power to impose a naval blockade is established under customary international law and Laws of armed conflict , and a United Nations commission has ruled that Israel's blockade is "both legal and appropriate. This armed conflict has intensified after Hamas violently took over Gaza, in June , and turned the territory under its de facto control into a launching pad of mortar and rocket attacks against Israeli towns and villages in southern Israel. Out of 35, people employed by 3, factories in June , only 1, people remained employed by factories in June In January , the Israeli government calculated how many calories per person were needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, and then subtracted eight percent to adjust for the "culture and experience" of the Gazans. Details of the calculations were released following Israeli human rights organization Gisha 's application to the high court. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who drafted the plan, stated that the scheme was never formally adopted, this was not accepted by Gisha. Starting 7 February , the Israeli Government reduced the electricity it sells directly to Gaza. This follows the ruling of Israel's High Court of Justice's decision, which held, with respect to the amount of industrial fuel supplied to Gaza, that, "The clarification that we made indicates that the supply of industrial diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip in the winter months of last year was comparable to the amount that the Respondents now undertake to allow into the Gaza Strip. This fact also indicates that the amount is reasonable and sufficient to meet the vital humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip. With regard to Israel's plan, the Court stated that, "calls for a reduction of five percent of the power supply in three of the ten power lines that supply electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip, to a level of Our conclusion is based, in part, on the affidavit of the Respondents indicating that the relevant Palestinian officials stated that they can reduce the load in the event limitations are placed on the power lines, and that they had used this capability in the past. On 20 June , Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non- military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more — as well as projects that are under international supervision. Since the beginning of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict, the conflict has been about land. In Palestine, agriculture is a mainstay in the economy. The production of agricultural goods supports the population's sustenance needs and fuels Palestine's export economy. Palestinian agriculture suffers from numerous problems including Israeli military and civilian attacks on farms and farmers, blockades to exportation of produce and importation of necessary inputs, widespread confiscation of land for nature reserves as well as military and settler use, confiscation and destruction of wells, and physical barriers within the West Bank. With the construction of the separation barrier , the Israeli state promised free movement across regions. However, border closures, curfews, and checkpoints has significantly restricted Palestinian movement. In Gaza, the agricultural market suffers from economic boycotts and border closures and restrictions placed by Israel. There has also been an economic embargo initiated by the west on Hamas-led Palestine, which has decreased the amount of imports and exports from Palestine. As a result, the PA's , employees have not received their salaries in over one year. In response to a weakening trend in Palestinian violence and growing economic and security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority , the Israeli military has removed over check points in and plans on disengaging from major Palestinian population areas. PA—Israel efforts in the West Bank have "significantly increased investor confidence", and the Palestinian economy grew 6. However, Israeli Arabs are allowed to enter West Bank cities on weekends. The Palestinian Authority has petitioned the Israeli military to allow Jewish tourists to visit West Bank cities as "part of an effort" to improve the Palestinian economy. Israeli general Avi Mizrahi spoke with Palestinian security officers while touring malls and soccer fields in the West Bank. Mizrahi gave permission to allow Israeli tour guides into Bethlehem, a move intended to "contribute to the Palestinian and Israeli economies. Beginning in with the Oslo peace process , Israel recognizes "the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people", though Israel does not recognize the State of Palestine. Despite Yasser Arafat's official renunciation of terrorism and recognition of Israel, some Palestinian groups continue to practice and advocate violence against civilians and do not recognize Israel as a legitimate political entity. It is widely felt among Israelis that Palestinians did not in fact promote acceptance of Israel's right to exist. President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas has in recent years refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state citing concerns for Israeli Arabs and a possible future right to return for Palestinian refugees, though Palestine continues to recognize Israel as a state. Hamas' charter openly states they seek Israel's destruction, though Hamas leaders have spoken of long-term truces with Israel in exchange for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Authority is considered corrupt by a wide variety of sources, including some Palestinians. Societal attitudes in both Israel and Palestine are a source of concern to those promoting dispute resolution. According to a May poll carried out by the Palestinian Center For Public Opinion that asked Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem, "which of the following means is the best to end the occupation and lead to the establishing of an independent Palestinian state", 5. Approximately three quarters of Palestinians surveyed believed that a military escalation in the Gaza