CSS Pakistan Affairs | Implications of Israeli Settlements in the West Bank | Daily Writeup | Opinions
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Outline
1- Introduction
2- Understanding of the State’s solution of the UN for Israel-Palestine
3- Defining the term settlement with reference to the settlement in the West Bank
4- Implications of ongoing Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Two-state solution
- ✓ Violation of international law and act of war crime
- ✓ Breaching of Palestinian sovereignty
- ✓ Threatening civil peace and security
- ✓ Complications of water resources in the agriculture sector
5- Critical analysis
6- Conclusion
Answer to the Question
Introduction
Jewish settlement in Palestine has been a hot discussion since the birth of the Zionist movement by Theodore Hazel; afterwards, it became a global issue with the declaration of partition between Arabs and Jews State of Israel by the United Nations resolution 181 of the General Assembly. After successive wars between Israel and the Arabs, 1967 was the year when Israel took over the maximum area from Arabs, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip and declared its international borders under the umbrella of a two-state solution proposed by the UN Security Council, which was followed by the Oslo accord 1993, a peace agreement between Palestinian Liberation Organisation(PLO) and Israel leadership. As a result, the Palestine Authority (PA) was given administrative control over the Gaza Strip and the selected area of the West Bank. During and after the Oslo Accord, Israeli Jews continued illegal settlements in the West Bank, and after the 2010s, these illegal settlements accelerated. Right after the attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, more than 18,000 people got settled, aiming to further illegal settlements in the West Bank. This unlawful activity is badly affecting the two States’ solution proposed by the UN and the peace agreement of the accord between Israel and Palestine.
Defining the term settlement with reference to the settlement in the West Bank
Settlement refers to the act of going to a new place to live. People often prefer moving to places where all the necessities are available and people have lived before. However, Israeli settlements in the West Bank are planned settlements of the Israelis, funded by the “settlement division” of the World Zionist Organisation. After the end of the 1967 war, these settlements were started in the West Bank and are furthering more. According to the UN Human Rights High Commission report of March 2024, in the first nine months of 2023, the settlement was acceded to 24,300 housing units and more than 835 incidents of settler violence were recorded by the UN.
Understanding of the Two-State Solution between Israel and Palestine
In 1947, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 181, proposing a partition plan of Palestine into two independent States, Jews and Arabs. The partition plan was rejected by the Arabs, and a series of conflicts between Jews and Arabs started. Eventually, On November 22, 1967, to secure lasting peace in the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Arab war of 1967, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 242, which called on Arabs to accept Israel’s right to live in the recognised boundaries and proposed a two States solution of the matter. At first, the PLO leaders did not accept this resolution. Eventually, after the retaliation of two decades and the first Intifada of 1987, peace negotiations were started between the Israeli and Palestinian (PLO) leaders, leading towards a peace agreement in the form of the Oslo Accord 1993, and the PLO accepted the existence of Israel in return for the establishment of the administration of Palestine Authority (PA) over the Gaza Strip and selected area of the West Bank. Since then, a so-called Two-state solution has been established.
Implications of ongoing settlement in the West Bank on Two-state solution.
- ✓ Violation of international law and the act of war crime
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are an open violation of international law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 states that forcible transfer of the mess or individual to an occupied territory is prohibited, regardless of their motives. Supporting this, the UN General Assembly, the UN Security Council, and the International Court of Justice all affirmed that Israel has been violating international law. Furthermore, UN resolution 2334 of 2016, which was passed with 14 votes, has declared the settlements illegal. Additionally, many legal experts called it a war crime under the Rome statute 2002 treaty of ICC. Thus, the illegal settlements in the West Bank are deliberately affecting the two-state solution of the UN.
- ✓ Breaching of Palestinian sovereignty
According to Israel’s classification, in 2023, Israel established 199 more settlements and 220 outposts and occupied 9.6% of the area of the West Bank. By these illegal ongoing settlements, Israel has diminished the sovereignty of Palestinians. In the name of protection of settlers, Israeli forces have imprisoned the Palestinians and stolen their limited territorial sovereignty. On the ground level, Israel has revealed its one-state policy by its contravention of international law and the peace settlement between both countries in the form of the Oslo Accord 1993. Israel’s government is transferring the governing rights to the settlers, which is against international law and the charter of the United Nations and a violation of Palestinian rights of self-determination, equality, and non-discrimination.
