DR.

RAM MAHOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PROJECT ON:

(FINAL DRAFT)

ISRAELI-PALESTINE COFLICT

SUBMITTED BY: UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

VINAY SHEEL Dr. MONIKA SRIVASTAVA

ROLL NO: 166 FACULTY OF ARTS

SECTION B Dr. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA

B.A. LLB (Hons.), SEMESTER III NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT SIGNATURE OF PROFESSOR

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. History behind the Conflict
3. UN Partition plan on Palestine
4. Wars in Palestine
5. USAs Involvement
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

INTRODUTCION
The IsraeliPalestinian conflict is the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians that
began in the mid-20th century. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is sometimes also
used in reference to the earlier sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine, between the
Jewish and the Arab population under British rule. It has been referred to as the world's "most
intractable conflict", with the ongoing occupation of Palestine reaching 49 years.

Despite a long-term peace process and the general reconciliation of Israel with Egypt and
Jordan, Israelis and Palestinians have failed to reach a final peace agreement. The key issues
are: mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, Israeli
settlements, Palestinian freedom of movement, and Palestinian right of return. The violence
of the conflict, in a region rich in sites of historic, cultural and religious interest worldwide,
has been the object of numerous international conferences dealing with historic rights,
security issues and human rights, and has been a factor hampering tourism in and general
access to areas that are hotly contested.

Many attempts have been made to broker a two-state solution, involving the creation of an
independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel (after Israel's establishment in
1948). In 2007, the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls,
preferred the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the
conflict. Moreover, a majority of Jews see the Palestinians' demand for an independent state
as just, and thinks Israel can agree to the establishment of such a state. The majority of
Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have expressed a preference for a
two-state solution. Mutual distrust and significant disagreements are deep over basic issues,
as is the reciprocal scepticism about the other side's commitment to upholding obligations in
an eventual agreement.

Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and
opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and
Palestinians, but also within each society. A hallmark of the conflict has been the level of
violence witnessed for virtually its entire duration. Fighting has been conducted by regular
armies, paramilitary groups, terror cells, and individuals. Casualties have not been restricted
to the military, with a large number of fatalities in civilian population on both sides. There are
prominent international actors involved in the conflict.
The two parties engaged in direct negotiation are the Israeli government, currently led
by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), currently headed
by Mahmoud Abbas. The official negotiations are mediated by an international contingent
known as the Quartet on the Middle East(the Quartet) represented by a special envoy, that
consists of the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations. The Arab
League is another important actor, which has proposed an alternative peace plan. Egypt, a
founding member of the Arab League, has historically been a key participant.

Since 2006, the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between the two major
factions: Fatah, the traditionally dominant party, and its later electoral challenger, Hamas.
After Hamas's electoral victory in 2006, the Quartet conditioned future foreign assistance to
the Palestinian National Authority (PA) on the future government's commitment to non-
violence, recognition of the State of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas
rejected these demands,[16] which resulted in the Quartet's suspension of its foreign assistance
program, and the imposition of economic sanctions by the Israelis. A year later, following
Hamas's seizure of power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the territory officially recognized as
the PA was split between Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The division
of governance between the parties had effectively resulted in the collapse of bipartisan
governance of the PA. However, in 2014, a Palestinian Unity Government, composed of both
Fatah and Hamas, was formed. The latest round of peace negotiations began in July 2013 and
was suspended in 2014.

HISTORY BEHIND THE CONFLICT

Following the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948, the
Arab League decided to intervene on behalf of Palestinian Arabs, marching their forces into
former British Palestine, beginning the main phase of the 1948 ArabIsraeli War.[26] The
overall fighting, leading to around 15,000 casualties, resulted in cease fire and armistice
agreements of 1949, with Israel holding much of the former Mandate territory, Jordan
occupying and later annexing the West Bank and Egypt taking over the Gaza Strip, where
the All-Palestine Government was declared by the Arab League on 22 September 1948.

