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Forum: Security Council

Issue: Question of Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Student Officer: Marco Onofrio

Position: President

One of the most frustrating aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the apparent inability of many people on both sides to understand the position of the other, and the unwillingness of some to even try.

Kofi Annan Last Speech on the Middle East to the Security Council, February 15, 2007

Introduction

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be considered just a regional war: the political and economic

interests of many foreign countries in the area, the symbolic significance of the conflict and the deep

involvement of the public opinion of all the world have made this issue one of the most important and

debated. For this reason, the UN system has always watched with the utmost concern to the prolonged

violence and continuous bloodsheds of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but even if numerous decisions were

taken and several resolutions were passed in order to reconcile the two sides at war and bring again the

peace in this region of the world, every single effort has been frustrated and the problem is still far from

being solved.

This does not mean that it is not possible to normalize the relations between Israelis and Palestinians, or at

least to mitigate the suffers of the civil population, that has been hit with unseen violence during the

several wars that have ensued one to the other. If there is an organization that have the power, the will and

the authority to undertake such actions, this is the Security Council of the United Nations.

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Definition of Key Terms

The Gaza Strip is a small piece of land which borders with Egypt

and Israel. Originally destined by the UN to be part of the

Palestinian state it was conquered by Egypt in 1948, and by Israel

in 1967. After the Oslo Agreements in 1994 Israel granted the

control of the area to the Palestinian Authority, although Israeli

troops withdrew from Gaza just in 2005. In 2007 Hamas took

control of the region and it has de facto governed it from that time.

More than 1.800.000 people live in the Gaza Strip (1.200.000

refugees) with a density of 5000 people/km2.

IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is the regular army of Israel. It was founded in 1948 by Ben-Gurion and has been

involved in all the conflicts fought afterwards. It is one of the most trained and equipped armies in the

world and can count on an amount of 176 000 active troops. All Israeli citizens serve in the IDF by the age of

18: men for three years, women for two.

Intifada is an Arabic word that literally means “shaking off”. It is used to indicate the two uprising of the

Palestinian civil population against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The first

Intifada began in 1986 and lasted until 1991. The second Intifada took place between 2000 and 2005. The

Intifada is usually fought with the use of handmade weapons (by Palestinian side), such as stones and

Molotov cocktails. It differs from the other conflicts also because it is fought between the Israeli regular

army and the Palestinian civil population, and not between IDF and Palestinian militias.

Iron Dome is an air defense system designed to intercept the missiles shelled on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

It has been active since 2011. Something like 90% of the rockets fired by Hamas (and others) over Israel are

destroyed by Iron Dome.

Israeli West Bank Barrier is a separation wall built by Israel in the West Bank or along the 1949 Armistice

Line. The construction began in 2003 and is not completed yet. In the past 11 years about 450 km (out of

700) has been completed. The Israeli West Bank Barrier, officially built in order to stop the increasing

number of suicide bombing attacks, has provoked several criticisms by the International Community for

damaging Palestinian interests.

PA (Palestine National Authority) is the interim government established as a consequence of Oslo accords

in 1993. It had the full control of the Gaza Strip and of Area A of the West Bank and a limited control of

Area B of the West Bank. After the Palestinian civil war in 2007 the PA lost the Gaza Strip to Hamas. In 2013

PA changed its name into “State of Palestine” after being recognized as a non-member observer State by

the UN. In 2014 an agreement was signed between Hamas and Fatah, and the Gaza Strip was regained

under the control of PA.

PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in 1964 in East Jerusalem by several political and

military organizations, (the most important of which is Fatah) with the aim of creating a State of Palestine

and destroying Israel. It has been responsible of many terroristic actions through the years and has been

Map of the Gaza Strip

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therefore regarded as a terroristic organization by many nations (USA and Israel inter alia). After Oslo I, the

PLO has changed its policy towards Israel and has been therefore recognized as the representative of the

Palestinian people

Quassam rockets is a type of missile used by Hamas and other

organizations in order to strike Israel. It is named after “Izz ad-Din al-

Qassam Brigades”, the armed branch of Hamas. The base for the shelling

of these missiles is the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas. Quassam rockets

were firstly used in 2001, during the second Intifada, and ever since their

use has increased. In 2014, according to IDF, 405 rockets were launched

on Israel (before Operation Protective Edge began). Part of these missiles

are produced in the Gaza Strip, part of them are imported from Iran and

China (the most powerful ones).

