The two-state solution remains the only possible resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is consistent with international law. The International Court of Justice has confirmed the unity of the occupied Palestinian territory held by Israel since 1967, a territory on which the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination continues to be denied. This territory constitutes only 23% of historic Palestine, with 77% belonging to Israel as recognized by the international community in 1949. The two-state solution is therefore highly advantageous to Israeli Jews, as it grants them more than three-quarters of the territory shared with the Palestinian people, who are just as numerous.
Such an imbalance marked the historic defeat of Palestinian nationalism at the hands of a far more powerful Israeli nationalism. Instead of settling the dispute between the two peoples once and for all, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has chosen to reinforce three distinct entities alongside Israel, effectively burying any prospect of a Palestinian state.
A territory annexed de facto or de jure
In addition to the 77% that make up its sovereign territory, Israel has annexed 14% of historic Palestine, officially in East Jerusalem (0.5%) and de facto in the West Bank (13.5%). The annexation of East Jerusalem has been recognized by only seven United Nations member states – the United States (under Donald Trump in 2017), followed by Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa. Nearly 400,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem have voting rights only in municipal elections and live alongside more than 200,000 Israeli settlers.
As for the part of the West Bank annexed de facto by Israel, this corresponds to Area C under the 1993–1995 Israeli-Palestinian agreements. About 300,000 Palestinians live there as a minority, facing half a million Israeli settlers living in 141 settlements (illegal under international law) and 224 “outposts” (illegal under Israeli law). The more than 700 kilometers of barrier built by the occupying authorities aim to separate this de facto annexed territory from the rest of the West Bank.
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