Through the 1950s, Jordan and Egypt supported the Palestinian Fedayeen militants' cross-
border attacks into Israel, while Israel carried out operations in the host countries. The 1956
Suez Crisis resulted in a short-term Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and exile of the All-
Palestine Government, which was later restored with Israeli withdrawal. The All-Palestine
Government was completely abandoned by Egypt in 1959 and was officially merged into
the United Arab Republic, to the detriment of the Palestinian national movement. Gaza
Strip then was put under the authority of Egyptian military administrator, making it a de facto
military occupation. In 1964, however, a new organization, the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), was established by Yasser Arafat. It immediately won the support of
most Arab League governments and was granted a seat in the Arab League.

The 1967 Six-Day War exerted a significant effect upon Palestinian nationalism, as Israel
gained military control of the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt.
Consequently, the PLO was unable to establish any control on the ground and established its
headquarters in Jordan, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and supported the
Jordanian army during the War of Attrition, most notably the Battle of Karameh. However,
the Palestinian base in Jordan collapsed with the JordanianPalestinian civil war in 1970. The
PLO defeat by the Jordanians caused most of the Palestinian militants to relocate to South
Lebanon, where they soon took over large areas, creating the so-called "Fatahland".

Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon peaked in the early 1970s, as Lebanon was used as a
base to launch attacks on northern Israel and airplane hijacking campaigns worldwide, which
drew Israeli retaliation. During the Lebanese Civil War, Palestinian militants continued to
launch attacks against Israel while also battling opponents within Lebanon. In 1978,
the Coastal Road massacre led to the Israeli full-scale invasion known as Operation Litani.
Israeli forces, however, quickly withdrew from Lebanon, and the attacks against Israel
resumed. In 1982, following an assassination attempt on one of its diplomats by Palestinians,
the Israeli government decided to take sides in the Lebanese Civil War and the 1982 Lebanon
War commenced. The initial results for Israel were successful. Most Palestinian militants
were defeated within several weeks, Beirut was captured, and the PLO headquarters were
evacuated to Tunisia in June by Yasser Arafat's decision. However, Israeli intervention in the
civil war also led to unforeseen results, including small-scale conflict between Israel and
Syria. By 1985, Israel withdrew to a 10 km occupied strip of South Lebanon, while the low-
intensity conflict with Shia militants escalated.

The first Palestinian uprising began in 1987 as a response to escalating attacks and the
endless occupation. By the early 1990s, international efforts to settle the conflict had begun,
in light of the success of the EgyptianIsraeli peace treaty of 1982. Eventually, the Israeli
Palestinian peace process led to the Oslo Accords of 1993, allowing the PLO to relocate from
Tunisia and take ground in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, establishing the Palestinian
National Authority. The peace process also had significant opposition among radical Islamic
elements of Palestinian society, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who
immediately initiated a campaign of attacks targeting Israelis. Following hundreds of
casualties and a wave of radical anti-government propaganda, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin
was assassinated by an Israeli fanatic who objected to the peace initiative. This struck a
serious blow to the peace process, from which the newly elected government of Israel in 1996
backed off.

Following several years of unsuccessful negotiations, the conflict re-erupted as the Second
Intifada on September 2000. The violence, escalating into an open conflict between
the Palestinian National Security Forces and the Israel Defence Forces, lasted until
2004/2005 and led to approximately 130 fatalities. In 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon
order the removal of Israeli settlers and soldiers from Gaza. Israel and its Supreme Court
formally declared an end to occupation, saying it "had no effective control over what
occurred" in Gaza. However, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and many other
international bodies and NGOs continue to consider Israel to be the occupying power of the
Gaza Strip as Israel controls Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and controls the
movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea.

In 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 44% in the Palestinian parliamentary election. Israel
responded it would begin economic sanctions unless Hamas agreed to accept prior Israeli-
Palestinian agreements, forswear violence, and recognize Israel's right to exist, which Hamas
rejected. After internal Palestinian political struggle between Fatah and Hamas erupted into
the Battle of Gaza (2007), Hamas took full control of the area. In 2007, Israel imposed a
naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, and cooperation with Egypt allowed a ground blockade of
the Egyptian border.

