More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 85% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, and yet the bloody war conducted by Israel after the October 7^th Hamas terrorist attack shows no sign of coming to an end anytime soon. On the contrary, BCC reports say that Netanyahu vows to press on with the offensive in Gaza “until complete victory”, adding that it could take “many more months”. Once the conflict comes to an end, US President Joe Biden should anticipate efforts for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Citizens not only in the USA but every country in the world, be they supportive of Israel or not, are looking forward to a two-state solution.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated on multiple occasions that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state once the conflict in Gaza comes to an end. On January 18^th Netanyahu said that Israel must retain control over all land west of the river Jordan, which includes the entire territory of any future Palestinian state. Palestinian foreign ministry Riyad al-Maliki said Israel is carrying out “the most savage bombing campaign” since World War II.

The Palestinian Authority’s top diplomat, Riyad al-Maliki, urged the EU to consider sanctions against Netanyahu for “destroying the chances for a two-state solution”, according to CBS News. Moreover, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “the whole world” sees a two-state solution as “the only way out of this misery.” The White House has repeatedly tried to influence Israel’s military policy, urging more precision-guided attacks rather than blanket air strikes, but also by calling for a two-state solution with a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-conflict Gaza.

Nevertheless, Washington’s advice has either been ignored or rejected. “Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements are worrying,” Austrian foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg (considered to be one of Israel’s staunchest allies) described Netanyahu’s statements as “short-sighted,” defending the Palestinians’ right to self-determination as the “only solution”. When confronting Israeli foreign minister, EU High Representative Josep Borrell asked “what are the other solutions they have in mind? To make all the Palestinians leave? To kill them off?”. Moreover, UN Secretary-General Guterres warned Israel on January 23^rd that Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution will indefinitely prolong a conflict that is threatening global peace and emboldening extremists throughout the globe. Guterres also warned that the risks of regional escalation “are now becoming a reality,” pointing to Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.

It is necessary to briefly analyse the status of Palestine from historical and legal points of view. According to most Western literature, 1948 marks the birth of the State of Israel, after the UK handed the issue over to the UN. For Palestinians, 1948 is the year of the Nakba (meaning “catastrophe”),  referring to the forced displacement of the Palestinian population from their homes.  A war between Israel and neighbouring Arab States broke out that same year, which allowed Israel to widely expand its borders. Territory the UN had assigned to the state of Palestine remained under the control of Egypt and Jordan – but only until the Six-Day War. Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights in 1967, provoking yet another exodus of approximately half a million Palestinians. Subsequently, UN Security Council Resolution 242, which called for peace and for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, remained widely unheard. Under international law, Israel has been an occupying power since 1967 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and in the Golan Heights.

Two more wars followed in 1973 and 1982, before a mass uprising against the Israeli occupation began in 1987 (known as the First Intifada), which ended in numerous losses among the Palestinian people. At the time, a two-state solution seemed to gain traction on both sides, following years of debate within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).  In 1988, PLO leader Yasser Arafat accepted not only UNSCR 242 but also UNGA Resolution 181, the 1947 “Partition Plan” which envisaged the creation of two states. This “historic compromise meant that Palestine’s territory would amount to barely 22% of  British Mandate Palestine’s territory. Since then, support for Fatah’s milder approach has diminished considerably among Palestinians. In the 1990s, the Oslo Accords brought about “semi-autonomy” for the Palestinians, along with mutual recognition between Israel and Palestine. Nevertheless, the early 2000s saw the outbreak of the Second Intifada, and then the construction of the West Bank wall by Israel, which the International Court of Justice condemned as illegal in its 2004 Advisory Opinion.

In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza under the “Disengagement Plan”: no more soldiers were on the territory. However, Israel retained control over its borders, seashore, airspace, electricity, and basic resources, and this is why several international lawyers still consider Israel an occupying power in Gaza after 2005 (according to their interpretation of Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulation). In short, everyday life for Palestinians in Gaza is controlled by Israel. It was only in 2022  that the UN General Assembly requested that the ICJ render an advisory opinion on the legality of the prolonged Israeli occupation.

In 2007, Hamas (an armed group opposing Fatah’s more peaceful approach to the conflict) took over Gaza with armed forces, following its victory in the 2006 parliamentary elections. Hamas has been in control of the Strip ever since, while Fatah retains the West Bank. Israel promptly declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity and has approved sanctions encompassing power cuts, heavily restricted imports, and border closures, which has tanked Gaza’s economy, as noted in Reuters. Hamas attacks on Israel continued, as did Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. In 2017, when Yahya Sinwar became the local leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he declared that “gone is the time in which Hamas discussed recognition of Israel: the discussion now is about when we will wipe out Israel”, as Britannica reports. Tension and violence, which persisted throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, culminated in October 2023.

In conclusion, each side believes it gave the other a chance through the Oslo Accords, only to bear witness to their adversary’s enduring hostility. Today, many Israelis cannot see beyond the brutality of the October 7^th attacks, and respond to worldwide condemnation of Israeli military actions with accusations of antisemitism. Meanwhile, Palestinians and neighbouring Arab countries are witnessing Netanyahu’s attempt to resolve the conflict by completely eradicating Gaza through the indiscriminate bombing of schools, hospitals, shelters, refugee camps, and UN humanitarian missions.

Netanyahu today strongly rejects calls to enter negotiations for the creation of a Palestinian state – and in doing so, he defies the proposals of the US, the country that provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid. Moreover, he is not alone: according to a recent Pew Research Centre survey, only 35% of Israelis think “a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully”. The fact that support for Israel in Washington is slowly ebbing gives cause for optimism. This will have enormous bearing on when and how the conflict will come to an end.