West Bank, also known as Cisjordan, is a region of Palestine which

borders on the west side with Israel and on the east one with Jordan.

After the first Arab-Israeli war it was annexed by Jordan. In 1967 it was

occupied by Israel, which has been establishing Israeli settlements in the

area ever since. In 1995, after the Oslo Accords, it was divided in three

areas: Area A was posed under the control of the PA, Area B under the

joint Israeli Palestinian control and Area C remained under the control of

Israel. About 2 600 000 people live in the West Bank (80% Palestinian

Arabs and 20% Jewish Israelis).

Background Information

The British Mandate

The history of modern Palestine began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration. The British Foreign Secretary,

Arthur Balfour, sent a letter to Lord Lionel Rothschild, President of the Zionist federation, in which he

stated that the English Government was favorable to “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for

the Jewish people” even though, “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights

of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any

other country.”

Meanwhile, the English Government was taking separate agreements with France and the Arabs about the

destiny of the Middle-East. Between 1915 and 1916 the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Henry

McMahon promised Husayn bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, the creation of a great Arab State in exchange of his

support against the Ottoman Empire. In the same 1916 the Sykes-Picot Agreement between France and

The United Kingdom decided the subdivision of the area between the two powers.

Five years after the Balfour Declaration the League of Nations divided the territory previously owned by the

Ottoman-Empire between France and UK, granting the first one a mandate over Syria and Lebanon, and the

second one a mandate over Palestine and Mesopotamia (corresponding to the modern Iraq and Jordan).

During the British mandate the situation in Palestine was characterized by an intense immigration of Jews

Map of the West Bank

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from Europe (where they were often persecuted) and by the growing Arab hostility towards the Jews and

the English Government, which culminated in the Great Arab Revolt of 1936-39, with over 500 Jews killed.

When World War II began, it became essential for the United Kingdom to maintain the Arab support, and

even though the number of Jews willing to emigrate in Palestine increased due to Nazi persecutions, the

English Government limited the amount of immigrants per-year. At the end of the war, in 1945, the Jew

population living in Palestine was of about 553 600 people against an Arab one of 1 240 850 people.

The birth of Israel

After the horrors discovered inside the concentration camps had been known worldwide, the international

community, represented by the newly born United Nations, decided to grant the Jews the right to build a

new State in Palestine, as a sort of “amends” for what they had suffered at the hands of the Nazis. The

problem was that neither the Arab living there, nor the neighbouring countries were eager to accept the

presence of this State and complained fiercely. The United Kingdom, on its behalf, tried to maintain the rule

of the southern part of the region, strategic for the proximity to the Suez Canal, but when the UNSCOP

(United Nations Special Committee for Palestine) suggested the end of the British mandate and the

subdivision of Palestine between the Arab population and the Jews (without reserving any part to the UK),

its position towards the birth of the new Israeli state changed immediately, and declared itself unwilling to

cooperate with the UN in the division of and organization of the new regime.

However, the 29 November 1947, during the second session of the

General Assembly of the UN, a resolution was approved with 33 votes

in favor, 13 against and 10 abstentions, which ratified the suggestions

of the UNSCOP. The resolution 181 established that the British

mandate should end within 1st August 1948, and that two new states

should be created, a Palestinian one and an Israeli one, leaving the

city of Jerusalem to an international administration, and specified the

boundaries of those states (see map).

