Explore the most debated topics in Human Rights
Palestine belongs to the Ottoman Empire.
Palestine belongs to the British Empire.
The British Peel Commission is the first to propose partitioning Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, laying the groundwork for the two-state concept.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a plan to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as an international city. Jewish leaders accept; Arab leaders reject the plan.
Israel declares independence. Arab states invade. Israel gained more territory than was allocated by the UN plan. No Palestinian state is established; the West Bank is occupied by Jordan, and Gaza by Egypt.
Armistice lines were drawn between Israel and its neighbors, creating the "Green Line," which became the de facto boundary of Israel until 1967. (This comes after the Arab-Israeli war).
Israel captures the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. The concept of "land for peace" emerges, forming the basis for future two-state discussions.
Calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and recognition of all states in the region. Forms a cornerstone for future peace negotiations.
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formally agree to a framework for a two-state solution, establishing the Palestinian Authority (PA) for limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli forces withdraw from parts of Gaza and West Bank cities. The PA’s authority expands, but core issues (borders, refugees, Jerusalem) remain unresolved. (Israel only transferred limited administrative control to the PA in certain areas but did not withdraw militarily or remove settlements from most of the territories). The Oslo I Accord failed mainly because it was designed as an interim agreement that postponed all of the most difficult issues, such as Jerusalem, refugees, and borders, leaving them unresolved. This allowed mistrust to grow as both sides doubted the other’s intentions. The process was further undermined by escalating violence (notably suicide bombings and retaliatory attacks) and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which weakened the peace camp in Israel and led to political shifts away from compromise. Without a clear path to a final agreement or strong enforcement mechanisms, the process stalled and lost momentum.
Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo II Accord, expanding Palestinian self-rule, dividing the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C, and setting the stage for final status negotiations. The Oslo II Accord failed primarily because, while it expanded Palestinian self-rule, it also fragmented the West Bank into disconnected areas and left Israel in control of most land and resources (Area C). During and after Oslo II, Israeli settlement expansion accelerated, undermining Palestinian faith in the process and making a contiguous Palestinian state less feasible. Continued violence and political changes in Israel brought leaders less committed to the peace process, while the Palestinian Authority struggled to assert control and legitimacy. The combination of settlement growth, fragmented autonomy, and lack of progress on final status talks led to disillusionment and, ultimately, the collapse of the process.
High-level talks fail to reach a final agreement on a two-state solution. The Second Intifada (Palestinian uprising) erupts, stalling negotiations.
Saudi Arabia proposes the Arab Peace Initiative, offering normalization with Israel in exchange for withdrawal from occupied territories and a Palestinian state. The U.S. officially endorses the two-state solution.
Prominent Israelis and Palestinians announce an unofficial peace proposal based on the two-state framework.
Israel unilaterally withdraws settlers and military from the Gaza Strip but maintains control over airspace and borders.
Renewed peace talks fail to produce a final agreement. The process largely stalled after 2008.
The Trump Administration unveils a plan proposing a conditional Palestinian state with significant Israeli annexations, which is rejected by the Palestinian leadership.
The two-state solution remains the international consensus, but implementation is stalled by political divisions, settlement expansion, and lack of trust between parties.
"Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births." (UN commission)
“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the United Nations Commission. Discussions on the feasibility of a two-state solution arise as there seems no end to the continued militia war.
Currently, Palestinian territories include the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, which are illegally occupied by the Israeli Government. This brings into question the decade-long conflict of a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. A solution that means having two independent states for the Palestinians and the Israel population.
The conflicting nature of a two-state solution lies between insecurity and unsureness of what should belong to each respective government. Currently, legally speaking, Israel's internationally recognized borders are based on the 1949 Armistice (green line), which refers to the demarcation lines that were established between Israel and its neighboring arab states: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. This green line covers approximately 22,070km². However, Israel controls additional territory, including East Jerusalem and Golan Heights (which are both annexed but not internationally recognized) and the West Bank (military occupation, with illegal settlements). Thus, only Israel’s borders with Egypt and Jordan are uncontested and formally recognized internationally; its borders with Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories remain disputed. Palestine territory legally claims the West Bank (including east Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip which totals about 6,020km² (with West Bank at about 5,655 km² and Gaza at about 365 km²). But, much of the Palestinian state is under Israeli occupation. Palestine’s territory is recognized by much of the international community but not by Israel or some other countries; its borders are not fully sovereign or contiguous. This brings into question, if Palestinian Territory remains under Isreal occupation, what might a two-state solution look like, especially with both sides having extreme resentment towards one another in its history and its current situation.
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I think should go back to armistice lines.