The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 2nd December 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

First Step 

Why in News?

When Hezbollah decided to start firing rockets into Israel in October 2023 after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, “in solidarity with the Palestinians”, the then chief of the Shia militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, said he would ceasefire only if Israel ceasefire in Gaza. When Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to send ground troops into Lebanon on October 1, 2024 — Israel’s fourth invasion — he said the main objective was for the over 50,000 residents of northern Israel, displaced by Hezbollah rockets, to return to their homes. In less than two months, Hezbollah and Israel have climbed down from their maximalist positions and agreed to a U.S. and France-mediated ceasefire.

Israel Hamas War

• On October 7, 2023, following the start of war between Israel and Hamas, President Joe Biden showed strong support for Israel.
• On the same day that Israel declared war on Hamas, the United States announced plans to send weapons and move warships closer to Israel in the Mediterranean Sea.
• International organizations quickly raised alarms about the safety of civilians in Israel, the Palestinian territories, and hostages in Gaza, given the history of violence in conflicts between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.
• In the first two days of fighting, around 800 Israelis and 500 Palestinians lost their lives.
• While the United States did not immediately verify claims of Iran's direct involvement in planning the Hamas attack on October 7, it is known that Iran has strong ties with extremist groups in the Middle East.
• Experts are concerned that these attacks might indicate Iran's willingness to increase its influence in various conflicts in the Middle East, which could involve Hezbollah, another militant group supported by Iran.
• On October 9, there were reports of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) targeting locations in Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates, but the reasons for this action were not clear.
• A U.S. initiative in 2023 aimed at achieving a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia has faced challenges due to the ongoing conflict.
• Saudi Arabia has a long-standing commitment to the rights and safety of Palestinian Arab populations, particularly in Gaza, which are now impacted by IDF actions, putting at risk the progress made in Israeli-Saudi relations.

History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

• Much of what we know about the history of ancient Israel comes from the Hebrew Bible.
• The ancestry of Israel begins with Abraham, who is seen as the father of Judaism.
• Around 931 BCE, the region split into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
• The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
• In the sixth century BCE, the Babylonians took over Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple, and sent the Jews into exile in Babylon.
• After the Babylonians were defeated, the Achaemenid Empire allowed the Jews to return in 538 BCE and rebuild the Second Temple.
• The Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE during the first Jewish-Roman War, and its materials may have been used to build the Roman Colosseum.
• Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt from 132-136 CE, Emperor Hadrian expelled Jews from Jerusalem and renamed the area from Judea to Syria Palaestina.
• Over the centuries, different groups like the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Crusaders, and Ottomans ruled this land.
• The Ottoman Empire controlled the region, including Israel, from 1517 to 1917.
• In the 19th century, the population was mainly Muslim (87%), with Christians at 10% and Jews at 3%, living together peacefully.
• Theodor Herzl promoted Zionism among European Jews in the 19th century.
• Throughout history, Jews have faced persecution because of their beliefs and unique culture.
• In 1897, Jews began the Zionist movement to escape persecution and create a nation in their historic homeland, Israel. The World Zionist Organization was formed to support this goal.
• As a result, many Jews moved to Palestine, buying land and settling there.
• By 1916, Palestine was under British control after the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the former Ottoman Empire.
• In 1917, the Balfour Declaration promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine, but this conflicted with earlier agreements made with Arab leaders.
• The Palestinians opposed the declaration, fearing they would be dominated by a Jewish state.
• When the Nazis rose to power in Germany in the 1930s, many Jews fled to Palestine. Arabs viewed this as a threat, leading to conflicts, while the British mostly stayed neutral, which increased the violence.
• In 1947, the British handed the issue of Palestine's future to the United Nations, which voted to divide the land into two states. The Jewish community accepted this plan and declared the independence of Israel.