Strip would be in Israel's interest and Regarding the resumption of launching Al-Qassam missiles from Gaza into Israel, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concerns that Hamas promote incitement against and overall non-acceptance of Israel, including promotion of violence against Israel. The Israeli Cabinet issued a statement [ when? However, Israel has already allowed for the creation of a Palestinian police that can conduct police operations and also carry out limited-scale warfare. Palestinians [ vague ] have argued that the Israel Defense Forces , a large and modern armed force, poses a direct and pressing threat to the sovereignty of any future Palestinian state, making a defensive force for a Palestinian state a matter of necessity. To this, Israelis claim that signing a treaty while building an army is a show of bad intentions. Since , the United States has been training, equipping, and funding the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which have been cooperating with Israel at unprecedented levels in the West Bank to quell supporters of Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamist group that opposes direct negotiations with Israel. A variety of studies provide differing casualty data for the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute , 13, Israelis and Palestinians were killed in conflict with each other between and Note: Figures includes 1, Palestinian fatalities attributed to intra-Palestinian violence. Figures do not include the Palestinians killed by other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since All numbers refer to casualties of direct conflict between Israelis and Palestinians including in IDF military operations, artillery shelling, search and arrest campaigns, Barrier demonstrations, targeted killings, settler violence etc. The figures do not include events indirectly related to the conflict such as casualties from unexploded ordnance, etc. The figures include all reported casualties of all ages and both genders. Figures include both Israeli civilians and security forces casualties in West Bank , Gaza and Israel. As reported by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, since 29 September a total of 7, Palestinian and Israeli individuals were killed due to the conflict. According to the report, 1, of the 6, Palestinians were minors, and at least 2, did not participate in fighting at the time of death. Palestinians killed 1, Israelis, including civilians. Richter and Dr. They argue that B'tselem's report contains "errors of omission, commission and classification bias which result in overestimates of the ratio of non-combatants to combatants. In a study on behalf of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism , Don Radlauer suggested that "almost all Palestinians killed in this conflict have been male — and absent any other reasonable explanation for such a non-random pattern of fatalities — this suggests that large numbers of Palestinian men and teenaged boys made a choice to confront Israeli forces, even after many of their compatriots had been killed in such confrontations. A comprehensive collection mechanism to gather land mine and explosive remnants of war ERW casualty data does not exist for the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian National Security Forces do not have maps or records of the minefields. He promoted the Muslim character of Jerusalem and This was the backdrop to his agitation concerning Jewish rights at the Western Wailing Wall that led to the bloody riots of August From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians that began in the midth century. For the wider regional conflict, primarily from —73, see Arab—Israeli conflict. Ongoing military and political struggle between Israel and Palestine. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these template messages. This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. March This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. March Learn how and when to remove this template message. Supported by:. Main article: Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine. Modern evolution of Palestine v t e. The red line is the "International Administration" proposed in the Sykes—Picot Agreement , the dashed blue line is the Zionist Organization proposal at the Paris Peace Conference , and the thin blue line refers to the final borders of the —48 Mandatory Palestine. An ongoing British Mandate was proposed to keep "the sanctity of Jerusalem and Bethlehem ", in the form of an enclave from Jerusalem to Jaffa , including Lydda and Ramle. The proposal included a Corpus Separatum for Jerusalem , extraterritorial crossroads between the non-contiguous areas, and Jaffa as an Arab exclave. The Jewish population had increased from 83, in to , in Neither Israel's annexation nor Palestine's claim over East Jerusalem has been internationally recognized. Main article: History of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Main article: Israeli—Palestinian peace process. Main article: Oslo Accords. Main article: Camp David Summit. Main article: The Clinton Parameters. Main article: Taba Summit. Main article: Road map for peace. Main article: Arab Peace Initiative. Main article: International recognition of the State of Palestine. Main article: Status of Jerusalem. See also: Palestinian right of return , Palestinian refugee , and Palestinian exodus. See also: United States security assistance to the Palestinian Authority , Palestinian political violence , and Palestinian militancy campaign. