Two-State Solution: A Road to Peace in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is back on center stage as the international community renewed its calls for a two-state solution. In fact, Muslim and European nations met at a high-level forum hosted by Spain to deliberate on methods that could end the Gaza war and seek a more wholesome solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It ended with a common call by the international community for prompt work on two-state solution, which is, after all that has been said and done, the only viable route that leads to lasting peace.
Spain Call of Action
During the session, the host country Spain was very at the forefront by making a call for a decisive schedule on moving ahead with two-state solution. In his speech at the event, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares highlighted the need to act with concrete actions: “The international community cannot keep talking about peace when it seems we can’t take any concrete steps towards making it happen.” The only way to implement the two-state solution was what Albares stressed, urging participants to stop speaking and start working out strategies to establish peace.
Despite not attending the meeting organized particularly by the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza, Spain’s foreign minister extended his invitation to Israel to cooperate with this group in future discussions for peace and towards a two-state solution. In this regard, this acts as a reflection of the view that together all stakeholders-owing much to Israel-can be presumed to contribute towards peace in the region.
A Common Spirit Among Muslim and European Countries
The meeting consisted of the representatives of a very wide variety of participants. Thus, Norway’s foreign minister attended this meeting. Slovenia’s foreign minister was among the participants as well. Besides him, the chief of foreign policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, also joined the meeting. Furthermore, representatives of the leading Arab and Islamic countries were also present, that is, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey. From the Palestinian side, Mohammad Mustafa-the prime minister-was attending these negotiations.
These diverse regions-namely, the Muslim-majority countries and European nations-show a path toward international consensus on the best path forward: the two-state solution. It also underlines, with specificity, the urgency with which these nations view the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank, especially in the context of recent escalations of violence from Israel to Hamas and broader tensions in the West Bank.
Significance of the Two-State Solution
The two-state solution is put on the card for many decades; it is an independent sovereign state of Palestinians alongside Israel. Peace and security are put to one side as it applied both to states, hence the framework of 1991 Madrid Conference and later developed in 1993-95 into the Oslo Accords. Despite the promise of these early agreements, the peace process has stalled mostly due to the repeated rounds of violence and failed negotiations coupled with rising distrust from both sides.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has always remained a strong advocate for the two-state solution, where he has always asserted that the peaceful coexistence of two sovereign states will be the only pragmatic and sustainable way forward toward achieving peace in the region, as Israel and Palestine live together. Now the new government led by Sánchez, Norway, and Ireland have wisely taken the bold and momentous step of recognizing a unified Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem at the beginning of May 2023. This is an important step as this adds to the list that has grown to 146 among the 193 United Nations member states who have recognized Palestinian statehood.
Urgency Grown from the Gaza War
Only the 11-month conflict has emphasized urgency about a legitimate diplomatic solution for Israel and Hamas in Gaza. It has been the most lethal episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it drenched the battlefields of bloodshed, mass casualties, and unimaginable suffering on both sides. The more the war drags on, the more desperate the pressure is on the international community to step up and mediate a solution that will end the bloodshed at this point.
Violence has also escalated tensions in the West Bank because of continued growth in Israeli settlements there. Again, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli occupation since 1967; world opinion has remained clear that such settlements are illegal based on international law, although Israel continues to expand them. Another disputed issue is the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel in 1980, where most of the world ignores Israel’s claim over the city.
Challenges to the Two-State Solution
Despite the two-state solution being the most used peace framework, it faces terrific challenges. Among those significant challenges is the lack of trust between the two leaderships: Israeli and Palestinian. The increase in the expansion of Israeli settlements and the rise of hardline political factions on both sides makes it impossible to restart meaningful negotiations. Furthermore, militant groups such as Hamas, which controls Gaza, complicate the efforts for peaceful resolution because Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the country of Israel and refuses to negotiate with them.
Another point of contention is borders and the status of Jerusalem. Palestinians insist East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, whereas Israelis believe that this city is their “undivided” capital. Indeed, perhaps the question of Jerusalem is one of the toughest problems between the parties, and there will be very hard decisions made for both parties to settle this question.
Path Forward: International Involvement and Peace Building
International pressure on this two-state solution remains high as the only feasible way to get out of the quagmire. The Spain meeting is part of efforts to revitalize the peace process and bring parties back to the negotiating table. The engagement of both Muslim majority and European nations indicates mutual interest in having an amicable solution to the conflict.
One of the short-term objectives that found its place on the agenda during the meeting was the full membership of Palestine within the United Nations. This action would give Palestine greater international recognition, which would, in return, give it greater leverage in future negotiations with Israel. The participants simultaneously called for additional diplomatic and economic pressure on both sides toward a peaceful resolution.
Conclusion: A New Push for Peace
With continuous violence flaring in both Gaza and the West Bank, the urgency for the two-state solution has never been more pressing. International opinion is seeking a new push to implement this two-state solution and bring to an end the long-coined biblical struggle of Israelis against Palestinians-most vocally represented by the powerhouse of Spain, Norway, and Ireland.
While daunting challenges remain- deep mistrust, territorial issues, political divisions-the constructive way of summing up this high-level meeting is clear: peace can only be achieved with the coexistence of two sovereign states. Moving from words to actions, the international community holds onto hope that it can present to the warring parties a framework for peace that would ultimately put an end to the tragic cycle of violence and pave the way for a stable and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Read more about related articles, just click here