Mandatory Palestine

• After World War I, the British created a colony in Palestine, claiming they would manage the area until the local people could govern themselves. This territory was called Mandatory Palestine as designated by the League of Nations.
• Even before this time, there was a large number of Jewish immigrants from Europe who moved to Palestine, aiming to establish a homeland after facing centuries of expulsion.
• In the 1920s and 1930s, the Jewish population in Palestine grew by hundreds of thousands, supported by the British government, which was acting on the Balfour Declaration.
• During this period, the tensions between the increasing Jewish communities and the Arab population rose significantly.
• In 1936, Palestinian Arabs revolted against the British due to rising national feelings among them.
• The British suppressed this uprising with help from Jewish militias.
• After the revolt, the British released a white paper that restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine and proposed the creation of a joint Jewish-Arab state in the region within ten years.
• During World War II, many Jews fleeing the Holocaust were brought into Palestine illegally by Jewish groups, as immigration was limited.
• The situation became more tense, leading the British to pass the issue to the newly formed United Nations.
• In 1947, the UN voted to create separate states for Palestinians and Jews, dividing Palestine. This plan was rejected by the Arabs.

The Establishment of the State of Israel

• In May 1948, Israel announced its independence, with David Ben Gurion serving as the Prime Minister.
• This announcement led to the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, as five Arab nations—Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt—invaded Israel.
• A ceasefire was established in 1949. As a result of the agreement:
  • The West Bank was given to Jordan.
  • The Gaza Strip became part of Egypt.
• After winning the war, Israel controlled more land than was proposed in the UN plan.
• East Jerusalem was under the control of Jordan.
• Over 700,000 Palestinians fled the area and became refugees in nearby Arab countries.
• Palestinians call this conflict the Nakba, meaning catastrophe, because they lost their homes and became stateless.
• Tensions increased again in 1956 when Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt took control of the Suez Canal, leading to the Suez Crisis.
• Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula and reclaimed the canal with help from Britain and France.

Subsequent Wars

• In 1967, the Six-Day War began, resulting in Israel taking control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. Israel also seized East Jerusalem.
• The Yom Kippur War started in 1973 when Syria and Egypt launched air attacks against Israel. The fighting ended after two weeks because of a UN resolution.
• In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and removed the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
• The PLO was created in 1964 to work for the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle.
• At the same time, Israel built Jewish settlements in areas seen as Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

The First Palestinian Intifada

• In 1987, Palestinians protested against the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. This event is known as the First Palestinian Intifada, which means 'shaking off' in Arabic.
• During this uprising, hundreds of people lost their lives.
• The Intifada ended with the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 and a second agreement in 1995.
• These agreements were made between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, the leader of the PLO.
• After the accords, the Palestinian Authority was established and began to control certain areas in Israel.

The Second Palestinian Intifada

• The Israeli army pulled out from parts of the West Bank in 1997.
• Despite this withdrawal, the Accords did not lead to a lasting peace in the area.
• The Second Palestinian Intifada began in 2000.
• This wave of violence was triggered by a visit from Ariel Sharon, an Israeli politician, to the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
• Following this visit, riots and violence broke out and continued for several years.
• Eventually, a ceasefire was announced.
• Israel planned to remove all troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.

The First Lebanon War

• The First Lebanon War took place from June 6, 1982, to June 5, 1985.
• The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) launched an invasion into Southern Lebanon to eliminate the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that was operating in the area.
• The PLO had been conducting attacks against Israel from its positions in southern Lebanon, and the purpose of the invasion was to stop these attacks.
• The conflict concluded with a tactical win for Israel, but it was not a strategic success.
• While the PLO was driven out of Lebanon, Syria, Israel's rival, expanded its power and maintained an occupation in Lebanon until 2005.

The Second Lebanon War

• This conflict started in July 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, as well as in the Golan Heights and Northern Israel.
• The fighting lasted for a few months and ended with a ceasefire that was arranged by the United Nations.
• Hezbollah is a political party and militant group in Lebanon that follows Shia Islam.

