Israel has taken steps to help settlers acquire land in the occupied West Bank and expand its authority in parts of the territory where Palestinians have some degree of self-government - measures it says are aimed at undermining the two-state solution.
It is the latest blow to the idea of establishing a Palestinian state that would peacefully coexist with Israel in territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. Long supported by world powers, this vision formed the basis of the peace process supported by the United States (US), which was launched with the Oslo Accords in 1993.
However, the obstacles have only grown over time. They include the rapid expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land and irreconcilable positions on key issues, including borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, writes Reuters today in the article "What is a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?".
What are Israel's new decisions?
The decisions would speed up land purchases by settlers by making previously confidential West Bank land registries public, and would also repeal Jordanian law governing land purchases in the West Bank, which Jordan administered from 1948 to 1967.
Furthermore, Israel would expand "surveillance and enforcement activities" to parts of the West Bank known as Areas A and B, specifically "regarding water violations, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental hazards that pollute the entire region," the finance and defense ministers said in a statement.
The West Bank is divided into Areas A, B, and C by the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has full administrative and security control over Area A - 18 percent of the territory. In Area B, about 22 percent, the PA runs civil affairs, while security is in the hands of Israel. The majority of Palestinians in the West Bank live in Areas A and B.
Israel has complete control over the remaining 60 percent - Area C, including the border with Jordan.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the measures violate international law and are aimed at undermining Palestinian institutions and a future two-state solution.
Ultranationalist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the decision a "real revolution" and said: "We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state."
How did the idea of a two-state solution come about?
Conflict erupted in British-ruled Palestine between Arabs and Jews who were settling there, seeking a national home while fleeing anti-Semitic persecution in Europe, and invoking biblical ties to the land through centuries of exile.
In 1947, the United Nations (UN) adopted a plan to partition Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, with international administration of Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, which allocated them 56 percent of the land. The Arab League rejected it.
The State of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948. The following day, five Arab states attacked it. The war ended with Israel controlling 77 percent of the territory.
Around 700.000 Palestinians have fled or been expelled from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan, and Gaza from Egypt.
Although 157 of the 193 UN members already recognize Palestine as a state, it is not a UN member itself, meaning that most Palestinians are not recognized by the world body as citizens of any state. About nine million live as refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the territories Israel captured in 1967. Another two million live in Israel as Israeli citizens.
Was a deal ever close?
The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 by then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, led to the PLO recognizing Israel's right to exist and renouncing violence. Palestinians hoped it would be a step toward independence, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The process experienced several twists and turns on both sides.
Hamas, an Islamist movement, killed more than 330 Israelis in suicide attacks from 1994 to 2005, according to Israeli government figures. The group took over Gaza from the PA in a brief civil war in 2007. Hamas's 1988 charter advocates the disappearance of Israel, although it has said in recent years that it would accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Israel says that position is a sham.
The rabbi was assassinated in 1995 – the assassination was carried out by an ultranationalist Jew who wanted to thwart any "land for peace" agreement.
Then-US President Bill Clinton brought Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Camp David in 2000 to reach an agreement, but the attempt failed, with the future of Jerusalem - which Israel considers its "eternal and indivisible" capital - a major obstacle.
The conflict escalated during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) from 2000 to 2005. US administrations sought to renew peace efforts without success, and the last attempt collapsed in 2014.
How big are the obstacles today?
Although Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, settlements have expanded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with the population growing from 250.000 in 1993 to 700.000 three decades later, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now. Palestinians say this undermines the foundation of a viable state.
Jewish settlement in the West Bank accelerated sharply after the start of the Gaza War in 2023.
During the Second Intifada two decades ago, Israel also built a barrier in the West Bank that it said was intended to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from entering its cities. Palestinians call the move a land grab.
The PA, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, administers "islands" of land in the West Bank, surrounded by a zone of Israeli control that encompasses 60 percent of the territory, including the border with Jordan and settlements, in accordance with arrangements established by the Oslo Accords.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is the most right-wing in Israeli history and includes religious nationalists who have the support of settlers. Smotrich said there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.
Hamas and Israel have fought repeated wars over the past two decades, culminating in attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza War.
Bonus video:
