By Fiza Aftab (Pakistan)

At the beginning of the first half of the twentieth century, Israel and Palestine were engaged in an embroiled protracted battle over the main aspects, namely, territory and identity. Thus, the area wherein the conflict exists is Palestine, which is presently segmented into Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Origins of the Conflict

Acknowledging the fact that Palestine is a region present within the eastern Mediterranean. Thus, the primary cause of the conflict between the two regions arose after contradictory claims to the territory made by Jews over the Palestinian land. Moreover, this conflict led to the Zionist movement vigorously advocating for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine at the very beginning of the 20th century. Similarly, after the British Mandate to establish Palestine in 1922, Jewish immigration surged, causing conflicts within the local Arab community already residing there.

Partition and Independence

Therefore, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to dissect Palestine into two separate states in 1947, hence, one state for Arabs and one state for Jews. Thus, with the partition of Palestine, the Jewish state, namely, Israel was declared independent in 1948, which led to a war between Arab states and Israel, resulting in the displacement of around 700,000 Palestinians.

Ongoing Struggles and International Law

Ever since Palestinians have been fighting for their respective rights to self-determination and control over the land, the sufferings and struggles of Palestinians have not ended yet. Currently, a humanitarian crisis has also been brought on due to the continuous blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israel since 2007. Hence, this resulted in restriction over the movement and access to goods, similarly, there has been many casualties and a great deal of suffering for the people of Palestine. Adding further on to this, there are numerous acts of violence performed by Israeli Military, including, rocket attacks, rapes, terrorist acts.

Similarly, within international law, the settlements of Israel within the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been concluded as illegal. Thus, United Nation in regards to this conflict has passed several resolutions, including Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), wherein the appeal has been made for withdrawal from the areas which were occupied during the conflict in the year, 1967, also declared the fair solution to the refugee crisis. Moreover, as per the Resolution 2334 (2016), it has concluded that the settlements of Israelis over Palestinian’s Territories acquire no legal standing and has clearly violated international law.

Adding further on to this, in regards to how Palestinians are being treated under Israeli occupation, The Fourth Geneva Convention, which works for the protection of Civilians during the period of wars, has been significantly brought up. Thus, in 1993 and 1995, the Oslo Accords which are numerous agreements, signed between Israel and Palestine in order to establish a peace treaty which is solely based on the UN United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338, however, several demands were put forward but did not get accepted which resulted in establishment of Palestinian Authority along with granting a road-map for Palestinian self-governance.