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Further information: Water supply and sanitation in the Palestinian territories and Water politics in the Jordan River basin. Main article: Israeli settlement. Main article: Blockade of the Gaza Strip. See also: Israeli casualties of war and Palestinian casualties of war. This table may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. May Learn how and when to remove this template message. Israel portal Palestine portal. First, the 91 percent land offer was based on the Israeli definition of the West Bank, but this differs by approximately 5 percentage points from the Palestinian definition. Palestinians use a total area of 5, square kilometers. Israel, however, omits the area known as No Man's Land 50 km 2 near Latrun , post East Jerusalem 71 km 2 , and the territorial waters of the Dead Sea km 2 , which reduces the total to 5, km 2. Thus, an Israeli offer of 91 percent of 5, km 2 of the West Bank translates into only 86 percent from the Palestinian perspective. Jeremy Pressman, International Security , vol 28, no. On [1]. See pp. Major Episodes of Political Violence Updated 12 June "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 January Retrieved 14 November A History of Conflict. BBC News. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, , p. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 18 February Retrieved 13 March World Bank. Archived from the original PDF on 10 April Retrieved 29 March Currently, freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm contrary to the commitments undertaken in a number of Agreements between GOI and the PA. United States Institute of Peace Press. Retrieved 14 January December Retrieved 14 March New York: Continuum. Yale University Press. Cambridge University Press. United Nations. Archived from the original on 24 May Retrieved 28 May Retrieved 30 May Amnesty International. Retrieved 5 June Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 21 April Retrieved 19 March Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 16 March September A Reply to Ehud Barak. New York: Grove Press, An Interview with Ehud Barak. New York Review of Books. Retrieved 5 September On [2]. International Security. Interview with Ari Shavit. Democracy Now! Retrieved 24 June Retrieved 3 December Embassy of the United States, Israel. Archived from the original on 21 July Retrieved 3 June New York Times. Al Jazeera. World Policy Review. Retrieved 18 October Daniel Abraham 8 March The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 March The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February The Jerusalem Post. Hass, Amira 1 December

Palestine | History, People, & Religion | Britannica

As of , most of the Palestinian inhabitants are the original war refugees and their descendants, many of them still living in refugee camps. Egypt controlled Gaza until the Six-Day War in , when Israel seized the strip, along with several other important areas of land. An Islamist political group called Hamas won elections and took control of Gaza in Since then, Hamas has occupied the strip, which has become a site for protests, bombings, land assaults and other acts of violence. Israel and the United States, as well as several other countries, consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Since Israel controls the Gaza coastline and all entry points into the region, experts believe many of these weapons are smuggled into the region or provided by anti-Israeli allies in other countries, such as Iran. Three major conflicts between Israel and Hamas have taken place in Gaza since Operation Case Lead and Operation Pillar of Defense were in response to rocket fire over the Gaza-Israel border, while the kidnapping and murdering of three Israeli teenagers by two Hamas members sparked a seven-week conflict known as Operation Protective Edge in Protesters run away from tear gas dispersed by Israeli forces as they inch closer to the border fence separating Israel and Gaza on May 14, No tenable solution was crafted which would satisfy both Israeli and Palestinian demands, even under intense US pressure. Clinton has long blamed Arafat for the collapse of the summit. Mitchell to lead a fact-finding committee aiming to identify strategies for restoring the peace process. The committee's findings were published in with the dismantlement of existing Israeli settlements and Palestinian crack down on militant activity being one strategy. Following the failed summit Palestinian and Israeli negotiators continued to meet in small groups through August and September to try to bridge the gaps between their respective positions. The United States prepared its own plan to resolve the outstanding issues. Clinton's presentation of the US proposals was delayed by the advent of the Second Intifada at the end of September. Clinton's plan, eventually presented on 23 December , proposed the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza strip and 94—96 percent of the West Bank plus the equivalent of 1—3 percent of the West Bank in land swaps from pre Israel. On Jerusalem the plan stated that, "the general principle is that Arab areas are Palestinian and that Jewish areas are Israeli. On refugees the plan suggested a number of proposals including financial compensation, the right of return to the Palestinian state, and Israeli acknowledgement of suffering caused to the Palestinians in Security proposals referred to a "non-militarized" Palestinian state, and an international force for border security. Both sides accepted Clinton's plan [53] [58] [59] and it became the basis for the negotiations at the Taba Peace summit the following January. The proposition removed the "temporarily Israeli controlled" areas, and the Palestinian side accepted this as a basis for further negotiation. With Israeli elections looming the talks ended without an agreement but the two sides issued a joint statement attesting to the progress they had made: "The sides declare that they have never been closer to reaching an agreement and it is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged with the resumption of negotiations following the Israeli elections. Sharon's new government chose not to resume the high-level talks. This plan did not attempt to resolve difficult questions such as the fate of Jerusalem or Israeli settlements, but left that to be negotiated in later phases of the process. The proposal never made it beyond the first phase, whose goals called for a halt to both Israeli settlement construction and Israeli—Palestinian violence. Neither goal has been achieved as of November The peace initiative is a proposed solution to the