The Gaza war has put renewed focus on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still seen by many countries as the path to peace even though the negotiating process has been moribund for a decade.
More than seven months into the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian war yet, the US has said there is no way to solve Israel’s security issues and the challenge of rebuilding Gaza without steps towards a Palestinian state.
On May 22, Ireland, Spain and Norway announced that they would recognize a Palestinian state shortly to help end the war, get hostages freed and revive peace talks. The three said they hoped other Western countries would follow suit.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation, welcomed the decision, while Israel recalled its ambassadors in protest, saying such moves could jeopardize its sovereignty and security.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not compromise on full Israeli security control west of Jordan and that this stands contrary to a sovereign Palestinian state, which he says would pose “an existential danger” to Israel.
Obstacles have long impeded the two-state solution, which envisages Israeli and Palestinian states alongside each other.
Photo: EPA-EFE 照片：歐新社
These include Jewish settlement in occupied land the Palestinians seek for a state and uncompromising positions on core issues including borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the status of Jerusalem, an ancient city holy to both sides.
WHAT ARE TWO-STATE SOLUTION’S ORIGINS?
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Conflict occurred in British-ruled Palestine between Arabs and Jews who had migrated to the area, seeking a national home as they fled persecution in Europe and citing biblical ties to the land.
In 1947, the United Nations agreed a plan partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with international rule over Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, which gave them 56% of the land. The Arab League rejected it.
The state of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948. A day later, five Arab states attacked. The war ended with Israel controlling 77% of the territory.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In a 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, securing control of all territory from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley.
The Palestinians remain stateless, with most living under Israeli occupation or as refugees in neighboring states. Some — mostly descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel after its creation — have Israeli citizenship.
The two-state solution was the bedrock of the US-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The accords led the PLO to recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence and to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinians hoped this would be a step towards an independent state, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
The process was hit by rejection on both sides.
In 2000, then US president Bill Clinton brought Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Camp David to clinch a deal, but the effort failed.
The fate of Jerusalem, deemed by Israel as its “eternal and indivisible” capital, was the main obstacle.
The conflict escalated with a second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000-2005. US administrations sought to revive peacemaking — to no avail, with the last bid collapsing in 2014.
(Reuters)
加薩戰爭使解決巴以衝突的兩國方案重新成為關注焦點，儘管談判進程已停滯十年，但許多國家仍將兩國方案視為通往和平的道路。
以巴衝突迄今傷亡最慘重的戰爭已歷經七個多月，美國表示，若不採取行動建立巴勒斯坦國，以色列的安全問題和重建加薩的挑戰就無法解決。
5月22日，愛爾蘭、西班牙及挪威宣布，他們很快就會承認巴勒斯坦國，以幫助結束戰爭、釋放人質及恢復和平談判。這三個國家表示，希望其他西方國家也能效法。
在以色列軍事佔領下在約旦河西岸行使有限自治的巴勒斯坦自治政府對此決定表示歡迎，而以色列則召回大使以示抗議，稱此類舉動可能會危及其主權與安全。
以色列總理班傑明‧納坦雅胡表示，對於以色列在約旦以西安全的全面控制，他不會妥協，而這與巴勒斯坦欲建立主權國家的立場相反。他表示巴勒斯坦建國將對以色列構成「生存威脅」。
兩國方案設想以色列和巴勒斯坦兩國同時存在，但此方案的實現長期以來一直備受阻礙。
巴勒斯坦人欲建國之處是以色列佔領地，有猶太人屯墾區，其他阻礙還包括在一些核心問題上僵持不下的立場，包括邊界問題、巴勒斯坦難民該何去何從，以及雙方皆認為是其聖城的古城耶路撒冷之地位。
兩國方案的起源是什麼？
在英國統治的巴勒斯坦，阿拉伯人和移民到該地區的猶太人發生了衝突，這些受迫害而逃離歐洲的猶太人，欲找尋一個民族家園，援引聖經來與這片土地聯繫起來。
1947年，聯合國同意了一項計畫，將巴勒斯坦分為阿拉伯國家和猶太國家，耶路撒冷則由國際統治。猶太領導人接受了該計劃，並獲得巴勒斯坦地區56%的土地。阿拉伯聯盟則拒絕了此提議。
1948年5月14日，以色列宣佈建國。次日，5個阿拉伯國家對以色列發動攻擊。戰爭結束後，以色列控制了巴勒斯坦地區77%的土地。
約70萬巴勒斯坦人逃離或被趕出家園，最終逃往約旦、黎巴嫩和敘利亞，以及加薩走廊、約旦河西岸與東耶路撒冷。
在1967年的戰爭中，以色列從約旦奪取了包括東耶路撒冷在內的約旦河西岸地區，從埃及奪取了加薩，控制了從地中海到約旦河谷的所有領土。
巴勒斯坦人仍無國籍，大多數人生活在以色列佔領的地區，或成為鄰國的難民。其中一些——主要是以色列建國後留在以色列的巴勒斯坦人的後裔——擁有以色列公民身份。
兩國方案是美國支持的和平進程的基石，其開端是1993年的《奧斯陸協議》，由巴勒斯坦解放組織（巴解組織）的亞西爾‧阿拉法特和以色列總理伊扎克‧拉賓所簽署。
此協議促使巴解組織承認以色列的生存權、放棄暴力、建立巴勒斯坦自治政府。巴勒斯坦人希望這會是邁向以東耶路撒冷為首都之獨立國家的第一步。
但雙方都拒絕了此計畫。
2000年，美國總統比爾‧柯林頓邀請阿拉法特與以色列總理艾胡德‧巴瑞克前往大衛營進行協議，但未能成功。
被以色列視為「永恆且不可分割」首都的耶路撒冷之歸屬，是主要障礙。
2000年至2005年巴勒斯坦人在加薩和約旦河西岸的第二次暴動，讓衝突升高。美國政府試圖重振和平進程，但沒有成功，最後一次努力在2014年宣告失敗。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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