Israel and Palestine: Two-state solution looks good only on paper

“Shalom, chaver (Goodbye, friend),” Bill Clinton said in his eulogy as hundreds of world leaders, including 80 heads of state, gathered at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery on November 6, 1995. Two days ago, two shots from a Beretta 84F at a peace rally in support of the Oslo Accords, the first major attempt at achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians, at Tel Aviv’s Kings of Israel Square shattered hopes and revealed hate’s ugly face.

Israeli PM Yitzhak was assassinated by Yigal Amir, an Israeli law student and ultranationalist vehemently opposed to the Oslo Accords, which intended to pave the way for a two-state solution.

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Clinton said, “Your Prime Minister was a martyr for peace, but he was a victim of hate.

“Rabin, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, had riled the right-wing Opposition, especially the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Likud and pro-settler rabbis.

The core issue of the peace process, the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) phased withdrawal from Palestinian territories, like Gaza and Jericho (West Bank), triggered massive protests. Rabin, dubbed anti-Jewish, was compared to Adolf Hitler and his Labour party to the Nazis.

The Oslo Accords never mentioned a two-state solution and only provided a framework for creating self-governing Palestinian institutions in the West Bank and Gaza. However, it was enough to trigger massive protests against Rabin as Palestinian self-governance in Gaza and the West Bank would have meant the IDF’s withdrawal from those occupied territories.

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The last major attempt for peace and to establish a Palestinian state, the 2000 Camp David Summit, between Clinton, Arafat and Israeli PM Ehud Barak, also failed due to differences over the status of Jerusalem.

Support for a two-state solution grows

The concept of a two-state solution dates back to the 1937 British Peel Commission report. Since then, the idea has made news several times only to be confined to international fora, discussions and dialogues.

Palestine is recognised as a state by 174 of the 193 UN member states—75 per cent of the international community. More than 80 countries recognised Palestine as an independent state following PLO chairman Yasser Arafat’s proclamation on November 15, 1988.

Ten more countries formally recognised Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war: Mexico, Armenia, Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, Spain, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados.

However, the UN recognition is a farce. Palestine has only a “Permanent Observer State” status, meaning it is part of proceedings but can’t vote on resolutions.

Palestine can only vote on UN resolutions if it is accorded the status of an independent state, like other nations. However, Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving Israeli PM and who heads the most hard-line right-wing coalition, is a staunch opponent of the concept, which he thinks will be a “launchpad to annihilate Israel”.

Support for a two-state solution is gathering momentum again due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, caused by the Israeli military operation since October 2023.After Israel’s military operation, which has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, Gaza is on the brink of famine as the IDF controls the entry of food convoys into the coastal enclave.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, two out of three famine thresholds have been reached in Gaza: plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition.

Data provided by Cogat, the Israeli agency that still controls aid shipments, and IPC show that Gaza needs 62,000 tonnes of staple food monthly to meet basic needs.

No food trucks were allowed into Gaza in March and April. Only 19,153 tonnes were allowed in May, 37,103 in June and 37,906 in July.

Consequently, Gaza’s whole population, around 2.1 million, is food insecure. Per the Gaza health ministry, 900,000 children are going hungry and 70,000 already show signs of malnutrition.

According to the UN, all children under the age of five—around 320,000—are at risk of life-threatening malnourishment.

A heartbreaking daily scene in #Gaza: children line up at charity kitchens, pleading for food as hunger worsens. #HumanitarianAid #palestine pic.twitter.com/MYmKd0fLaX

— In Context (@incontextmedia) July 31, 2025

The deteriorating situation has triggered global opprobrium against Israel and Netanyahu with several nations calling for a ceasefire, announcing to recognise a Palestinian state and demanding a two-state solution to end the problem forever.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that his country will officially recognise a Palestinian state at the 80th UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York in September. British PM Keir Starmer has also said that the UK will recognise Palestine’s statehood if Israel doesn’t end the war and has set a September deadline. Canadian PM Mark Carney also joined France and the UK to announce that it would recognise Palestinian statehood at the UNGA in September.

