Israel and Gaza - Essay Example

Introduction The dispute between Israel and Gaza refers to a series of military conflicts that have been occurring between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Government over control of the Gaza Strip. The continued occurrence of these conflicts has been propagated by various facets viewed as undesirable by both nations. The first factor that has exacerbated these conflicts is the death of prominent persons who are usually targeted by the military of both nations. For instance; the recent death of Ahmed Al-Jabaari, the Hamas commander of the Palestinian army who was believed to have died from attacks by Israeli. Moreover, the conflict has been propagated by the fact that no serious or proper peace building has been taken into consideration by the two nations. Instead, they keep employing military techniques to solve their differences despite that external stakeholders have made various attempts to create peace between the two nations. 1 Effects of the Conflicts on the Relationship between Gaza Leadership and the West Bank The conflict between Israel and Palestine over the control of the Gaza Strip has not only led to loss of lives, destruction of property and environmental degradation, but also led to the deterioration of the relationship between Gaza Leadership and the West Bank. Specifically, the relationship between Gaza leadership and the Palestinian Leadership has generally been affected positively in that; collaboration between Jordan and Palestine as well as other Arabian Nations has been developed (Palestinian Liberation Organization), the PLO, with the main purpose of destroying the Jewish Nation. This emanate from the fact that Israel is currently in control of a large percentage of the West Bank hence which falls under the Jordan territory. The Capacity of Gaza to Support Livelihoods The United Nations has conducted various studies geared towards evaluation of the capacity of Gaza to support livelihoods; the results of these studies have been made available to the public in the form of a report. According to the UN report concerning this issue, the capacity of Gaza to support life has been reduced in a number of ways. To begin with, the conflicts have negatively affected various facets of social life for instance: The economic status of the Gaza Strip has been deterioration since early 1990’s with a greater effect experienced on the GDP of the nation. However, the shadow economy of Gaza (Tunnel Economy) has greatly developed over the years owing to the fact that tremendous amounts of goods have been smuggled through hundreds of tunnels by most tunnel workers. On the other hand, small quantities of agricultural products are also produced on the local farms and exported to neighboring countries.2 Additionally, the access of housing facilities has become a major challenge to majority of the population. Gaza Strip is currently facing high population density owing to the rapidly increasing population that occupies the limited land that accommodates forty five thousand people per square kilometer. Moreover, a report by the United Nations have also indicated that a greater challenge will be posed to the future generation owing to the fact the region has the highest number of youths despite the fact that, there are limited opportunities for youth development as well as other imperative economic resources. Other social services such as the provision of quality educational and proper health services have also been affected by the on-going conflicts between Israeli and Palestine as health practitioners and teachers flee the region to seek refuge in other countries. The effective provision of imperative social and economic infrastructures has also been greatly affected by the conflict between Israel and Palestine; various socio-economic are usually affected by frequent blackouts (Power Cuts). This occurs due to the fact that a large percentage of electric energy used in Gaza is imported from Israel and Egypt. Cleavages within the Palestine Authority Of late there have been very critical issues arising within the Palestine Authority (PA), specifically, the level at which war occurs within the Palestine Authority has been increased in the recent times between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Hamas. The strategies applied to conduct these inter-Palestine conflicts have taken adverse measure extending to the killing of some family members of a target group. These cleavages have raised a lot of concern from various Palestine stakeholders over the survival of the Palestine Authority. Thus these series of violence have led to the emergence of tension among the Palestine population as a result of various intra-conflict issues. The first issue that has emerged is the increasing tension between various Sub-groups between the Palestine populace. Currently, tensions between the Sunni and the Shia Communities have increased due to the strategic killing of prominent Fatah leaders as well as their family members. Such actions have led to the increased enmity between the Sunnis and the Shia owing to the belief that, the Shiites (Shia) are responsible for the death of Fatah leaders. Moreover, Fatah loyalists have also associated the Shiites with the Iraqi hence escalating the level of enmity between these groups. There have also been issues of tribal loyalty among the sub-tribe groups in Gaza leading to conflicts for instance; the Daghmoush clan that has been strong supporters of the Hamas have developed high levels of enmity with the Hamas as a result of the death of a group of the Daghmoush clan who were killed by the Hamas for supporting Fatah. Clan Religious Affiliation Conflicting With Affiliated With Shiites Muslim Sunni The Iraqi Daghmoush Muslim Hamas Futah/Hamas Sunni Muslim Shiites Hamas A summary of the discussed information Effects of the Cleavages on peace negotiation and Prospects of Peace The differences between various clans within the Palestine Authority have caused setbacks in the process in peace negotiations between the two nations. This emanated from the fact that most of Palestine efforts are directed towards solving the internal conflicts; a process which takes substantial resources specifically, time.3 Moreover, these differences have led to the loss of lives of key persons who could have promoted peace negotiation between Israel and Palestine. The death of key Muslim leaders, usually viewed as role models has created major setbacks on the efforts directed towards promoting peace between the two nations. In some occasions, the Israeli soldiers have been accused of killing key Palestine Muslim leaders hence escalating the level of tension between the two nations. Consequently, peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been affected by the intra-Palestine conflicts in that the efforts of the United Nations and other international organizations towards promoting peace between the two countries have been directed towards creating peace within Palestine. This led to delayed peace talks between the two nations hence escalating the level of the conflict between the two nations.4 Despite the fact that there has been intra-Palestine conflicts and an extended period of Israel and Palestine Conflict, recently, signs of peace have been recognized between Gaza and Israel. There has been ceasefire between the two nations leaving unclear pictures of future occurrence of peace. Additionally, the United Nations and other external governments have been debating on whether Palestine should be granted the status of a non-member observer, a condition that would make it a State. On the other hand, organizations like the MADRE have made efforts to mobilize the local communities to campaign against recruitment of the youth to participate in the Israeli-Palestine war.5 Work Cited UNISPAL-United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine." UNISPAL-United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. . "820." Lehrer, Brian. Current Affairs. National Public Radio Broadcast. WNCY-AM, New York. 16 Nov. 2012. Radio. Mohamed, Majdi. "Gaza Strip." New York Times 28 Nov. 2012, 2 ed., sec. 4: 1-4. Print. Read More