The UK announced that it would end its mandate in August 1948, but

that, by that date, it would exercise an undivided control over

Palestine. It became therefore impossible for the UNSCOP to prepare

a gradual installation of the new regimes. Meanwhile the situation in

Palestine was utterly chaotic: a long series of terroristic actions were

undertaken by both the Jews and the Arabs, which caused the death

of several hundred people. Also the neighboring Arab countries were

in turmoil, and when the forthcoming birth of an Israeli State was

announced, the Arab League (created on 22nd March 1945 with Egypt,

Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen as members) declared a

holy war.

This was the situation when UK withdrew from the country, the 1st May 1948, three months before the end

of its mandate. Two weeks later, 14th May 1948, the birth of the State of Israel was officially declared.

Palestine Partition Plan

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The Arab-Israeli wars

The next day, the armies of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt invaded Israel from three

frontlines, violating all the UN agreements. After a brief period of fighting, the Israeli army, smaller but

better organized than the Arab one (and generously funded by a great amount of private donations from all

over the world) had the better over the enemies and regained the lost territories. The war lasted until the

25th January 1949, when Israel signed a series of separate armistices with the Arab countries. The

conquests made by the different states were maintained, unless they were not recognized by the UN: Egypt

gained the control of the coastline between Gaza and Rafah, Jordan took the West Bank and the East side

of Jerusalem, and Israel kept the West side of Jerusalem and the Negev desert. As a result of these

annexations, 600 thousands Jews and more than 700 thousand Palestinians were forced to leave their

homes. The desperate situation of the Palestinian refugees led to the creation of the UNRWA (United

Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees) which could just mitigate the sufferings of these

people.

After this war, the efforts undertaken by Israel had the aim to strengthen its position in the world and

within the Middle-East. Therefore a campaign to favour the immigration of Jews from all over the world

was established and by 1953 the Jewish population living in Israel was 1.484.000 people. In 1949 the State

of Israel was admitted in the UN with nine votes in favour and one against.

At the same time a revolution was going on in Egypt, which eventually led to the dictatorship of Gamal

Abdel Nasser in 1954. Nasser sided with the URSS, and when he attempted to nationalize the Suez Canal,

France and UK decided to react. Israel joined the two powers and on 29th October 1956 the so called Suez

Crisis began. In just three days the Egyptian army was defeated by Israel and the Sinai Peninsula was

conquered. However Nasser turned a military defeat in a political success and Israel was forced to give all

the conquered territories (Gaza Strip included) back to Egypt.

Until the end of the fifties it is not possible to talk of a Palestinian issue in a proper manner (although this

fact is still debated), as the Arabs living in Palestine were not aware

of themselves as a nation, and all the wars fought against Israel by

the neighboring countries were more an attempt to eradicate the

presence of the West from the Middle-East, represented by Israel,

than an effort to grant the Palestinians their right to a homeland, and

for the same Palestinians it was more important not to have a Jewish

State than to have an Arab-Palestinian one. However, from this

period, a real Palestinian nationalism arose, mainly because of the

increasing sufferings they were exposed to, and in 1964 the

Palestinian National Council funded the Palestine Liberation

Organization (PLO), resulted from the fusion of several military and

political formations, the most important of which was Al Fatah.

The movement of Egyptian troops along the Israeli border led to a

very tense atmosphere, which resulted in the Six-Day War: on 5th

June 1967 the Israeli army attacked simultaneously Egypt, Syria and

Jordan. Six days later the war was over: at that time Israel had taken

control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank,

Territories conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War

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Jerusalem East and the Golan Heights. In November that year, the Security Council approved a resolution

(242) that asked for the return of the conquered territories, but Israel refused to do so. Part of these

territories where afterwards colonized.

After seven years of relative calm (in this period there were several terrorist attacks , like that at the

Olympic games of Monaco in 1972, and the relation between PLO and the Arab League became often

tense) the war erupted again in 1973. On 6th of October, while the Israelis were celebrating the traditional

feast of Yom Kippur, the military forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan attacked Israel by surprise, conquering

part of the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. One week later the counterattack began, and the Israeli

army regained rapidly the lost positions. On 28th of October the SC imposed a cease fire. Peace was largely

determined by the pressures exercised by the western powers (and especially the USA) over Israel, caused

by the so called “oil crisis”, when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to

triplicate the cost of oil. During this war Egypt and Syria’s losses amounted to 11.000, while Israeli’s to

2.800 (over a population of 3 million people).