If France and the UK go ahead, the US will be the only permanent UNSC member not to have recognised a Palestinian state. Pressure for a two-state solution is growing as Israel, backed by the US, is unrelenting in its Gaza operation.

In July-end, during a high-level UN conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia in New York, around 160 members, with 125 speaking in favour of a two-state solution, participated.

Though calls for a two-state solution are not new, a conference chaired by a Western and Arab nation in the UN, attended by a majority of members and international and regional organisations was unprecedented.

Eight working groups were set up to propose measures on issues like security for Israel and an independent Palestine, political reforms, legal problems, humanitarian assistance, economic development and Gaza reconstruction.

At the end of the conference, a seven-page “New York Declaration” urging Israel to commit to a Palestinian state and endorsed by the European Union and Arab League was passed. France and Saudi Arabia sent the declaration and the proposals of the working groups to all UN members and asked them to endorse it by early September.

Even the 22-member Arab League, for the first time, agreed that “Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority” and also condemned the “attacks committed by Hamas against civilians [October 7 terrorist attacks]”.

In September 2024, the European Union and Arab nations established the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution at the UNGA to create a framework for lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and achieve a two-state solution. The Alliance also aimed for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the release of hostages and an end to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

However, despite several meetings held in Riyadh, Brussels, Oslo and Cairo and G7 support, the Alliance has failed to achieve a single objective.

Such initiatives are not only praiseworthy but encouraging considering the decades-old bloodshed, the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and the permanent security threat to Israel.

However, a two-state solution sounds and looks good only on paper—there are political, strategic and psychological barriers. The concept faces insurmountable odds, which have grown increasingly daunting over the years.

Political divide between Hamas and Fatah

The issue of Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution or the prospect of a future Israeli government’s support for the idea arises much later.

A Palestinian state is inconceivable with Hamas and the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) jostling for power. In the Battle of Gaza, 2007, Hamas seized control of the enclave and drove out Fatah officials, resulting in the fall of their National Unity Government.

Though Hamas’s command and control system has completely collapsed, more than 90 per cent of its leadership has been killed by the IDF and it has lost control of around 80 per cent of Gaza, the group has resorted to guerrilla tactics.

Despite Netanyahu’s pledge and Donald Trump’s threats to destroy the group, Hamas continues to fight. Even the IDF’s chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has said, much to Netanyahu’s annoyance, that it would take years to conquer Gaza.

Hamas, despite the West and the Arab League’s demand for disarming and relinquishing power, would never give up its remaining control.

PA, like the US and Israel, wants Hamas out of Gaza. Even if Hamas gives up power, it would never disarm.

Even a majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank don’t want Hamas to disarm. The  latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Gaza and the West Bank in May found that 64 per cent in Gaza and 85 per cent in the West Bank opposed Hamas’s disarmament to stop the war.

However, the US, Israel or other West Asian nations, excluding Iran, would never want another ‘state within a state’, like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s eagerness to be part of a post-war Gaza administration is logical. The PA has partial civilian control over the West Bank. It would be illogical and impractical to have one party rule the West Bank and another rule Gaza if they are to be part of a formally recognised Palestinian state that exists alongside Israel as part of a two-state solution.

However, Abbas is highly unpopular in Gaza and even the West Bank, per the poll. Only one in five Palestinians is satisfied with his performance and 81 per cent want him to resign.

Only 19 per cent are satisfied with Abbas’s performance (29 per cent in Gaza and 13 per cent in the West Bank) and 79 per cent are dissatisfied.

Hamas still enjoys more support (32 per cent) than Fatah (21 per cent) in both Gaza and the West Bank. If legislative elections were held today, 43 per cent of Palestinians (49 per cent in Gaza and 38 per cent in the West Bank) would vote for Hamas and only 28 per cent (30 per cent in Gaza and 27 per cent in the West Bank) for Fatah.

According to 40 per cent of Palestinians, Hamas is the most deserving of representing and leading them. Only 19 per cent believe that Abbas-led Fatah is the most deserving.

A majority of 60 per cent believe that the PA has become a burden on Palestinians. If an agreement is reached to end the Gaza War, 56 per cent don’t support the PA’s return to managing daily affairs and taking responsibility for reconstruction.

