The ongoing tension in the Middle East, which has periodically flared up, is currently more severe and widespread than before. The conflict, which began after the attack by the HAMAS group on Israeli territory on October 7 of last year—resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 people—has now persisted for 11 months. The Israeli military operations against HAMAS in the Gaza Strip have led to the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians.
Alongside the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the conflict in the Middle East poses significant threats to global security and the world economy.
A brief history of the Israel-Palestine conflict
The Israel-Palestine conflict has a deep historical background, making it practically impossible to determine who is right or wrong from a contemporary perspective. Because this conflict intertwines history, religion, ethnic identity, territorial disputes, political organizations, and more.
In the late 19th century, as attacks and persecutions against Jews intensified in European countries and the Russian Empire, Jews began to migrate to their historic homeland in what was then the Ottoman Empire's province of Palestine. The situation changed after the First Zionist Congress held in 1897, which aimed to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
In 1918, after being defeated in World War I, the Ottoman Empire was forced to leave the Middle East, including the territory of Palestine. The region came under British mandate. During this period, Jewish immigration to the area accelerated, and by 1936, Palestine had a population of 1.5 million Arabs and 500,000 Jews. The rapid increase in the Jewish population and their acquisition of land led to protests from the Arab population and the first clashes on a national basis.
After the Nazis came to power in Germany and began to seize control of Europe by implementing anti-Semitic laws, Jewish immigration to the Middle East further intensified.
This pace continued with the Holocaust during World War II and the migration of tens of thousands of Jews to the region after the war.
Finally, in 1947, the United Nations decided to establish separate Arab and Jewish states in the territory of Palestine.
Arab countries opposed this division and declared war on the State of Israel, which declared its independence on May 14, 1948. The war resulted in the defeat of the Arab coalition, which included Palestinians, and led to 77% of the territories intended for the creation of a Palestinian state coming under Israeli control.
In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel again defeated the Arab coalition and this time took control of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Syria’s Golan Heights, and the remaining territories of Palestine—the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Thus, since 1967, the conflict has taken on its current unresolved modern form. Subsequent events such as the October War of 1973, the signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979, and the Oslo Accords signed in 1994 have not been able to fully resolve the tension in the Middle East.
Currently, 4.8 million people live in the Palestinian territories, while another 5.6 million Palestinians are settled in refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries. The issue of Palestinian refugees is one of the main causes of tension in the Middle East.
Another factor exacerbating the Israel-Palestine conflict is Israel’s continued construction of settlements in the West Bank. Currently, 61% of the West Bank is under full Israeli control, and more than 630,000 Jewish settlers live in these settlements.
Against this backdrop, the role of the international community is of great importance.
Lack of sincerity among foreign mediators in the Israel-Palestine conflict
Unlike the Garabagh issue and many other conflicts, the Israel-Palestine confrontation has continuously been in the spotlight of global public attention. But it is strange that the issue, in which the leading world powers actively participate, has not been resolved despite numerous peace initiatives over the past years.
Firstly, it is necessary to highlight the ambiguous role of Western countries in the process. In the Israel-HAMAS conflict that began last October, the West, which declared full political and military support for official Tel Aviv, plays a key role in the deadlock of the confrontation. The European Union and the United States, which recognize Israel’s right to self-defense, have also protested against the numerous civilian deaths—women and children—in Israel’s operations in Gaza. What is interesting is that although the West has labeled the death of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza as a massacre and demanded that Israel quickly conclude its operation, it has not ceased the practice of sending arms and ammunition to the region. Top of Form
The West, with its contradictory statements and the steps it has taken, has still been unable to propose an optimal solution for the future structure of the Middle East and has issued vague statements without concrete proposals.
In fact, the facts clearly show the lack of sincerity of Western countries, including the United States, in peace initiatives. The U.S. proposes peace agreements in Qatar and Egypt, calls on all parties to increase efforts to achieve peace, while simultaneously announcing a new aid package to Israel. It appears that the U.S. and the West are only calling for peace for the sake of statements, but in reality, they openly ally with Israel, and arm it to avoid peace. Thus, peace initiatives are a game, a mask to cover up duplicity.
Unlike the West's dual approach, China has proposed the most optimal solution regarding the Palestinian issue. Official Beijing has declared that stopping the conflict between factions in Palestine, ensuring unity, and mobilizing for common goals is the most optimal solution. However, this call has also remained in the air, generating no reaction from the parties involved. Neither the West nor the conflicting parties have accepted or taken any steps toward solving the problem based on these proposals.