The Hamas Wars

• Hamas, a group that follows Sunni Islam, won the elections in Palestine in 2006.
• In 2007, Hamas fought against Fatah, the political group that was in charge of the PLO, and won this conflict which started in 2006.
• Many people consider Hamas to be a terrorist group, and it has had ongoing conflicts with Israel, with major confrontations occurring in 2008, 2012, and 2014.

Current Situation

• Hamas is in control of the Gaza Strip.
• Israel and Egypt have strict control over the borders of Gaza.
• The West Bank is still under Israeli rule.
• Many Palestinian refugees and their children live in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
• There are ongoing tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
• Israel believes that letting Palestinians return to their homes could seriously endanger its identity as a Jewish state. (Israel is the only Jewish state globally.)
• Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
• Even though Israel does not recognize Palestine as a state, more than 135 UN member countries do recognize it.
• In 1988, India was among the first nations to acknowledge the Palestinian State.

History of Jerusalem 

• Jerusalem is a very old city that both Israel and Palestine claim as their own.
• Israel believes that the whole city, without division, is its rightful capital.
• In contrast, Palestinians deny this claim, asserting their right to freedom and self-rule.
• The city is significant to the three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and many important religious sites are located there.
• After Israel declared independence in 1948, Jerusalem was split into two parts: West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem.
• West Jerusalem became the capital of Israel, while East Jerusalem was part of Jordan.
• During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel took control of East Jerusalem and other territories.
• Soon after Israel's takeover, parts of East Jerusalem and several nearby villages from the West Bank were added to West Jerusalem.
• The same year, the United Nations passed a resolution asking Israel to withdraw from the areas it had occupied.
• In 1980, the Knesset, which is the Israeli Parliament, enacted the Jerusalem Law, stating that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel."
• Many countries around the world view Israel's control of East Jerusalem as illegal.
• Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital; however, Palestinians often refer to East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.
• In 2017, then U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The Importance of Jerusalem

• Jerusalem is very important for Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
• The Old City of Jerusalemis found in East Jerusalem and is divided into four parts:
  • Muslim Quarter
  • Jewish Quarter
  • Christian Quarter
  • Armenian Quarter
• Jews consider Jerusalem important mainly because it was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel created by King David.
• It is also believed that the First Temple was built by King Solomon in this city, though there is no archaeological proof of this.
• The Western Wall, which is a remnant of the Second Temple, is located in the Old City and is a sacred site for Jews.
• For Muslims, Jerusalem is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina.
• The Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holiest site for Muslims, is also found in the Old City.
• Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was taken to this location from Mecca during the event known as the 'Night Journey'.
• Christians find Jerusalem significant because it is home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
• This church includes two of the most sacred sites in Christianity: the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and his empty tomb.
• Temple Mount, called Haram al Sharif in Arabic, is sacred to both Jews and Muslims and is located in the Old City.
• The site features the Western Wall, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Dome of the Chain.
• Currently, Israel manages the security of the Temple Mount area and controls who can visit the site, while the Jordanian Waqf oversees religious matters.
• Only Muslims are allowed to pray at the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which are also important to Jews, while Jews can pray at the Western Wall.
• Jerusalem plays a key role in peace discussions between Jews and Muslims, as the holy sites are located on the same land.

Way Forward

The ideal solution is a "two-state solution," establishing Palestine as an independent state in Gaza and most of the West Bank while leaving the rest for Israel. However, practical implementation remains a divisive issue.

A one-state solution (either Palestine or Israel alone) is not considered a feasible option.

The Road Map for Peace, issued by the European Union, UN, US, and Russia in 2003, outlined a clear timetable for establishing a Palestinian state.

It's crucial to promote democratization in Palestinian society to foster credible leadership.

Addressing this conflict as an Israeli-Arab issue rather than just Israel-Palestine is essential. It involves Israel and Palestine and other Arab nations like Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Syria, etc. All should participate in negotiations, and each should formally recognize the final agreement, the UN General Assembly, and the Security Council.

The international community must urgently seek a just and lasting peaceful resolution to one of the world's most enduring conflicts.