Arab—Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli—Palestinian conflict in particular. The initiative was initially published on 28 March , at the Beirut Summit, and agreed upon again in in the Riyadh Summit. It offered full normalization of relations with Israel, in exchange for the withdrawal of its forces from all the occupied territories, including the Golan Heights , to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. A number of Israeli officials have responded to the initiative with both support and criticism. The Israeli government has expressed reservations on 'red line,' issues such as the Palestinian refugee problem, homeland security concerns, and the nature of Jerusalem. The peace process has been predicated on a "two-state solution" thus far, but questions have been raised towards both sides' resolve to end the dispute. Daniel Abraham, an American entrepreneur and founder of the Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, US, published on the website of the Atlantic magazine in March , cited the following statistics: "Right now, the total number of Jews and Arabs living At the moment, a shade under 50 percent of the population is Jewish. Israel has had its settlement growth and policies in the Palestinian territories harshly criticized by the European Union citing it as increasingly undermining the viability of the two-state solution and running in contrary to the Israeli-stated commitment to resume negotiations. Britain said that the move was a breach of Israeli commitments under the road map to freeze all settlement expansion in the land captured since The British Foreign Minister stated that the "Systematic, illegal Israeli settlement activity poses the most significant and live threat to the viability of the two state solution". The last of which was the thousands of settler march in East Jerusalem which included slogans inciting to kill, hate and supports violence". In a report published in February covering incidents over the three-year period of —, Amnesty International asserted that Israeli forces employed reckless violence in the West Bank, and in some instances appeared to engage in wilful killings which would be tantamount to war crimes. Besides the numerous fatalities, Amnesty said at least Palestinians, including 67 children, had been gravely injured by Israeli use of live ammunition. In this same period, 45 Palestinians, including 6 children had been killed. Amnesty's review of 25 civilians deaths concluded that in no case was there evidence of the Palestinians posing an imminent threat. At the same time, over 8, Palestinians suffered serious injuries from other means, including rubber-coated metal bullets. The soldier was demoted and given a 1-year sentence with a five-month suspension. The IDF answered the charges stating that its army held itself "to the highest of professional standards," adding that when there was suspicion of wrongdoing, it investigated and took action "where appropriate". Following the Oslo Accords, which was to set up regulative bodies to rein in frictions, Palestinian incitement against Israel, Jews, and Zionism continued, parallel with Israel's pursuance of settlements in the Palestinian territories, [80] though under Abu Mazen it has reportedly dwindled significantly. Both parties to the conflict have been criticized by third-parties for teaching incitement to their children by downplaying each side's historical ties to the area, teaching propagandist maps, or indoctrinate their children to one day join the armed forces. The PLO have campaigned for full member status for the state of Palestine at the UN and for recognition on the borders. A campaign that has received widespread support, [90] [91] though it has been criticised by the US and Israel for allegedly avoiding bilateral negotiation. Polling data has produced mixed results regarding the level of support among Palestinians for the two-state solution. A poll was carried out in by the Hebrew University; it indicated that support for a two-state solution was growing among both Israelis and Palestinians. The following outlined positions are the official positions of the two parties; however, it is important to note that neither side holds a single position. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides include both moderate and extremist bodies as well as dovish and hawkish bodies. One of the primary obstacles to resolving the Israeli—Palestinian conflict is a deep-set and growing distrust between its participants. Unilateral strategies and the rhetoric of hardline political factions, coupled with violence and incitements by civilians against one another, have fostered mutual embitterment and hostility and a loss of faith in the peace process. Support among Palestinians for Hamas is considerable, and as its members consistently call for the destruction of Israel and violence remains a threat, security becomes a prime concern for many Israelis. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has led the majority of Palestinians to believe that Israel is not committed to reaching an agreement, but rather to a pursuit of establishing permanent control over this territory in order to provide that security. The control of Jerusalem is a particularly delicate issue, with each side asserting claims over the city. The three largest Abrahamic religions —Judaism, Christianity, and Islam— hold Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives. Jerusalem is the holiest city for Judaism, being the former location of the Jewish temples on the Temple Mount and the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. The Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court , is located in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in In , Israel passed the Jerusalem Law declaring "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel. Many countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, notable exceptions being Israel, the United States, [] and Russia. As of , there were more than , people living in Jerusalem; , were Jews mostly living in West Jerusalem and , were Muslims mostly living in East