|
The dawn of the new millennium saw continued fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as interference from outside forces, which complicated the conflict to an unprecedented degree. From the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack to the rise of Hezbollah to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East, incidents and circumstances in other countries have directly impacted the situation with Israel and the Palestinians. The following article provides an overview of major negotiation attempts along with key issues and events since 2000. For events before 2000, check out the earlier history of the conflict.
Peace Negotiations Breakdown
From July 11–24, 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Yasser Arafat met with U.S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David to negotiate a final settlement based on the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Despite progress on other issues, the two sides could not reach an agreement on Jerusalem. Jerusalem remained a contentious issue because it is a holy city to Judaism, Islam as well as Christianity and the two sides refused to relinquish control of it. On September 17, 2000, according to the Associated Press, Palestinians announced any deal that did not include all of the West Bank and sovereignty over East Jerusalem, including the Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) where the Al-Aksa mosque is located, would not be acceptable.
The Second Intifada Begins
On September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon, Israel's minister of foreign affairs, visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site to both Jews and Muslims. Sharon's visit ignited a violent revolt from the Palestinians, which started the second intifada, also dubbed the Al-Aksa intifada. The next day, riots around the Al-Aksa mosque left seven people dead. More unrest followed, including the lynching of Israeli soldiers in Ramallah. To end the violence, the U.S. pushed for an October summit in Sharm El Sheikh.
At the conference, hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, both sides agreed to a truce. At the urging of the Palestinians, a U.S.-led committee was formed to investigate the violence and make recommendations to the United Nations. The committee's findings eventually led to the Mitchell Report. Four days after the conference, Arafat met with other Arab leaders at a summit, also hosted by Mubarak, and praised the second intifada. Arafat called for an international commission to investigate the violence, instead of the commission previously agreed upon four days earlier in Sharm El Sheikh. Two weeks later a suicide bombing in West Jerusalem ended the truce.
Time Running Out
In December 2000, with his term in office about to end, President Clinton introduced a two-state solution that gave the Palestinians roughly 97% of the West Bank, sovereignty over their airspace, and control over Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem including Haram esh-Sharif. Clinton also proposed that an international force replace the Israel Defense Force (IDF) in the Jordan valley. However, the proposal stipulated that refugees could only return to Israel with Israeli consent. On December 27, 2000, the Israeli government accepted the proposal; however, the deadline passed without a commitment from the Palestinians and the window for negotiations closed. Sharon replaced Barak as Israel's prime minister and President Clinton's term ended.
Violence Continues
Despite efforts from the Mitchell commission and other international leaders, attacks on both sides continued into 2001 at an alarming rate. Palestinians carried out some of the most horrific suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in years (Hamas and the Al-Aksa Martyr Brigade claimed responsibility for the majority of them), killing Israeli civilians at cafés, bus stops, and supermarkets. In retaliation, Israel unleashed bombing raids on Palestinian territory and sent troops and tanks to occupy West Bank and Gaza cities.
Events outside Israel and Palestinian territory exacerbated the already tense situation. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in the U.S. exposed a complicated set of ties between several terrorist organizations and states hostile toward Israel. Hamas and Hezbollah were linked to Al-Qaeda; pro-Osama Bin Laden demonstrations were held in Palestinian-controlled areas; and Karine A, a boat linked to Iran and carrying illegal arms destined for the PNA was intercepted by Israel. These circumstances caused the U.S. and the European Union to give Israel more freedom to act against the Palestinians.
During Passover, a Hamas suicide bomber kills 30 Israelis and wounds about 100 others at a Nethanya restaurant. In retaliation, Israel launched operation Defensive Shield, an effort to stamp out terrorist attacks. The operation included reoccupying such towns as Ramallah, Nablus, and Jenin. During the operation, Israel Defense Forces found evidence that Arafat had approved the organization of terror cells and that the PNA treasury department funded the acquisition and distribution of explosive belts used by suicide bombers.
In 2002, while preparing to invade Iraq, the U.S. pushed the Palestinians to reform their government and eliminate support for terror groups. The U.S. formed a group with the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, known as the "Quartet." The Quartet produced roadmap for peace, which envisioned the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
The Security Barrier
British, U.S., and Australian armed forces invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Like much of the Arab world, the Palestinians resented the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The Palestinians had supported Saddam Hussein. His regime sheltered Palestinian militants and provided money for families of suicide bombers. Iraq quickly fell and, on April 29, Mahmud Abbas was appointed prime minister. However, his election did not end the violence. Arafat put himself in charge of a new security force, which violated roadmap conditions. Suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, and retaliation continued. By fall 2003, it became clear that the road map led to a dead end as Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians continued, and Israel stepped up its "targeted killings" of Palestinian militants.