The peace process

Egypt was the first Arab-State to open negotiations for a lasting peace. The peace process began with the

truce established in 1974: it decreed that Israelis would leave the siege of the city of Suez, and the

Egyptians would restore the access to the Suez Canal. The turning point came in 1977 when Sadat,

succeeded to Nasser in 1970, visited Jerusalem and talked to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. The next

year Sadat and Begin, Israeli Prime Minister, met in the USA, at Camp David, where a framework for peace

in the Middle-East was elaborated. Finally, in 1979, a Peace Treaty was signed, which established that

Israel would give the Sinai Peninsula back and Egypt would officially recognize Israel as a sovereign state.

The other Arab-states didn’t follow the example; in fact Egypt was excluded from the Arab League and in

1981 Sadat was killed by a fundamentalist organization.

With the terrorist attacks going on and several incursions coming from the northern border, Israel decided

to attack Lebanon in the operation called “Peace for Galilee”, in 1982. During this conflict an event of

unthinkable violence took place: a group of Christian-Lebanese extremists killed thousands of Palestinian

refugees living in the camps of Sabra e Shatila, with the complicity of numerous Israeli officers. Some

months later the peace was restored by the UN forces. The consequence of this war was the increase of

terroristic attacks.

A completely new event arose in 1986 when the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip and the

West Bank rebelled against the Israeli occupation adopting a policy of civil disobedience, boycotting Israeli

economical activities and fighting in the streets against the Israeli Defense Forces with handmade weapons.

This phenomenon is known as Intifada, an Arab word that means “uprising”: it lasted until 1991 (or 1993

according to others) and caused the death of more than one thousand

Palestinians and nearly 200 Israelis.

Nevertheless, the peace process between Israel and the PLO went on,

reaching fundamental results in few years: the Madrid Conference of 1991

was a first attempt of multilateral dialogue between Israel, PLO, Jordan,

Lebanon and Syria and though it did not reach any import result from a

practical point of view, it had a great symbolic significance, as it paved the

way for the following peace conferences. Some years later, after a period Rabin, Clinton and Arafat during the Oslo Accords

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of secret negotiations between Israel and PLO, in 1993, the Oslo Accord (Oslo I) was signed: according to it,

the PLO recognized the right of Israel to exist and Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the

Palestinian people. Moreover the Palestinian National

Authority (PA) was created, whose function was to

assume partial control over some of the occupied

territories (the Gaza Strip and the area around Jericho),

for an initial period of five years. The most extremist

parts of both sides (Hamas for the Palestinians and the

Kach for the Israelis) strongly disagreed with any attempt

of compromise and often expressed their opposition

through the use of violence. The several terroristic

actions slowed down the fulfillment of the Oslo Accords

but were not able to stop them. Another important step

toward peace was the treaty of non-belligerence

between Israel and Jordan, signed in 1994. In 1995 some

of the major cities of the West Bank were put under the

control of the Palestinian Authority as an implementation

of Oslo I (Oslo II) and elections were scheduled. The West

Bank was divided in three areas: two of them under the

Israeli-Palestinian joint control (28% of the territory) and

one under the full Israeli control (about 72% of the

territory). Eventually in 1996 the first free Palestinian

elections took place in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,

bringing Arafat to victory.

After the Oslo Accords, many issues remained unsolved

(namely the problem of the Palestinian refugees, the

ongoing Israeli settlements in the occupied territories

and several territorial problems) and the situation

threatened to undermine the unstable peace. Therefore

a new summit was summoned at Camp David, in 2000,

between the US President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Barak and PA Chairman Arafat. However the

summit was a complete failure and it was impossible to find an agreement.

