ISRAEL PALESTINE CONFLICT

Description

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Context: Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip were exchanging fire, in the worst bout of cross-border violence since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year.

Background:

ISRAEL PALESTINE CONFLICT TIMELINE
1799	Napoleon offers Palestine as a home to the Jews.
1882	Rishon Le Zion, a major Zionist settlement is established in Palestine.
1885	The term Zionism is first coined.
1897	First Zionist congress is held in Switzerland and first Zionist organization is founded.
1916	Sykes-Picot agreement is signed dividing middle east between French and British.
1917	Balfour declaration is created. Britain promises a Jewish national home on Arab land.
1919	King-Crane Commission on the future of Palestine.
1922	League of Nations gives approval to British promises.
1929	Al-Buraq uprising, the first mass protests against increased Jewish migration.
1935	Peel Commission recommends partition of Palestine.
1947	UN adopts Resolution 181, a partition plan for Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states which Palestine rejects.
1948	The state of Israel is created.
1949	First Arab-Israeli war and Israel seizes more land than agreed in armistices. Gaza strip is created. UN establishes UNRWA.
1950	Jordan assumes control of the West Bank.
1964	Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is formed.
1967	6-day war and Israel occupies rest of Palestine including West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights (Syria), Sinai (Egypt). UNSC calls on Israel to withdraw from these areas.
1978	Egypt and Israel sign the Camp David accords
1987	First Intifada is launched in occupied Palestine territory.
1991	Madrid Peace Conference ends.
1993	Oslo Accord Signed. Palestine and Israeli leaders sign a Declaration of Principles in Washington. Here the PLO is recognized by Israel and given some powers in Gaza. The PLO recognizes Israel’s right to exist. Violence is stopped. They agreed on a plan to implement a two-state solution as part of the Oslo Accords, leading to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
2000	Camp David II Summit where Israel and PLO renew final status negotiations.
2002	Israel reoccupies Palestinian cities in West Bank in the wake of 2^nd Intifada.
2005	Israel agrees to withdraw from Gaza but maintains control of airspace and some imports/exports while restricting some travel.
2008	Israel invades Gaza in Operation Cast Lead.
2014	50-day conflict over the summer in Operation Protective Edge after more rockets are launched at Israel. Israel invades Gaza again.
2017	U.S. announces decision to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.

Key Terms:

Fatah and Hamas:
Fatah is the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization closely identified with the leadership of its founder Yasser Arafat. Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization.
In the 2006 parliamentary election, Fatah lost its majority in the Palestinian parliament to Hamas.
This led to a conflict between Fatah and Hamas, with Fatah retaining control of the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank, while Hamas dominated Gaza.
Both are pledged to restore to Islamic rule the whole of Mandate Palestine.
Their fundamental disagreement is over the strategy for achieving this common purpose, i.e Fatah believes more in peaceful process, whereas Hamas wants to resort to violence.
First Intifada:Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip fomented the riots begun in 1987, known as the first intifada.
Madrid Conference of 1991was a peace conference co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process through negotiations, involving Israel and the Palestinians as well as Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Oslo Peace Accord:With the mediation of US and Russia in 1993, Israel and PLO signed the Oslo Peace accord which was based on the concept of two-state solution.
Camp David Summit (2000):It aimed to help the two sides finally agree on a settlement, but the talks eventually failed. The violence led to the Second Intifada.
Second Intifada (2000-05): In 2000, a more violent Palestine Uprising started and a large number of civilians died on both sides.
Gaza Expulsion plan (2005):This is a unilateral disarmament plan by Israel by which Israel’s defence forces leave the Gaza strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

India’s Stand On Palestine-Israel Conflict

India has consistently supported the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to a State and the consequent imperative need for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region based on United Nations Security Council resolutions as well as the principle of “Land for Peace.”

1936	Congress working committee sent greetings to Palestine and on 27th September first observed Palestine day.
1939	Session of INC adopted a resolution on Palestine and looked forward to the emergence of an Independent democratic state in Palestine in which Jews rights would be protected. India was the member of UN special committee on Palestine.
1974	India became the first non – Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestine people.
1980	GOI announced in Parliament India’s decision to accord full diplomatic recognition to the PLO office in New Delhi. It was after this that Yasser Arafat paid a three day visit to India, during which he described India as an ‘eternal friend’.
1988	India recognized Palestine as a state. Indian Government has constructed the Palestine embassy building in New Delhi, as a gift of the people and GOI to the Palestine people.
2014-15	India favored UNHRC’s resolution to probe Israel’s human rights violations in Gaza. Despite supporting probe, India abstained from voting against Israel in UNHRC IN 2015.
Until 2017	India’s position was that it supported “the Palestinian cause and called for a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel”.
2018	India de-hyphenated its relationship with Israel and Palestine as part of its West Asia policy to treat both the countries mutually independent and exclusive.
2019	India voted in favor of a decision introduced by Israel in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that objected to granting consultative status to a Palestinian non-governmental organization
2020	India asked Israel and Palestine to resolve issues between them through direct negotiations and engage with each other to find an acceptable "two-states solution" for peaceful coexistence.
2021	At the UNSC meet recently, India reaffirmed its support for Palestine, but stopped short of making any direct reference to the status of Jerusalem or the future Israel-Palestine borders.

Way Forward:

Both Israel and Palestine should immediately resume the peace talks under the guidance of the UNSC.
Further any successful peace initiative would need to resolve the four core issues: West Bank borders/settlements, Israeli security, Palestinian refugees, and Jerusalem.
There must be proper adherence to UNSC resolution 2334which states that Israel’s settlement activity has no legal validity and demands that it stop such activity.
India should counsel Israel to exercise restraint and move towards a two-state solution.
The best solution is a “two-state solution” that would establish Palestine as an independent state in Gaza and most of the West Bank, leaving the rest of the land to Israel.