In 2003, the Israel Labor Party pressed for a security barrier along the 1948 armistice Green Line to prevent suicide attacks. The Green Line was the boundary set between Israel and Jordan after the Arab-Israeli War. The security proposal was based on the Gaza barrier, which had eliminated infiltration from Gaza. At first, Prime Minister Sharon opposed the barrier because it divided Jerusalem and left Israeli settlements in the West Bank unprotected. After Sharon and his Likud party won a landslide election, he embraced the Labor Party's barrier idea, but changed the barrier route to include Israeli settlements. Sharon's route cut off Palestinians from farms and sources of jobs, creating hardships condemned by both Palestinian and Israeli peace groups.
On February 8, 2005, both sides met at a summit hosted by Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh and announced an end to the violence. Israel agreed to release 900 Palestinian prisoners and to gradually withdraw from Palestinian cities. Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Mubarak, both in attendance, pledged to return ambassadors to Israel. The Intifada was officially over; however, following the same trend of previous conferences, Hamas launched a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv later that month. Abbas condemned the bombing, and the PNA made arrests, but Israel froze its plans to withdraw from Palestinian cities.
Disengagement and Hamas Seizes Gaza
By September 2005, Prime Minister Sharon withdrew all Israeli settlers and soldiers from Gaza. However, Israel retained control of the border crossings and continued periodic raids on Gaza. On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a stroke, leaving Israel leadership in the hands of Ehud Olmert and the new, centrist Kadima party.
Also in January 2006, the Palestinians held parliamentary elections. In a surprise victory, Hamas ousted the Fatah government, but Abbas remained PNA president. The two factions briefly formed a national unity government, but, in June 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza, routing Fatah forces and killing more than 100 people. Israel responded to Hamas' seize by maintaining even tighter control on the goods and people entering and exiting the territories.
International Fallout
In June 2006, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups took Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, from Israeli territory and dragged him into Gaza. Despite prisoner exchange attempts, Shalit has been held hostage ever since. On July 12 2006, Hezbollah militants crossed the Lebanon-Israel border and attacked an Israeli army patrol, killing three soldiers and kidnapping two others. The incident coincided with a series of mortar and rocket attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah. Both incidents provoked a month-long war in which 1,200 Lebanese and 128 Israelis were killed. Both sides stopped fighting on August 14, 2006. The UN and international human rights groups condemned Israel for using cluster bombs in Southern Lebanon. The war was criticized within Israel and sparked more resentment from the Arab world.
In June 2008, after years of almost daily exchanges of rocket fire between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Hamas signed an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire. The fragile agreement held for most of the remainder of 2008. Israel continued its yearlong blockade of Gaza, however, and the humanitarian and economic crisis in Gaza intensified.
After the truce ended in December, rocket fire increased. Israel began an air strike and, on January 3, 2009, a ground invasion. The invasion was widely supported within Israel, but drew international criticism because the attack killed at least 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The conflict strained Israel's relationship with the United Nations because mortars hit a school run by the UN, killing more than 40 people. An investigation of the three-week war by the UN found that both the IDF and Palestinian groups committed actions equaling war crimes. Israel's government disputed the report.
More international condemnation of Israel came in May 2010 after a military operation against a flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH). The ships, carrying aid and construction materials, intended to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. The move was an apparent attempt to further politicize the blockade. In the early hours of May 31, Israeli commandos boarded one of the ships, and there are conflicting accounts of what happened next. The Turkish activists reported that the Israeli commandos opened fire when they landed on deck. Israeli commandos reported that they landed on the ship and were attacked with pipes, knives, and other instruments. The commandos said that then they opened fire and killed nine people on the ship. According to Israeli sources, there was no humanitarian aid on the ship. Moreover, the captain and crew members stated that IHH activists had taken over the ship, keeping passengers off the deck in order to confront the Israelis with weapons. The incident strained relations between Israel and Turkey. After the incident, however, Israel eased its blockade.
Palestine Plans Request to the UN
In early 2009, Olmert, facing a criminal investigation, resigned. Parliamentary elections in February 2009 produced inconclusive results. The centrist Kadima party, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, won 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, the most of any party. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud took 27. The Labor Party fared poorly, garnering only 13 seats, behind the far-right party, Yisrael Beitenu, which took 15. Netanyahu formed a coalition government with Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman and the Labor Party, and became prime minister in April.
Meanwhile, the U.S. increased pressure on Israel to accept a two-state solution. On June 4, 2009, President Obama gave a speech in Cairo. Addressing the Muslim and Arab world, he called on Palestinians to renounce violence, on Arabs to recognize Israel's right to exist, and for an end to settlement construction. Netanyahu promised that Israel would support the two-state solution and end the construction of new settlements, but housing units continued to be built, allowing for "natural growth."
More pressure for a two-state solution came in 2011. On May 4, Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian parties, signed a reconciliation accord, citing the common cause of opposition to the Israeli occupation and shared disillusionment with American peace efforts as reasons for the détente. The deal reworked the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had previously excluded Hamas. On May 16, the New York Times published an opinion piece written by Abbas. He stated that at the September 2011 United Nations General Assembly, Palestine will request international recognition based on the 1967 border. The State of Palestine will also request full membership to the UN. He wrote that negotiations remained the Palestinians' first option, but "due to their failure we are now compelled to turn to the international community to assist us in preserving the opportunity for a peaceful and just end to the conflict."