Fragmentation within Palestine
A major issue emerging is the lack of unity within Palestine. It can be said that sharp disagreements are one of the main reasons for Palestine's helplessness in resolving the conflict.
Currently, there are 26 groups within Palestine that do not accept one another. The two main forces in Palestine - HAMAS, which controls Gaza, and (Palestinian National Liberation Movement) Fatah, which holds power on the West Bank and is recognized as the official face of the State of Palestine. There has been a long-standing struggle between these two entities, reaching the level of enmity. The sharp contradictions between these two political and military powers led to an open political confrontation after the 2006 elections and the takeover of Gaza by HAMAS through armed conflict in 2007.
It is important to note that over 600 Palestinians were killed during these events. Therefore, today, both HAMAS and Fatah, with their different platforms and objectives, must be considered key contributors to the suffering of the Palestinian people and the ongoing military tragedies.
It appears that the conflict between Fatah and HAMAS, driven by their reluctance to give up their own mercantile interests, is hindering the protection of Palestinian interests and giving Israel additional advantages in the conflict. One gets the impression that both forces are not interested in solving the Palestinian conflict and establishing a Palestinian state. On the contrary, it seems they prefer to maintain ongoing military escalation, maintain the fanaticism of Muslim solidarity as a sacrifice for Palestine, and use this situation to accept donations and control the region's political and economic life.
The competition between these political organizations is quite intense and has reached the level of armed confrontation. There is no force capable of uniting Fatah, HAMAS, and other political organizations and mobilize them for a common goal. Meanwhile, the Mahmoud Abbas Administration is mired in corruption, with hundreds of millions in aid being embezzled and serving to enrich the leaders of these political organizations further.
Each party's own interests
In addition to the confrontations between political organizations, the ambiguous stance of Arab countries that prioritize protecting the rights of Palestinian Arabs also complicates the resolution of the issue.
Today, there are notable contradictions between Arab countries that recognize Israel—such as Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Eritrea, and Jordan—and other Arab nations. These countries do not hold a unified position on Israel and Palestine, each pursuing its own interests.
Processes suggest that the U.S., the European Union, Iran, Israel, and leading Arab countries each support different political organizations and are trying to achieve their own objectives in Palestine and Gaza. The situation with the Palestinian state seems to resemble a business. Aid flows in from around the world and is embezzled, while the political organizations within this division engage in ruthless competition to secure their positions.
Israel skillfully exploits this situation and pursues its own agenda as well. The Jewish state understands well that, under financial interests and the influence of external forces, these political organizations will not unite and pose a threat to Israel. Israel also understands that statements from the Biden Administration and Western centers about halting military operations are merely for show and will have no real impact. As a result, Israel continues to aggressively implement its plans. Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza. Israel is committing atrocities, killing children and infants in the region, which cannot be justified in any way. The world and the West are only responding to Israel's serious misdeeds with dry statements.
Recent events have not only dealt a blow to Israel's international image but also appear to have pushed the peace agenda between the two sides off the table for the foreseeable future. Israel's ongoing military operations, the mass killing of innocent people, the displacement of residents from their homes, and the erasure of towns and villages will leave scars that will remain unhealed for many years, leading to continued animosity.
The international community, particularly the West, is not only powerless to achieve a final resolution to the conflict but also seems either unwilling or unable to secure even a temporary ceasefire.
Why is the UN's "two-state solution" resolution not being implemented? Why are no steps being taken to enforce this resolution? Because the UN has long lost its influence as an organization. The U.S., Western countries, Israel, the Mahmoud Abbas Administration, and the political organizations in Palestine all have their own interests in the continuation of this conflict—be it political, regional, or business-related. What justice can be expected from the U.S. and its Western allies, who sacrifice Palestine, Gaza, and the Middle East for their political and business interests?
We know well that the scales of justice in the U.S. and other countries have long been tipped. The actions of the U.S., France, and Russia, which took on a false mediation mission while Azerbaijani territories were under occupation for 30 years, are well known to us.
Therefore, Azerbaijan resolved its problem with its own strength, while the cries and clamors of the patrons of the occupying Armenia were left to itself.
Given that the justice, international law, and human rights stance of the U.S. and its allies are well known to the world, the accusations these countries occasionally level against Azerbaijan or other states cannot be considered justified.
As for the Israel-Palestine conflict, the issues listed above indicate that until the root causes of the problem are addressed and international law and the principle of justice are applied equally to everyone, all proposed initiatives are doomed to failure.
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