US-Israeli stance on post-war Gaza rule

A government by Palestinians and for Palestinians is the centrepiece of an independent Palestine.

However, the US and Israel, the most important players in any future two-state negotiations, are opposed to both Hamas and the PA leading a Palestinian government.

Instead, Trump proposed in February to displace Gazans and turn the enclave into a “Riviera of the Middle East” under US control.

Trump’s fantasy was opposed by most Arab countries that categorically rejected “any form of displacement of the Palestinian people” and described it as “a gross violation of international law, a crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing”.

In March, Arab nations proposed a $53 billion, three-phased and five-year Gaza rebuilding plan under which around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians would be moved into 200,000 prefabricated housing units and 60,000 repaired homes, houses and utilities rebuilt, and an airport, two ports and an industrial zone constructed.

The plan’s most important aspect was forming an “administrative committee” comprising independent Palestinian technocrats to run Gaza for a transitional period while “working towards empowering” the PA return.

The US and Israel rejected the Arab plan. In May, the two nations instead discussed the possibility of the US leading a  transitional government—like the failed Coalition Provisional Authority established in Iraq in 2003—until Gaza is demilitarised and stabilised and a viable Palestinian administration emerges. Not to forget that a majority of Iraqis viewed the system as an occupying force.

The US and Israel don’t want either Hamas or the PA to be part of such a transitional government.

Now, Netanyahu has decided to annex Gaza despite Zamir’s fierce resistance. “You are walking into a trap,” Zamir warned him about the plan.

Under the plan, Israel would focus on Gaza City and the strip’s central part, displace 1 million Gazans, finish off Hamas and pressure the group to release the remaining hostages—whose chances of survival will become bleaker—set up a security perimeter and hand over the enclave’s control to Arab forces.

The Trump administration hasn’t mentioned a two-state solution even once. It even bristled at France’s announcement that it would recognise Palestine in September.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio termed France’s “reckless decision” a “slap in the face to the victims of the October 7 attack” that “serves Hamas propaganda”.

Netanyahu said that a Palestinian state would create “another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became”, which would be “a launchpad to annihilate Israel, not to live in peace beside it”.

Gaza-West Bank geographical divide

Gaza and the West Bank lie on opposite sides of Israel—practically, this geographical barrier is the biggest hurdle to a two-state solution.

An independent state can’t be formed with its two major parts separated geographically.Supporters of a two-state solution envisaged linking Gaza and the West Bank by a corridor through Israel. The idea looks good only on paper; it’s impractical and poses a massive security risk to both Israelis and Palestinians. It’s impossible to bridge the physical separation of Palestinians.

Though the distance between Gaza and the West Bank at its narrowest point is 40 km, Palestinians cannot use it without Israeli permission.

Israel has severely restricted movement between the two territories since the Second Intifada in 2000. A Palestinian who resides in Gaza can’t easily travel to the West Bank and vice versa.

Even if a corridor is established, the danger of a Palestinian attacking Israeli civilians or soldiers while passing through it will always remain. Similarly, the risk of an ultra-nationalist Israeli angered by the formal establishment of a Palestinian state and attacking Palestinians will always be there.

The establishment of a corridor connecting Gaza and the West Bank is impractical and dangerous.

Israeli occupation of Gaza and West Bank

A two-state solution is impossible given the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel occupied Gaza and the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day  War. In 2005, under PM Ariel Sharon, Israel dismantled all 21 settlements and removed 8,000 settlers from the enclave. In 2007, Hamas took over Gaza.

However, the situation has drastically changed after the Israeli military operation, especially after Netanyahu relaunched the war against Hamas.

The IDF claims to be in control of almost 75 per cent of Gaza with around 90 per cent of its 2.1 million population displaced—many of them multiple times,  per UN data.'

Israel has two militarised corridors and a third under construction that cut across Gaza and divide it into sections.

The Netzarim Corridor is a swath of land that divides Gaza’s north from the rest of the strip. The Netzarim Corridor and a buffer zone alone comprise 50 per cent of the enclave.

The Philadelphi Corridor is Israel’s codename for a narrow strip of land around 100 metres wide and 14 km long along the whole Gaza-Egypt border.