The tensions between Israel and Hamas escalated until late 2008, when Israel launched
operation Cast Lead upon Gaza, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and billions of
dollars in damage. By February 2009, a ceasefire was signed with international mediation
between the parties, though the occupation and small and sporadic eruptions of violence
continued.
In 2011, a Palestinian Authority attempt to gain UN membership as a fully sovereign state
failed. In Hamas-controlled Gaza, sporadic rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air raids still
take place. In November 2012, the representation of Palestine in UN was upgraded to a non-
member observer State, and its mission title was changed from "Palestine (represented by
PLO)" to "State of Palestine".

UN PARTITION PLAN ON PALESTINE

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which
recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29
November 1947, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Plan as Resolution 181(II).

The resolution recommended the creation of independent Arab and Jewish States and a
Special International Regime for the city of Jerusalem. The Partition Plan, a four-part
document attached to the resolution, provided for the termination of the Mandate, the
progressive withdrawal of British armed forces and the delineation of boundaries between the
two States and Jerusalem. Part I of the Plan stipulated that the Mandate would be terminated
as soon as possible and the United Kingdom would withdraw no later than 1 August 1948.
The new states would come into existence two months after the withdrawal, but no later than
1 October 1948. The Plan sought to address the conflicting objectives and claims of two
competing movements, Palestinian nationalism and Jewish nationalism, or Zionism. The Plan
also called for Economic Union between the proposed states, and for the protection of
religious and minority rights.

The Plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, despite its perceived
limitations. Arab leaders and governments rejected it and indicated an unwillingness to accept
any form of territorial division, arguing that it violated the principles of national self-
determination in the UN charter which granted people the right to decide their own destiny.

Immediately after adoption of the Resolution by the General Assembly, a civil war broke
out and the plan was not implemented.

WARS IN PALESTINE

The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West
Bank and Gaza, which lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference in 1991,
though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords. The uprising
began on 9 December, in the Jabalia refugee camp after an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) truck
collided with a civilian car, killing four Palestinians. In the wake of the incident, a protest
movement arose, involving a two-fold strategy of resistance and civil
disobedience, consisting of general strikes, boycotts of Israeli Civil
Administration institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, an
economic boycott consisting of refusal to work in Israeli settlements on Israeli products,
refusal to pay taxes, refusal to drive Palestinian cars with Israeli
licenses, graffiti, barricading, and widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the
IDF and its infrastructure within the Palestinian territories. Israel, deploying some 80,000
soldiers and initially firing live rounds, killed a large number of Palestinians. In the first 13
months, 332 Palestinians and 12 Israelis were killed. Given the high proportion of children,
youths and civilians killed, it then adopted a policy of 'might, power, and beatings,' namely
"breaking Palestinians' bones". The global diffusion of images of soldiers beating adolescents
with clubs then led to the adoption of firing semi-lethal plastic bullets. In the intifada's first
year, Israeli security forces killed 311 Palestinians, of which 53 were under the age of
17. Over the first two years, according to Save the Children, an estimated 7% of all
Palestinians under 18 years of age suffered injuries from shootings, beatings, or tear
gas. Over six years the IDF killed an estimated 1,1621,204[6] Palestinians. Between 23,600-
29,900 Palestinian children required medical treatment from IDF beatings in the first 2
years. 100 Israeli civilians and 60 IDF personnel were killed often by militants outside the
control of the Intifada's UNLU, and more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 soldiers were
injured. Intra-Palestinian violence was also a prominent feature of the Intifada, with
widespread executions of an estimated 822 Palestinians killed as alleged Israeli collaborators,
(1988April 1994). At the time Israel reportedly obtained information from some 18,000
Palestinians who had been compromised, although fewer than half had any proven contact
with the Israeli authorities.

