Mahfuzur Rahman

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is still in the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Israel. This is his fifth visit to the region after the October 2023 offensives carried out by Hamas. He attended a joint press session with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, from which it was just revealed that Hamas has given a ‘positive’ response to the truce proposal to attend the conflict. Blinken would now discuss the same with Israeli authorities for a solution to come. We may have to count on days now for a real solution.

Most say that the Palestinian Issue or the Palestine-Israel conflict can be resolved amicably and sustainably only with a Two-State solution – Israel and Palestine. The term, two-state, is as old as 1947 when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted such a resolution despite opposition from a number of countries including the Arabs. It was thought to be in the interest of the Israelis who would get 56% of the land in question, whereas the Palestinians would get 42%.

Over time, Israelis have strengthened their grip, Palestinians have continued to struggle and become marginalised further even in their own land. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964. Soon, a charismatic Yasser Arafat took control of PLO and led it from the front to make it an absolute representative of the Palestinian people. PLO was accorded Observer status in the UNGA in 1974. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were many separate, heroic and militant actions by the Palestinians around the world, mostly buttressed by PLO, to uphold its cause. These earned them worldwide support among the younger generations.

Though sceptical from the very beginning on the said UNGA proposal, incidentally PLO resorted to the same resolution in 1988 when it declared a State of Palestine. Unfortunately, it did not specify or claim sovereignty over its border or territory then, making it a little short of a functional government. However, it did receive widespread support from the countries around the world.

In 1993, during the Oslo Accord, the PLO recognised Israeli sovereignty and only sought Arab statehood in the Palestinian territories, namely in West Bank and Gaza Strip, which had been under active Israeli military control since the 1967 Arab-Israel War.

After the death of Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas took the baton of PLO and eventually became the president of the State of Palestine. He upheld the two-state solution and advocated for a peaceful outcome. As a result, in 2012, Palestine was awarded the non-member observer status at the United Nations.

On the other hand, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), a Sunni Islamic political movement, has been active in the Gaza Strip since 1987 but gained widespread popularity among the Palestinian constituencies around 2004. Hamas achieved a clear majority in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Election. Its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, became the Prime Minister. The European Union (EU) stated its satisfaction with the democratic process and expressed its readiness to support the new government.

Hamas did not put any words in its election manifesto to express its hostility towards Israel. Therefore, the warmth from the West was no less. Many opined to give a chance to Hamas to establish an enduring peace in the Middle East. Hamas was also overwhelmed by the mandate, and it prompted Haniyeh to write an ambitious letter to then-U.S. President George W Bush indicating Hamas’ decision to accept a Palestinian State following the 1967 borders.

However, things have changed from then on. PLO, as well as some Arab states, was not happy about the rise of Hamas. So was the West. In 1993, the U.S. Department of State listed Hamas as a foreign terrorist organisation.

Alternatively, Hamas started receiving support from various militant and Islamist groups from the Arab countries.  Initially, the blame was on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and later Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood for sponsoring Hamas. Now, after the 2023 attacks, the blame is on Iran as a state for sponsoring Hamas. Some even blame a quarter of the Israelis. They thought it disfavoured Palestinian President Abbas and weakened his hands while negotiating with the Israelis.

The West, even the EU, remained comfortable with the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Abbas, but not the government led by Hamas. It instigated the deterioration of relationships between Abbas and Hamas. Hamas insisted on a fresh legislative election, but the PA avoided any such election fearing that it would further strengthen Hamas. There are reports that both Israel and the U.S. have thwarted the elections.

Hamas initially envisioned a Palestinian State with all of the territory that belonged to the British Mandate for Palestine. It means it did not recognise the creation of Israel, or accept two-state. Eventually, at a later date, maybe as a strategy, it agreed to accept the 1967 borders to facilitate Palestinian and Arab consensus, which implied its acceptance of the existence of Israel. Ismail Haniyeh responded to a question on the ceasefire on November 2023 and said Hamas was ready for political negotiations for a two-state solution.

Since the October 2023 attacks, the entire peace-loving people around the globe have been concerned with hundreds of deaths, many a time innocent civilians; and expressed their concern at the inhumane conditions that the war and the conflicts have brought to many in Gaza Strip and West Bank. As Gaza is overwhelmingly controlled by a rising Hamas, and West Bank by PA; it is time to materialise the two-state right now before it is too late, and it invites others to think of adding alternates.
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The writer is a former Ambassador and can be reached at: [email protected]