On May 19, attempting to capitalize on the season of change in the Arab world, President Obama declared that the borders demarcated before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war should be the basis of a Mideast peace deal between Israel and Palestine. He also said that the borders should be adjusted to account for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Obama's speech came a day before a scheduled meeting with Netanyahu in Washington. The Israeli government protested immediately, saying that a return to the pre-1967 borders would leave Israel "indefensible," which Netanyahu reiterate during his meeting with Obama. However, Netanyahu maintained that Israel is open to negotiations.
The Palestinians Request Membership to UN, Give up on Talks with Israel
On September 23, 2011, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas officially requested a bid for statehood at the UN Security Council. The request came after months of failed European and U.S. efforts to bring Israel and Palestine back to the negotiating table. The Palestinian Authority requested a Security Council vote to gain statehood as a full member of the UN rather than going to the General Assembly. One of the reasons for this was that the General Assembly could only give the Palestinian Authority non-member observer status at the UN, a lesser degree of statehood. In addition, the European states in the General Assembly made it clear that they would support the proposal if the Palestinians dropped their demand that Israel halt settlement construction. The Palestinians have long insisted that Israel cease the settlement construction and deemed the condition unacceptable. Therefore, the Palestinian Authority preferred to take its case to the Security Council even though the U.S. has vowed to veto the request.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nation's General Assembly hours after Abbas filed the bid for statehood. Netanyahu disagreed with the Palestinian's proposal for statehood through the UN, urging Abbas to return to negotiating directly with Israel instead. "The truth is the Palestinians want a state without peace," he said during his speech.
Gilad Shalit Released After More Than Five Years in Prison
On October 18, 2011, Gilad Shalit, a twenty-five year old Israeli soldier, was released after being held for more than five years by Hamas, a militant Palestinian group. Shalit was exchanged for one thousand Palestinians who had spent years in Israeli jails. Some of the Palestinians released were convicted planners or perpetrators of deadly terrorist attacks. A prisoner swap of this kind almost happened in late 2009, but talks between Israel and Hamas collapsed. This time the difference maker was Egypt who mediated the deal.
There was concern among Israelis over releasing known terrorists into the hands of Hamas. Many feared further attacks. Hamas' comments only added to the anxiety. After the swap, Hamas called for its members to capture more Israel soldiers in order to exchange them for the remaining 5,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel. Also, while both sides celebrated the exchange on October 18, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians fought in the West Bank.
Still many saw the exchange as a sign of hope. Shalit's release had become a national obsession and crusade in Israel. He had been held in Gaza since Palestinian militants kidnapped him during a cross-boarder raid in 2006. In a televised address following Shalit's release, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Today we are all united in joy and in pain." Shalit was the first captured Israeli soldier to be returned home alive in 26 years.
Violence Erupts with Hamas in November 2012
Throughout the fall of 2012, militant groups in Gaza fired rockets into Israel with increasing frequency. Israel responded in mid-November with one of its biggest attacks on Gaza since the 2008 invasion. The attack killed Hamas military commander, Ahmed al-Jabari. In the following days, Israel continued to target members of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, and Hamas launched several hundred rockets, with some hitting Tel Aviv. Egypt, while a staunch supporter of Hamas, attempted to broker a peace agreement between Hamas and Israel to prevent the conflict from further destabilizing the region. On Nov. 21, Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a cease-fire had been signed. Both sides agreed to end hostilities toward each other and Israel said it would open Gaza border crossings, allowing the flow of products and people into Gaza, potentially lifting the 5-year blockade that has caused much hardship to those living in the region.
UN Approves Non-Member State Status
On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly approved an upgrade from the Palestinian Authority's current observer status to that of a non-member state. The vote came after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the General Assembly and asked for a "birth certificate" for his country. Of the 193 nations in the General Assembly, 138 voted in favor of the upgrade in status.
While the vote was a victory for Palestine, it was a diplomatic setback for the U.S. and Israel. Having the title of "non-member observer state" would allow Palestine access to international organizations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). If it joins the ICC, Palestine could file complaints of war crimes against Israel. After the vote, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki spoke in a press conference about working with the ICC and other organizations. He said, "As long as the Israelis are not committing atrocities, are not building settlements, are not violating international law, then we don't see any reason to go anywhere. If the Israelis continue with such policy - aggression, settlements, assassinations, attacks, confiscations, building walls - violating international law, then we have no other remedy but really to knock those to other places."
In response to the UN vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would not transfer about $100 million in much-needed tax revenue owed to the struggling Palestinian Authority and would resume plans to build 3,000-unit settlement in an area that divides the north and the south parts of the West Bank, thereby denying the Palestinians any chance for having a contiguous state.
|
Sources: Associated Press, New York Times, mideastweb.org, The Economist, and BBC.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
24 X 7
Private Tutor
|
24 x 7 Tutor Availability |
|
|
Unlimited Online Tutoring |
|
|
1-on-1 Tutoring |
|
Atlas
Encyclopedia
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Day in History