- ✓ Threatening civil peace and security.
High numbers of Israelis armed in the West Bank territory to protect Jewish settlers are seen in many illicit activities, and the provocation of Israeli settlers towards Palestinian lands makes their blood boil, resulting in shooting incidents. Consequently, in this situation, Palestinians cannot enjoy the civil peace of a separate state. In 2020, settlers made 127 invasions into Palestinian villages and wrote racist slogans against Arabs on Palestinian vehicles, and the Palestinian police could not resist the act because the area was surrounded by the settlers and not under the control of Palestinian forces. In the presence of foreign forces, civil peace, administrative autonomy, and security cannot be achieved. Israeli forces deliberately undermined the sovereignty of Palestinians and affected the establishment of the Palestinian State.
- ✓ Water and agriculture resources complications
Israel settlements have covered the surrounding area of the West Bank and left the Palestinians deprived of surface water, such as the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, so Palestinians have to rely on groundwater. According to a Norwegian Refugee Council report, The West Bank alone has more than 50,0000 settlers consuming 32% of the groundwater, while the remaining groundwater is used by 3.2 million Palestinians. Moreover, Almost 20% of the West Bank’s agricultural lands are not accessible by Palestinians, and the rest do not have an appropriate approach to the markets because of the restrictions from settlers and Israeli forces. This exploitation of the agricultural sector of Palestinians renders the formation of a separate state of Palestine.
- ✓ Fostering of mistrust between Israel and Palestine
Although the two-state solution is the only way out of this territorial issue, Israel has been perpetually ignoring the international law and the peace treaties made with Palestine. Israeli settler’s movement to the West Bank indicates Israel’s goal of taking control over the West Bank, which has exacerbated the mistrust in Palestine and Arabs regarding the two-state solution. In the statement on the settlements, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez said, ‘’ Peaceful co-existence is the only viable solution to the Israel-Palestinian issue. Gaza and the West Bank are under the administration of Palestinian authority; any coercive settlement must be stopped. These unilateral settlement actions are accelerating the tensions and mistrust between the parties.” Thus, the violated settlements from the Israeli side are nothing but a war crime, making the situation more hostile and mistrustful.
Critical Analysis
Illegal Settlements in the West Bank are a hovering threat over the two-state solution, creating hurdles in establishing two separate states as the two-state solution obligated both countries to accept each other’s territory and administrative control. Palestinians have been living a life in misery since the settlements of Jews first started in the colonial regime of the British. The wars between Arabs, non-state movements of the Palestinians, such as the PLO, and the peace accords between Palestine and Israel have not helped them get out of the fragile status quo. In fact, Palestine has become an open-air prison surrounded by Israeli settlers and IDF. Moreover, the perpetual violation of territorial and human rights and the illegal settlements in the West Bank by the Israelis have made the Palestinian’s lives exhausting, and on October 7, 2023, the Hamas attack was the retaliation of Palestinians against the brutality of Israel. Ironically, after the Hamas attack, Israel has crossed all humanitarian boundaries and killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, including women and children, raising a big question mark on the part of Peace custodians.
Conclusion
The settlements in Gaza are implicating severe problems for the Palestinians, who have been given a separate and independent state by UN resolutions 181 and 242, but there is no international law being followed by the other side. Unfortunately, they are living on the brink of hell and are helplessly seeing the illegal settlements of the government-backed Jews of Israel, exploiting the resources and sovereignty of Palestinians. Thus, international bodies should take into account the illicit activities of the Israel settlements and force Israel to stick with the two-state solution; otherwise, peace in the Middle East would be a mere dream. To enjoy the prospects of a two-state solution and the right of the existence of both independent states, Israel must stop its unlawful settlements in the West Bank and genocidal massacre in the Gaza Strip.
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