The Morag Corridor, announced by Netanyahu in April, would join the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 70 per cent of Gaza is out of bounds for Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s aggression is also tied to his political survival. This is probably his last term, and his Likud party needs the support of far-right coalition partners, especially finance minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism party) and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehuditand party).

At a conference held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Israeli pullout from Gaza, Smotrich said, “We did not sacrifice these prices to transfer Gaza from one Arab to another. Gaza is an inseparable part of the land of Israel.”

Ben-Gvir told Israel’s Army Radio, “We must not stop for even a moment. We need to achieve a full victory, occupy all of Gaza, stop humanitarian aid and encourage migration—not partial deals.”

Last month, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir  called for razing Gazza City to take complete control of the enclave.

The Israeli settlements in the West Bank, home to an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians, pose another huge hurdle to a two-state solution.

Israel controls about 60 per cent of the West Bank with the PA in control of only around 18 per cent. Israel and Abbas’s government jointly control 22 per cent of the territory.

Around 700,000 Jews (450,000 in the West Bank and around 250,000 in Jerusalem) reside in about 160 settlements constructed after Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 War and East Jerusalem in 1980.

In May-end, Israel approved the  expansion of 22 new settlements, the largest since the Oslo Accords, including in areas from which it had earlier withdrawn.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz and Smotrich clearly said that the move was aimed at “preventing” the creation of a Palestinian state.

“All the new communities are being established with a long-term strategic vision, aimed at reinforcing Israeli control of the territory, preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state and securing development reserves for settlement in the coming decades,” they said in a joint statement.

What the Israeli PM has on his mind is unclear. However, one thing is clear—neither a two-state solution nor a Hamas or PA role in post-war Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas War presented Netanyahu with the opportunity to not only allow more settlements in the West Bank but also launch two military operations.

Israel launched Operation Summer Camps in August 2024—the largest since 2002—and Operation Iron Wall in January this year to target militant groups.

Since October 7, 2023, the IDF and settlers have killed around 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 18,500 have been arrested. On the other hand, Palestinians have killed 35 Israelis in the West Bank and 18 in Israel.

Since Operation Iron Wall, 1,400 Palestinian homes have been demolished and 2,907 Palestinians displaced due to IDF action and another 2,400 Palestinians displaced because of settler violence.

Palestinians want a state based on the borders before the 1967 War, meaning Israel would have to give up the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Uprooting the 700,000 settlers and dismantling their homes would trigger massive protests by Jews and Israeli far-right parties even if they are not in power. In 2005, protests erupted against Sharon’s decision to remove the 8,000 settlers, around 100 times less than the number of Jews residing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem**.**

Palestinians, Israelis sceptical about two-state solution

The idea of a two-state solution has been discussed and debated so many times that a majority of Palestinians and Israelis don’t even care, have given up hope and are sceptical.

The PSR poll found that only 23 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank had heard of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.

Only 40 per cent support the concept of a two-state solution and 57 per cent oppose it. Less than half of Palestinians, 47 per cent prefer a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.

More than 60 per cent believe that a two-state solution is either impractical or that there are no chances of a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel. Today, 64 per cent think that the solution is not practical and 68 per cent feel that the chances for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the next five years are slim or non-existent.

In fact, 26 per cent support abandoning the two-state solution compared to 22 per cent last year.

Israelis also have become increasingly doubtful about a two-state solution and peace with Palestinians, according to a  Pew Research Center survey published in June.

Only 21 per cent (one in five Israelis) think that an independent Palestinian state and Israel—a two-state solution—can coexist peacefully—50  per cent think it’s impossible.

The percentage of Israelis who think a two-state solution is possible has dropped 29 points since Pew asked this question first in 2013—from 50 to 21 per cent.

Israelis see several obstacles to peace with Palestinians. The lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians is the biggest obstacle (75 per cent).

The status of Jerusalem is the second biggest obstacle (70 per cent), according to Israelis. The third obstacle is the West Bank settlements (52 per cent).

The writer is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. He tweets as @FightTheBigots. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not reflect Firstpost’s views.