Zero distance in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has not approached the shadow areas or the zero distance that relates to the possibility of its solution or dissolution during the past seven decades, as it happened during the last fifty days, despite the complexity of the conflict, at least currently, but moving beyond this complex stage may reach a political settlement that was lacking during The last two decades.

The situation is complex, and the war that Israel is still waging against the Gaza Strip has not stopped yet, and no date is known for it to stop, and it does not appear on the horizon that it will stop now, and the conflict is still going through a stage of complexity, after which it will enter the stage of a radical solution, and this does not mean that we are heading towards a solution. There are days of a solution to the conflict, but it is one stage after another and may take more time.

The war may continue for weeks to come, or it may last for months. There is no magic solution that can fall from the sky. The seventy-year conflict will not be resolved in seventy days of war. But what we can say is that we are closer to resolving the conflict at this difficult point. The darkest hours of the night are those before sunrise, and this is what appears from the live interaction with the practical solutions that were previously proposed for the solution.

It is true that the international community failed to force Israel to accept a ceasefire, and the Security Council also failed to issue a resolution in this regard, all of which are negative indicators of the continuation of the conflict. Perhaps Israel’s desire was overwhelming to restore the balance of power to its advantage, but it did not achieve this. The goal became just a wish, and the intelligence and military failure was followed by a new failure, and perhaps its failure to liberate the Israeli prisoners is the greatest failure, in addition to the failure to achieve its goal of eliminating “Hamas” during the last forty days.

It is true that the war is still ongoing, and perhaps Israel will succeed in achieving its goal or part of its military goals in Gaza, but the current military situation indicates otherwise, and in addition to this failure, and that is its bet, on the presence of its prisoners and the Hamas command center under the Al-Shifa Complex and the rest of the hospitals. In Israel, although it has bet on this since the beginning of its military campaign, its intelligence information lacked any credibility, and this is a new failure added to the list of failed goals.

Despite the difference in the American point of view regarding the release of Israeli prisoners, whether civilian or military, Washington failed to convince Israel of a ceasefire or a political settlement to the issue of the century. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the continuation of the ongoing war until now, and with it all scenarios will remain on the table and acceptable.

Unparalleled Palestinian losses in the war that Israel is still waging on the Gaza Strip, in addition to the post-war scenarios, all of which seem difficult and complex to the Hamas movement, in addition to scenarios that expand the circle of conflict regionally and internationally, and this scenario cannot be excluded or bypassed also.

Despite all these facts, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is going through the zero-distance stage, which may ultimately lead to reaching the path of establishing a Palestinian state on the entire Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. The matter will not be easy, and Israel will not grant the Palestinians the right to self-determination, nor will it give them East Jerusalem as the capital of their imagined state, but it will take a long time in negotiations, pressure, and the use of force as well. All of this will lead in the end to the establishment of the Palestinian state as the only saving solution for Israel, and it is forced to till then.

Israel's partners have become part of the missing solution. These partners think in terms of long-term gain rather than short-term loss. Israel must accept what it rejected in the past and seek to neutralize the power of Hamas. Perhaps the closest vision for these partners is the establishment of a Palestinian state that participates in this role!

Israel does not believe in this perception and will not be easily convinced. The current Israeli government is not qualified to play this role, and America is seeking political change in Israel so that it can preach what it believes will preserve the State of Israel and preserve what remains of its prestige.

Israel's crisis is not in Gaza, but in the presence of the resistance movements, led by the "Hamas" movement, which has become the strongest and most dangerous to its security, and Israel has become unable to confront it, as it seems in the scene of the current conflict that "Hamas" started through the October 7 attack ( last October.

Most of the assessments of positions in strategic studies centers in the West go to the search for outcomes related to moderating Hamas’ behavior. The closest approach to this seems to be allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state, which carries out this role through its security force. A difficult and heavy choice that may cost Israel a lot, but it is forced to think about it seriously.

The United States is promoting the idea of a political path and a two-state solution, and in doing so it is trying to save Israel from its current security impasse. Perhaps it believes that the existence of a sovereign Palestinian state on its borders, united by peace treaties, may greatly assist Israel in its mission, which it has failed to achieve, at least during the last forty days.

It is true that Israel's position on the Palestinian Authority is not good. If it sees Hamas as a terrorist movement, it sees the Palestinian Authority as well. The first practices terrorism through weapons, and the second practices it through politics and diplomacy. This is a frustrating opinion for any attempts related to establishing a Palestinian state, but it has become forced to abandon what it previously declared or evaded in order not to implement it and evade it.

Israel is not sincere in resolving the conflict, but it is running away from its failure to confront the Palestinian resistance and Hamas in particular. This is a major challenge that may not end with the establishment of a Palestinian state, because quite simply, Israel wants to confront its near enemy with its distant enemy behind the state proposal, and this It cannot create security in the short or long term for Israel.

(Annahar)