The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was the second major large-
scale Palestinian insurgency in the West Bank. It was organized and carried out by Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-led coalition of West Bank militias. It started in September 2000,
when Ariel Sharon made a visit to the Temple Mount, seen by Palestinians as highly
provocative; and Palestinian demonstrators, throwing stones at police, were dispersed by
the Israeli army, using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Both parties caused high numbers of casualties among civilians as well as combatants: the
Palestinians by numerous suicide bombings and gunfire; the Israelis by tank and gunfire and
air attacks, by numerous targeted killings, and by reactions to demonstrations. The death toll,
including both military and civilian, is estimated to be about 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000
Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.

The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead by Hamas, was a three-week armed
conflict between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel that began on 27 December 2008
and ended on 18 January 2009 in a unilateral ceasefire.

Israel's stated goal was to stop indiscriminate Palestinian rocket fire into Israel and weapons
smuggling into the Gaza strip. Israeli forces attacked police stations, military targets
including weapons caches and suspected rocket firing teams, as well as political and
administrative institutions in the opening assault, striking in the densely populated cities
of Gaza, Khan Yunis and Rafah. After hostilities broke out, Palestinian groups fired rockets in
response to what they characterized as "massacres". The international community considers
indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate between
civilians and military targets as illegal under international law.

An Israeli ground invasion began on 3 January. Infantry commanders were given an

unprecedented level of access to coordinate with air, naval, artillery, intelligence, and combat
engineering units during this second phase. Various new technologies and hardware were also
introduced. On 5 January, the IDF began operating in the densely populated urban centers of
Gaza. During the last week of the offensive (from 12 January), Israel mostly hit targets it had
damaged before and struck Palestinian rocket-launching units. Hamas intensified its rocket
and mortar attacks against civilian targets in southern Israel, reaching the major cities
of Beersheba and Ashdod for the first time during the conflict. Israeli politicians ultimately
decided against striking deeper within Gaza amid concerns of higher casualties on both sides
and rising international criticism. The conflict ended on 18 January, when Israel first declared
a unilateral ceasefire, followed by Hamas' announcing a one-week ceasefire twelve hours
later. Israel completed its withdrawal on 21 January. The United Nations Human Rights
Council ordered Israel to conduct various repairs of the damages. On 21 September 2012, the
United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that 75% of civilian homes destroyed in the
attack were not rebuilt.
The Operation Pillar of Defence was an eight-day Israel Defence Forces (IDF) operation in
the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, which began on 14 November 2012 with the killing
of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Gaza military wing of Hamas

The operation was preceded by a period with a number of mutual IsraeliPalestinian

responsive attacks. According to the Israeli government, the operation began in response to
the launch of over 100 rockets at Israel during a 24-hour period, an attack by Gaza militants
on an Israeli military patrol jeep within Israeli borders, and an explosion caused by IEDs,
which occurred near Israeli soldiers, on the Israeli side of a tunnel passing under the Israeli
West Bank barrier. The Israeli government stated that the aims of the military operation were
to halt rocket attacks against civilian targets originating from the Gaza Strip and to disrupt the
capabilities of militant organizations. The Palestinians blamed the Israeli government for the
upsurge in violence, accusing the IDF of attacks on Gazan civilians in the days leading up to
the operation. They cited the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the occupation of West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, as the reason for rocket attacks.

During the course of the operation, the IDF claimed to have struck more than 1,500 sites in
the Gaza Strip, including rocket launch pads, weapon depots, government facilities, and
apartment blocks. According to a UNHCR report, 174 Palestinians were killed and hundreds
were wounded. Many families were displaced. One airstrike killed ten members of the al-
Dalu family. Some Palestinian casualties were caused by misfired Palestinian rockets landing
inside the Gaza Strip. Eight Palestinians were executed by members of the Izz ad-Din al-
Qassam Brigades for alleged collaboration with Israel.

The 2014 IsraelGaza conflict also known as Operation Protective Edge and sometimes
referred to as the 2014 Gaza war, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014
in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Following the IDF Operation Brother's Keeper, Hamas started
rocket attacks, targeting Israeli cities and infrastructure, resulting in seven weeks of Israeli
operations. The Israeli strikes, the Palestinian rocket attacks and the ground fighting resulted
in the death of thousands of people, the vast majority of them Gazans.

