Emerging Political Tensions between Israel and Palestine - Research Paper Example

Title: Emerging Political tensions between Israel and Palestine Introduction Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the major issues in world politics. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. It is located in the eastern side of Mediterranean Sea. The ongoing issues began in the mid-20th century. The conflicts between the two societies have generated due to a wide variety of opinions and views. Many wars have been conducted by paramilitary groups, regular armies, individuals and terror cells; resulting human casualties and deaths. Previously, the conflicts occurred due to difference in religious perspectives however in modern times, it has always happened for oil reserves in Middle East. Palestine is controlled by two governing bodies i.e. Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. The division of governance has resulted in suspension of peace making attempts between Israel and Palestine. The recent war occurred in 2014, is a result of political tensions between the two states. This research paper focuses on the major political issues due to which peace-making attempts have been failing between the states. Analysis The conflicts between Israel and Palestine have become sensitive at present due to several issues. In the year 2006, the Palestinian Authority held elections in Gaza and the West Bank on the request of George W. Bush’s administration and Israeli support. Despite making attempts, Hamas won the majority of seats. The United States responded by cutting off aid to Palestinian Authority, on the other hand the Israelis withheld tax revenues they collected on Palestinian’s behalf. The Bush’s administration encouraged Abbas to go against Hamas with the help of Fatah and its chief Mohammad Dahlan (Brownlee 113). The circumstances were severe during the period and Fatah was defeated by Hamas in the battle. Finally Hamas took charge in Gaza. These situations became even worse when United States did not make any attempt to talk to the new formed government. The Israelis started to block exports from Gaza, which led to drop of per capita income to 17 percent in the year 2011, compared to 2005. The Israelis even banned exports to the West Bank, which made the life of people worse in Gaza. The people of Gaza were suffering from unemployment and malnutrition on a very high scale. The circumstances forced Hamas to attack Israelis, for the benefit of their people and save his government. The attacks disturbed the life of people and most of the citizens were exposed to threat. The occurrence of cold-war was merely due to the political issues that happened in the year 2006. Though Hamas did-not make attempts to kill people, his rockets were launched to frighten Israel and get proper justification. However, Israelis counter-attacked them and the war progressed without much interference of any other country. The ongoing violence between Israel and Gaza has led to death of 1777 Palestinians and 68 Israelis. The conflict started as a result of killing of three Israeli students on June 10, 2014. After the murders, Israel conducted a massive manhunt in the Palestinian territory by abducting and alleging members of Hamas. Israel’s administration found the bodies of the three students on June 30th and finally they started bombings in Gaza. Though the facts may seem in favor of Israeli administration but the murders of the students were made political issues by Israel in order to attack Gaza and take revenge. After the mass attack by Israelis, Hamas also counter-attacked people of Israel and it took the shape of battle in the month of August. According to reports obtained from governing bodies, many innocent people were tortured and killed. The entire battle occurred due to misunderstandings and political interference both external and internal. On July 8th 2012, Hamas was completely influenced with the progression of the violence streaks and launched a wave of 40 rockets (Donzina 61). After the attacks Israeli administration started bombings in Gaza and massive attacks on militant groups as well as innocent people. On July 17th, Israeli Military forces invaded Gaza, which was the first ground invasion since 2009 (Rosenberg 57). The reason for invasion is Gaza was the continuation of rocket firings by Gaza’s militant groups. Israel accepted an Egypt-brokered deal to stop firing however Hamas kept on firing rockets on Israel. This made the consequences worse and finally the massive battle between the two states started. Israel’s forces also destroyed the tunnels which were used for communication purposes because Hamas used the tunnels to attack Israel. The entire region was made to suffer due to the armed war. The political tensions between the two states resulted in loss of life of many innocent people residing in Gaza and the Western Bank. The entire conflict occurred due to a political murder of three students. Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating on the issues. The Egyptian government is mediating negotiations from both Israel and Hamas for the long-term cease fire. Several attempts are being made to overcome the conflicts however the issue is still sensitive. Although the war is over but the political tensions between the two states persists and it can lead to further conflicts if proper initiatives are not taken by governing bodies. Findings From the above analysis, it is clear that Israel and Palestine are the two neighboring states that are facing severe political issues at present. Initially the conflicts occurred between the due states due to religious differences however they were not so severe. The current conflicts have become a major concern for the entire world. There are many reasons behind the occurrence of war between the two states but the most important issue is oil. Both the states have been victims of external political influence from the last two decades. The United States and the United Kingdom had been trying to get hold of the oil wells of the Arabian countries. Previously the Soviet United had major influence in entire Egypt. After the fall of Soviet United, other super-powers have been providing their support to the Arabic countries due to which the countries fight with each other. The United States and the United Nation have been trying to unite the states in order to maintain safety and peace. Despite the attempts of safety and peace the issues between Israel and Palestine rose because of formation of two different governing bodies in Palestine. The elections of 2006 were held in order to reduce the tensions between the two states but the election results were completely against the interest of United States and Israel. This led to suffering of the people of Gaza and conflicts between Israel and Palestine. Finally the war of July 2014 resulted in killing of many people. The counter-attack by Israel military force resulted in death of many innocent people as well as members of Hamas. The issue is taken care by the Egyptian government and bot the states are negotiating in order to prevent such happenings in future. Conclusion Based on the analysis and findings discussed above it is clear that the conflicts that occurred on July 2014 was a result of political tensions between the two states Israel and Palestine. The elections of 2006 shattered the hope of Israel and United States after Hamas won the election (Shamir 8). United States made attempts to overthrow Hamas by supporting Fatah. Hamas won the battle with Fatah and took over Gaza. This led political tension between Palestine and Israel and soon conflicts began between them. There was a situation of cold-war from the year 2006 to 2011 until the killings of Israeli students occurred. After the killing of the students the Israeli forces used their entire forces to attack Hamas. Though few Israeli people died in the war but many Palestinian died. The safety and security of people were gone for a toss and the rocket-firings and bombings destructed the entire region. Though Government has taken up measures to control the situation but some important steps are required to be incorporated in order to reduce the political tensions between Israel and Palestine. Recommendations Looking forward towards the problems associated with the peace-making attempts between Israel and Palestine, there are some suggestions that can be incorporated in order to overcome the current issues. First of all, both the states can discuss their demands and work together for the welfare of their people. Instead of two separate governments they can come together to form one government for both the states and rule the entire province successfully. This is the one state solution (Akram 289). Incorporation of a single government rule will definitely help in stabilization of the country’s economy and citizens would get a fair chance to upgrade their standard of living. Secondly, both the states can be separated from each other completely and they can be made to form two separate countries. This process can also be termed as the two state solutions. The two state solutions would help in better formation of government and both the states can elect their own government in order to live peacefully (Handelman 34). Separating both the states into separate countries would also help them to export their products world-wide without interference of each other. People would get the opportunity to find their own source of income and conflicts and battles would end. Works Cited Akram, M. Susan. International Law and the Israel-Palestine Conflict. London: Routledge, 2010. Print. Brownlee, Jason. Democracy Prevention: The politics of the US-Egyptian Alliance. London: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Donzina, Truck. Contemporary suicide terrorism. New York: IOS Press, 2012. Handelman, Sapir. Conflict and Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine. London: Routledge, 2011. Print. Rosenberg, Joel. Israel at War. New York: Springer, 2012. Print. Shamir, Jacob. Public opinion in the Israeli-Palestine Conflict. New York: United States Institute of Peace, 2007. Print. Read More