Jerusalem. At the Camp David and Taba Summits in —, the United States proposed a plan in which the Arab parts of Jerusalem would be given to the proposed Palestinian state while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem were given to Israel. All archaeological work under the Temple Mount would be jointly controlled by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed. Israel expresses concern over the security of its residents if neighborhoods of Jerusalem are placed under Palestinian control. Jerusalem has been a prime target for attacks by militant groups against civilian targets since Many Jewish neighborhoods have been fired upon from Arab areas. The proximity of the Arab areas, if these regions were to fall in the boundaries of a Palestinian state, would be so close as to threaten the safety of Jewish residents. Israel has concerns regarding the welfare of Jewish holy places under possible Palestinian control. When Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, no Jews were allowed to visit the Western Wall or other Jewish holy places, and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated. Settlers established a yeshiva, installed a Torah scroll and covered the mihrab. During the Second Intifada the site was looted and burned. Palestinians have voiced concerns regarding the welfare of Christian and Muslim holy places under Israeli control. Palestinian refugees are people who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the Arab—Israeli conflict [] and the Six-Day War. The remainder live in and around the cities and towns of these host countries. Most of these people were born outside Israel, but are descendants of original Palestinian refugees. However, according to reports of private peace negotiations with Israel they have countenanced the return of only 10, refugees and their families to Israel as part of a peace settlement. Mahmoud Abbas , the current Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization was reported to have said in private discussion that it is "illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million, or indeed 1 million. That would mean the end of Israel. He later clarified that the remark was his personal opinion and not official policy. The Arab Peace Initiative of declared that it proposed the compromise of a "just resolution" of the refugee problem. Palestinian and international authors have justified the right of return of the Palestinian refugees on several grounds: [] [] []. Shlaim states that from April the military forces of what was to become Israel had embarked on a new offensive strategy which involved destroying Arab villages and the forced removal of civilians. Throughout the conflict, Palestinian violence has been a concern for Israelis. Israel, [] along with the United States [] and the European Union, refer to the violence against Israeli civilians and military forces by Palestinian militants as terrorism. The motivations behind Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians are many, and not all violent Palestinian groups agree with each other on specifics. Nonetheless, a common motive is the desire to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian Arab state. The Israeli government initiated the construction of a security barrier following scores of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in July Israel's coalition government approved the security barrier in the northern part of the green line between Israel and the West Bank. Since , the threat of Qassam rockets fired from Palestinian territories into Israel continues to be of great concern for Israeli defense officials. According to a study conducted by University of Haifa , one in five Israelis have lost a relative or friend in a Palestinian terrorist attack. There is significant debate within Israel about how to deal with the country's security concerns. Options have included military action including targeted killings and house demolitions of terrorist operatives , diplomacy, unilateral gestures toward peace, and increased security measures such as checkpoints, roadblocks and security barriers. The legality and the wisdom of all of the above tactics have been called into question by various commentators. Since mid-June , Israel's primary means of dealing with security concerns in the West Bank has been to cooperate with and permit United States-sponsored training, equipping, and funding of the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which with Israeli help have largely succeeded in quelling West Bank supporters of Hamas. Some Palestinians have committed violent acts over the globe on the pretext of a struggle against Israel. Many foreigners, including Americans [] and Europeans, [] have been killed and injured by Palestinian militants. At least 53 Americans have been killed and 83 injured by Palestinian violence since the signing of the Oslo Accords. During the late s, the PLO became increasingly infamous for its use of international terror. In alone, the PLO was responsible for hijacking 82 planes. El Al Airlines became a regular hijacking target. However, one of the most well-known and notorious terrorist acts was the capture and eventual murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games. Fighting among rival Palestinian and Arab movements has played a crucial role in shaping Israel's security policy towards Palestinian militants, as well as in the Palestinian leadership's own policies. During the Lebanese Civil War , Palestinian baathists broke from the Palestine Liberation Organization and allied with the Shia Amal Movement , fighting a bloody civil war that killed thousands of Palestinians. In the First Intifada , more than a thousand Palestinians were killed in a campaign initiated by the Palestine Liberation Organization to crack down on suspected Israeli security service informers and collaborators. The Palestinian Authority was strongly criticized for its treatment of alleged collaborators, rights groups complaining that those labeled collaborators were denied fair trials. According to a report released by the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group , less than 45 percent of those killed were actually guilty of informing for Israel. The policies towards suspected collaborators contravene agreements signed by the Palestinian leadership. The provision was designed to prevent Palestinian leaders from imposing retribution on fellow Palestinians who had worked on behalf of Israel during the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip , Hamas officials have tortured and killed thousands of Fatah members and other Palestinians who oppose their rule. During the Battle of Gaza , more than Palestinians died over a four-day period. By , more than Palestinian people had died during the struggle between Hamas and Fatah. As far as Israel is concerned, the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority is derived from the Oslo Accords , signed with the PLO, under which it acquired control over cities in the Palestinian territories Area A while the surrounding countryside came either under Israeli security and Palestinian civil administration Area B or complete Israeli civil administration Area C. Israel has built additional highways to allow Israelis to traverse the area without entering Palestinian cities in Area A. The initial areas under Palestinian Authority control are diverse and non-contiguous. According to Palestinians, the separated areas make it impossible to create a viable nation and fails to address Palestinian security needs; Israel has expressed no agreement to withdrawal from some Areas B, resulting in no reduction in the division of the Palestinian areas, and the institution of a safe pass system, without Israeli checkpoints, between these parts. Under the Oslo Accords, as a security measure, Israel has insisted on its control over all land, sea and air border crossings into the Palestinian territories, and the right to set import and export controls. This is to enable Israel to control the entry into the territories of materials of military significance and of potentially dangerous persons. In the Middle East, water resources are of great political concern. Since Israel receives much of its water from two large underground aquifers which continue under the Green Line , the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Although this water was drawn entirely on Israel's own side of the pre border, the sources of the water are nevertheless from the shared groundwater basins located under both West Bank and Israel. In the Oslo II Accord , both sides agreed to maintain "existing quantities of utilization from the resources. Moreover, Israel obligated itself in this agreement to provide water to supplement Palestinian production, and further agreed to allow additional Palestinian drilling in the Eastern Aquifer, also subject to the Joint Water Committee. According to a report of by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, water resources were confiscated for the benefit of the Israeli settlements in the Ghor. Palestinian irrigation pumps on the Jordan River were destroyed or confiscated after the war and Palestinians were not allowed to use water from the Jordan River system. Furthermore, the authorities did not allow any new irrigation wells to be drilled by Palestinian farmers, while it provided fresh water and allowed drilling wells for irrigation purposes at the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A report was released by the UN in August and Max Gaylard , the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory, explained at the launch of the publication: "Gaza will have half a million more people by while its economy will grow only slowly. In consequence, the people of Gaza will have an even harder time getting enough drinking water and electricity, or sending their children to school". The report projects that Gaza's population will increase from 1. Numerous foreign nations and international organizations have established bilateral agreements with the Palestinian and Israeli water authorities. In order to support and improve the water sector in the Palestinian territories, a number of bilateral and multilateral agencies have been supporting many different water and sanitation programs. There are three large seawater desalination plants in Israel and two more scheduled to open before Yuval Steinitz. This is also the name used on the UN Partition Plan. In , Israel annexed East Jerusalem. See Interpretations. It has been the position of Israel that the most Arab-populated parts of West Bank without major Jewish settlements , as well as the entire Gaza Strip, must eventually be part of an independent Palestinian State; however, the precise borders of this state are in question. A subsequent settlement proposed by President Clinton offered Palestinian sovereignty over 94 to 96 percent of the West Bank but was similarly rejected with 52 objections. Israel says it is justified in not ceding all this land, because of security concerns, and also because the lack of any valid diplomatic agreement at the time means that ownership and boundaries of this land is open for discussion. In negotiations, they claim that any moves to reduce the boundaries of this land is a hostile move against their key interests. Israel considers this land to be in dispute, and feels the purpose of negotiations is to define what the final borders will be. For this reason, Hamas has viewed the peace process "as religiously forbidden and politically inconceivable". According to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs DEMA , "In the years following the Six-Day War, and especially in the s during the peace process, Israel re-established communities destroyed in and as well as established numerous new settlements in the West Bank. These settlements have been the site of much inter-communal conflict. The United Nations and the European Union have also called the settlements "illegal under international law. However, Israel disputes this; [] several scholars and commentators disagree with the assessment that settlements are illegal, citing in recent historical trends to back up their argument. In , Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a