Israel's aggression in Gaza, West Bank demands two-state solution to end conflict

Israel's devastating Gaza war and brutal crackdown on Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have shown that there can be no end to the Arab-Israeli conflict unless the two-state solution is adopted and implemented urgently and fully. Failure to end Israel’s occupation by establishing a Palestinian state has left Palestinians under indefinite Israeli control, denied Palestinian refugees a decent standard of living, prevented Palestinian youth from securing productive employment and prompted the October 7th surprise attack by Hamas.

While they have not suffered high Palestinian levels of death, wounding, loss and trauma, Israelis were shocked and frightened by their military's failure to predict and prevent Hamas' raid and they have responded with anger and brutality. Israeli liberal daily Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy has repeatedly accused Israelis of rejecting Palestinian humanity and ignoring their suffering and trauma. An opinion article published last weekend by Levy was headlined, "Why Are Israelis Shocked by a Settler Riot but Blind to a Massacre in Gaza? A recent pogrom, like the one carried out by West Bank settlers, happens on a daily basis by the IDF [Israeli army in Gaza]". 

Israel responded by taking horrendous revenge on Palestinians to placate Israeli popular fury and fear over their vulnerability. In the eyes of many Israelis, Palestinians, especially men, are “terrorists” and must be eliminated. A recent poll has revealed that 47 per cent of Israeli Jews believe Israel should not apply international law and moral values during the Gaza war.

Israel’s disproportionate retaliation has made it impossible for Palestinians to live peaceably alongside Israelis and tolerate their rule. Violence driven by hatred on both sides can be expected if there is no permanent separation between Palestinians and Israelis via a viable two-state solution.

More than ten months of all out warfare has created a new reality for Palestinians. As the death toll reached more than 40,000 in Gaza, with 70 per cent being women and children, The Guardian reported that the figure killed by bombs and bullets covers "only bodies that were received and buried", citing director of field hospital in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Dr. Marwan Al Hams. Those who are missing or the estimated 10,000 under the rubble remain to be counted. UN agencies and international organisations have also tried to account for Gazans who have died from disease, starvation, and lack of medicines for the chronically ill. Hams said, “A committee will be formed to count these [victims], which will start work immediately after the end of the war.”

A study by researchers Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Selim Yusuf which was published in Britain's authoritative medical journal, The Lancet, predicted that in coming months and years the total death toll could rise to 186,000 due to wartime and long-term post-war conditions in Gaza. These would include disease, destruction of the healthcare system and lack of food, water and shelter.

Other factors will also determine the post-war situation. Trauma and lack of treatment for trauma for 90-100 per cent of Gazans, including shell-shocked children who comprise half the population and are soon to be adults. The UN estimates there are more than 17,000 children who are unaccompanied or separated from their parents. Around 10 children are losing one or two limbs every day. They will join the thousands of widows and widowers, orphans, and mentally and physically crippled people who will be constant remainders of the cruel war which has deprived them of normal lives. The society will have to assume forever responsibility for children who have not survived with their two arms, two legs, two eyes, hearing and reasonable health. Victims will be forever reminders of Israeli inhumanity.

Implementation of the two-state solution must be in full accordance with the July 19th ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which said Israel's 57-year occupation of Palestinian territories is "illegal" and should end as "rapidly as possible". The Court said Israel should evacuate all the illegal 700,000 colonists/settlers from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and pay reparations for losses caused by the occupation. The ICJ argued Israel's "policies and practices amount to annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory", which the Court said was against international law, adding that Israel was "not entitled to sovereignty" over any part of the occupied territories. Furthermore, Israel practiced "systemic discrimination [against Palestinians] based on, inter alia, race, religion or ethnic origin". The Court also ruled Israel had illegally exploited the Palestinians' natural resources and violated their right to self-determination. The Court warned Israel's friends that they would be liable for refusing to abide by its rulings.

Since Israel’s establishment by war in1948-49, the US and European powers have refused to compel Israel to abide by the laws of war, humanitarian laws, and UN resolutions adopted after World War II. The UN General Assembly resolution 181 of November 1947 proposed to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish state was to comprise 55 per cent of Palestine, the Arab state 45 per cent, and Jerusalem was to be a corpus separatum governed internationally. Israel violated 181 by attacking areas awarded to the Arab state. the war ended with Israel in occupation of 78 per cent of Palestine, including west Jerusalem, the destruction of 500 Palestinian villages and the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians.

To counter Palestinian homelessness, the Assembly adopted Resolution 194 in December 1948. It called for Palestinians to return to their homes by the “earliest practicable date” and to be compensated for their losses whether they decided to return or not. Since Israel has ignored this resolution, there are 5.7 million Palestinian refugees still being cared for in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon by UNRWA, the UN agency created for this purpose. In May 1949, Israel was granted UN membership on condition it carried out the terms of resolutions 181 and 194. As this has never been challenged, Israel has dismissed and breached subsequent Assembly and Security Council resolutions covering its actions. Seventy-five years later the only way to prevent further October 7ths and keep the peace is to partition Palestine and give Palestinians their state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza and by following the ruling of the International Court of Justice.