On February 16, 2023, Niu Song, a researcher at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, published an opinion piece in the PLA Daily, 'When Will the Cycle of Palestinian-Israeli Violence End' (see PLA Daily, February 16, 2023, page 4), which reads as follows.
When Will the Cycle of Palestinian-Israeli Violence End
On Feb. 12, a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager was killed in fierce clashes between the IDF and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin. On the same day, the Israeli government approved the legalization of nine illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Since 2023, tensions have been rising in the Palestinian-Israeli region, and the conflict between the two sides has escalated repeatedly, signaling that the two sides seem to be caught in a new cycle of violent conflict.
Throughout this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Jewish settlements, East Jerusalem and synagogues and other sensitive elements throughout, which indicates that the two sides in the territorial, ethnic and religious issues have escalated and have formed a linkage effect, and this is the main reason why the two sides are difficult to fundamentally ease relations.
In the early 1990s, the Palestinians and Israelis signed the Oslo Accords. The agreement is considered a milestone in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and its core principle is land for peace. However, to some extent, this agreement has long been dead in name only. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has actually been in an awkward situation of neither peace nor process.
In addition, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) clashed in 2007. After that conflict, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah took effective control of the West Bank. A divided Palestine has found it more difficult to stand up to Israel.
In recent years, due to U.S. interference, countries in the Middle East seem to have adopted a standstill attitude toward the Palestinian-Israeli peace issue. Since 2020, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and other Arab countries have announced the normalization of relations with Israel under the auspices of the U.S. side. Attempts to bypass the Palestinian issue in foreign policy seem to be the choice of some countries in the Middle East.
It is undeniable that the composition and governing philosophy of the new Israeli government is also an important factor leading to this round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the end of last year, what the media called Israel's most right-wing government ever came to power, and its key idea was to take a tougher stance on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. On Jan. 3 of this year, Israel's new security minister and chairman of the Union of Jewish Forces party, Itamar Ben-Gevir, broke political taboos and forced his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque Square to assert the historical sovereignty of Israel and the Jewish people. The move was strongly condemned by the international community, with Palestinian officials calling it an unprecedented provocation. Since the new Israeli government took power, its veto of the basic principle of land for peace, its failure to recognize the two-state solution and its continued expansion of illegal settlements have undoubtedly added fuel to the already difficult Palestinian-Israeli relations.
In general, it is difficult to end this round of conflict between Israel and Palestine in the short term. Especially against the backdrop of a right-wing Israeli government, the outlook for the peace process is hardly optimistic.
Source: PLA Daily
(The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author or interviewee, and do not represent the position of this research institution)