proposal put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , was enacted. All residents of Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip were evacuated, and all residential buildings were demolished. Various mediators and various proposed agreements have shown some degree of openness to Israel retaining some fraction of the settlements which currently exist in the West Bank; this openness is based on a variety of considerations, such as, the desire to find real compromise between Israeli and Palestinian territorial claims. Israel's position that it needs to retain some West Bank land and settlements as a buffer in case of future aggression, [] and Israel's position that some settlements are legitimate, as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement. Bush has stated that he does not expect Israel to return entirely to the armistice lines because of "new realities on the ground. In return, Palestinians would have received some concessions of land in other parts of the country. In May and June , President Barack Obama said, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," [] and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated that the President "wants to see a stop to settlements—not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions. The Israeli government states it is justified under international law to impose a blockade on an enemy for security reasons. The power to impose a naval blockade is established under customary international law and Laws of armed conflict , and a United Nations commission has ruled that Israel's blockade is "both legal and appropriate. This armed conflict has intensified after Hamas violently took over Gaza, in June , and turned the territory under its de facto control into a launching pad of mortar and rocket attacks against Israeli towns and villages in southern Israel. Out of 35, people employed by 3, factories in June , only 1, people remained employed by factories in June In January , the Israeli government calculated how many calories per person were needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, and then subtracted eight percent to adjust for the "culture and experience" of the Gazans. Details of the calculations were released following Israeli human rights organization Gisha 's application to the high court. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who drafted the plan, stated that the scheme was never formally adopted, this was not accepted by Gisha. Starting 7 February , the Israeli Government reduced the electricity it sells directly to Gaza. This follows the ruling of Israel's High Court of Justice's decision, which held, with respect to the amount of industrial fuel supplied to Gaza, that, "The clarification that we made indicates that the supply of industrial diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip in the winter months of last year was comparable to the amount that the Respondents now undertake to allow into the Gaza Strip. This fact also indicates that the amount is reasonable and sufficient to meet the vital humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip. With regard to Israel's plan, the Court stated that, "calls for a reduction of five percent of the power supply in three of the ten power lines that supply electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip, to a level of Our conclusion is based, in part, on the affidavit of the Respondents indicating that the relevant Palestinian officials stated that they can reduce the load in the event limitations are placed on the power lines, and that they had used this capability in the past. On 20 June , Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non- military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more — as well as projects that are under international supervision. Since the beginning of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict, the conflict has been about land. In Palestine, agriculture is a mainstay in the economy. The production of agricultural goods supports the population's sustenance needs and fuels Palestine's export economy. Palestinian agriculture suffers from numerous problems including Israeli military and civilian attacks on farms and farmers, blockades to exportation of produce and importation of necessary inputs, widespread confiscation of land for nature reserves as well as military and settler use, confiscation and destruction of wells, and physical barriers within the West Bank. With the construction of the separation barrier , the Israeli state promised free movement across regions. However, border closures, curfews, and checkpoints has significantly restricted Palestinian movement. In Gaza, the agricultural market suffers from economic boycotts and border closures and restrictions placed by Israel. There has also been an economic embargo initiated by the west on Hamas-led Palestine, which has decreased the amount of imports and exports from Palestine. As a result, the PA's , employees have not received their salaries in over one year. In response to a weakening trend in Palestinian violence and growing economic and security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority , the Israeli military has removed over check points in and plans on disengaging from major Palestinian population areas. PA—Israel efforts in the West Bank have "significantly increased investor confidence", and the Palestinian economy grew 6. However, Israeli Arabs are allowed to enter West Bank cities on weekends. The Palestinian Authority has petitioned the Israeli military to allow Jewish tourists to visit West Bank cities as "part of an effort" to improve the Palestinian economy. Israeli general Avi Mizrahi spoke with Palestinian security officers while touring malls and soccer fields in the West Bank. Mizrahi gave permission to allow Israeli tour guides into Bethlehem, a move intended to "contribute to the Palestinian and Israeli economies. Beginning in with the Oslo peace process , Israel recognizes "the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people", though Israel does not recognize the State of