U.S.As INVOLVMENT

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid the least bit of attention to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict over the years, that America has been an effective partner in Israels
continued effacement of Palestine from the map of the Middle East. This partnership
extends back to the creation of the Jewish state when the United States recognized it. The
history of this partnership has been described in many books, in the beginning, mostly
favourable to Israel then gradually, over the years, becoming more and more hostile to it as
the truth of Israels activities to establish itself as a nation in Palestine at the expense of the
indigenous population of the Palestinian peoples has come to light.

Of course, the Zionists who run Israel deny that there is hostility, and the Zionists in the
Jewish diaspora in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere fully support this line. However,
more and more of those very people are beginning to wonder if Israels position in the world
is as acceptable as it could be had it not turned from its original hopes for a peaceful home
for the Jewish people into a war mongering nautilus attempting to divide the Middle East
into a splintering of failed states. In this, the United States is perfectly complicit, if not
actually the main cause. Israel has used the US as its protector and supporter, while the US
has used Israel as the raison dtre for its own bellicosity in the Middle East and other parts
of the world.

In Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestine Conflict, Jeremy Hammond

has taken upon himself the task of explaining in great detail the relationship between Israel
and the US, and how the US aids and abets the Jewish State to sustain a stranglehold on the
Palestinians.

For years, the world has been wondering why Israel and the Palestinians cannot sit down
over a peace pipe and work out their differences. It would seem so simple to end the killing
and suffering of both peoples: separate into two independent and equal states side by side,
or merge into one secular state with all citizens having equal rights. Peace talks have been
tried many times, but for some reason all have failed, and peace seems further away today
than ever before. Now, in this fine, meticulously detailed and documented book, Hammond
takes us through the history and explains the reasons.

In ten explanatory chapters, Hammond describes, first, the rise of Hamas, then moves on to
Operation Cast Lead, the first war on Gaza (more of a chicken-shoot slaughter than a war).
The third chapter takes us through the numerous attempts at a peace process and shows
why these were never planned to succeed. This is followed by a chapter on the hypocrisy of
Obama and his role in obstructing progress in making peace. And so on.
 Finally, in his conclusion, Hammond explains why he is for a two-state solution to this
crisis. He believes that if a one-state solution is what is ultimately sought, then Palestine
must have sovereignty through its own state before it can negotiate on equal terms for
sharing one state. That sounds logical, but given Israels and Americas intransigence, this
writer doesnt see any way a two solution could ever be attained.

CONCLUSION

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rooted in a dispute over land claimed by Jews as their
biblical birthright and by the Palestinians, who seek self-determination.

Despite repeated attempts to end the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, there
is no peace settlement in sight. Neither side has fulfilled the commitments it made under the
2003 roadmap a phased timetable designed to lead to a viable Palestinian state alongside
Israel, put together by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
Under that peace blueprint, the Palestinian Authority was to rein in militants, and it embarked
on a U.S.-backed law-and-order campaign in the occupied West Bank. But Hamas, a militant
group whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel, beat rival Fatah party in the Palestinian
parliamentary elections in 2006 and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Fatah retained
control of the West Bank. Hamas rejects Western calls to recognise Israel and renounce
violence.

Despite the roadmap's call for a halt to Israeli settlement activity, Israel continues to expand
settlements in the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem. Fatah and Hamas signed a
reconciliation agreement in May 2011, but it was not implemented until 2014. Under the deal,
a U.S.-backed unity government was formed in June 2014 and elections are to be held within
six months. Israel says it rejects any government that includes Hamas. More than 50 percent
of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza 2.2 million people are refugees, many of
whom live in crowded camps. Life in the Palestinian territories has got worse in recent years
and economic hardship has deepened.

Socio-economic conditions in Gaza, which is subject to the most severe Israeli restrictions,
have deteriorated particularly sharply and the population is increasingly reliant on food aid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 1. A History of the Israeli-Palestine Conflict- Mark A. Tessler

2. Barrier: The Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Online Sources:-

israelipalestinian.procon.org

www.huffingtonpost.com/news/israeli-palestinian-conflict