Palestine. Despite Yasser Arafat's official renunciation of terrorism and recognition of Israel, some Palestinian groups continue to practice and advocate violence against civilians and do not recognize Israel as a legitimate political entity. It is widely felt among Israelis that Palestinians did not in fact promote acceptance of Israel's right to exist. President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas has in recent years refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state citing concerns for Israeli Arabs and a possible future right to return for Palestinian refugees, though Palestine continues to recognize Israel as a state. Hamas' charter openly states they seek Israel's destruction, though Hamas leaders have spoken of long-term truces with Israel in exchange for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Authority is considered corrupt by a wide variety of sources, including some Palestinians. Societal attitudes in both Israel and Palestine are a source of concern to those promoting dispute resolution. According to a May poll carried out by the Palestinian Center For Public Opinion that asked Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem, "which of the following means is the best to end the occupation and lead to the establishing of an independent Palestinian state", 5. Approximately three quarters of Palestinians surveyed believed that a military escalation in the Gaza Strip would be in Israel's interest and Regarding the resumption of launching Al-Qassam missiles from Gaza into Israel, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concerns that Hamas promote incitement against and overall non-acceptance of Israel, including promotion of violence against Israel. The Israeli Cabinet issued a statement [ when? However, Israel has already allowed for the creation of a Palestinian police that can conduct police operations and also carry out limited-scale warfare. Palestinians [ vague ] have argued that the Israel Defense Forces , a large and modern armed force, poses a direct and pressing threat to the sovereignty of any future Palestinian state, making a defensive force for a Palestinian state a matter of necessity. To this, Israelis claim that signing a treaty while building an army is a show of bad intentions. Since , the United States has been training, equipping, and funding the Palestinian Authority's security forces, which have been cooperating with Israel at unprecedented levels in the West Bank to quell supporters of Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamist group that opposes direct negotiations with Israel. A variety of studies provide differing casualty data for the Israeli— Palestinian conflict. After Roman times the name had no official status until after World War I and the end of rule by the Ottoman Empire , when it was adopted for one of the regions mandated to Great Britain; in addition to an area roughly comprising present-day Israel and the West Bank, the mandate included the territory east of the Jordan River now constituting the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan, which Britain placed under an administration separate from that of Palestine immediately after receiving the mandate for the territory. The name Palestine has long been in popular use as a general term to denote a traditional region, but this usage does not imply precise boundaries. In contemporary understanding, however, Palestine is generally defined as a region bounded on the east by the Jordan River, on the north by the border between modern Israel and Lebanon, on the west by the Mediterranean Sea including the coast of Gaza , and on the south by the Negev , with its southernmost extension reaching the Gulf of Aqaba. The strategic importance of the area is immense: through it pass the main roads from Egypt to Syria and from the Mediterranean to the hills beyond the Jordan River. Settlement depends closely on water, which is almost never abundant. Precipitation, which arrives in the cool half of the year, decreases in amount in general from north to south and from the coast inland. Perennial rivers are few, and the shortage of water is aggravated by the porous nature of the limestone rocks over much of the country. For further reading on the political units most closely associated with Palestine, see the articles Egypt , Israel , Jordan , and Lebanon. Coastal lowlands of varying widths front the Mediterranean. Farther southward the lowland opens out rapidly into the Plain of Sharon , about 8 miles 13 km wide and extending south to the latitude of Tel Aviv—Yafo. Once covered with marshes, the Sharon plain was reclaimed in the post-Exilic and Hellenistic period and is now a settled area. Fields and fruit groves are laid out between scattered sandstone ridges, on which villages have grown up. South of the spur of low hills that approaches the coast at about Yafo Jaffa , the plain widens into a fertile region known in biblical times as Philistia, a district of orange groves, irrigated orchards, and fields of grain. Covered with rich basaltic soils washed down from the Galilean hills, Esdraelon is important both for its fertility and for the great highway it opens from the Mediterranean to the lands across the Jordan. The hill country of Galilee is better-watered and more thickly wooded than that of Samaria or Judaea. North of the Bet Netofa Valley Plain of Asochis is Upper Galilee, with elevations of 4, feet 1, metres , a scrub-covered limestone plateau that is thinly populated. To the south, Lower Galilee—with its highest peak, Mount Tabor 1, feet [ metres] —is a land of east-west ridges enclosing sheltered vales like that of Nazareth, with rich basaltic soils. Samaria , the region of the ancient kingdom of Israel, is a hilly district extending from the Plain of Esdraelon to the latitude of Ramallah. The city of Jerusalem has expanded rapidly along the mountain ridges. It is separated from the coastal plain by a longitudinal fosse and a belt of low hills of soft chalky limestone, about 5 to 8 miles 8 to 13 km wide, known as Ha- Shefela.

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