The last fourteen years

The beginning of the new millennium was characterized by the recovery of the violence between Israelis

and Palestinians. The occasion was given by Ariel Sharon, Israeli opposition leader, who decided to visit the

Temple Mount, a holy place for both Jews and Arabs, on 28th September 2000. This action was seen by the

Arab population of Jerusalem as a provocation, so they started throwing stones on the Israeli police, that

reacted shooting rubber bullets on the mob. It was the beginning of the second Intifada. The uprising

spread in the following days and by the end of the year the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were in turmoil.

In 2001 an attempt to reach a truce was made, but it was frustrated by the election of Ariel Sharon as

Prime Minister, who refused to negotiate with Arafat. The year 2002 was characterized by the Operation

Defensive Shield, a large military campaign in the West Bank, during which hundreds of Palestinian militia

troops were killed and thousands wounded. In the next three years fighting between the IDF and the

Subdivision of the West Bank in three areas after Oslo II

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Palestinian militia troops (most of whom belonging to Hamas) went on: Hamas started firing missiles over

Israel from the Gaza Strip and carried out a larger number of terroristic attacks. As a response, the Israeli

Army invaded the Gaza Strip several times (Operation Rainbow, Operation Days of Penitence) in order to

destroy the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt and the military equipment in the hands of Hamas. In 2005 a

summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh brought to a truce between Israel and PA, even though the Quassam

rockets and mortar shelling didn’t stop.

Meanwhile the integrity of the PA was seriously undermined by the death of Arafat in 2004, who had

represented the Palestinian national movement in the world for many years. After this event the relations

between the two main Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, began to deteriorate. The situation reached a

critical point in 2006, when the elections in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority

brought Hamas to victory. The main difference between the two factions was the refusal of Hamas to

recognize the existence of Israel and accept the mediation of the western powers in the peace process. The

Palestinian civil war broke out in 2007, being fought mainly in the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas troops were

more numerous. By the end of the year the war ended: the Gaza Strip was controlled by Hamas, that

founded an Hamas Government in Gaza, while the West Bank remained under the control of the Fatah-

ruled Palestinian Authority.

This event had many consequences: Israel and Egypt decided to settle a sea and land blockade over the

Gaza Strip in order to prevent the introduction of weapons, but this resulted also in a deterioration of the

conditions of the people living in that territory. The effectiveness of the blockade was partially frustrated by

the construction of tunnels passing below the Egyptian and Israeli borders, but they were destroyed several

times during military operations both by the Egyptian army and the IDF. The blockade is considered illegal

by most of the foreign countries (including USA) and has been condemned by the UN.

As a result of the control gained by Hamas, the Gaza Strip became a base for the shelling of rockets over

Israel, in a number that could reach several dozens a day. As a response the IDF organized a number of

military operations in this area, in order to stop the firing of missiles. As a side-effect, these missions (the

most important of which are the Operation Cast Lead in 2008 and Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012)

provoked hundreds of casualties among the civil population (during the Operation Cast Lead more than 900

Palestinian were killed according to PCHR). After Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, a ceasefire was

established, which provided for a temporary end of the hostilities between the two sides, and lasted for

two years.

In the meanwhile Hamas and Fatah tried to reach an agreement for the reunion of Gaza with the West

Bank; from 2008 many attempts were made in order to reach this aim, however the reconciliation talks

always failed. The situation was made more difficult by Israel threat to interrupt any diplomatic relation

with the PA, in case an agreement would be reached between Hamas and Fatah. In November 2012

resolution 67/19 was passed at the General Assembly, which decided to accord to Palestine the non-

member observer State status in the United Nations (while before it was a non-state entity).

Eventually, in April 2014, a Fatah-Hamas Gaza Agreement was signed, and in June the same year a

Palestinian unity government was sworn in, after the Hamas government resigned.

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Recent Developments

Fatah-Hamas reconciliation

The relations between Fatah and Hamas had a significant improvement in the first months of 2014, and

especially when, on April 23, an agreement was signed between the two sides which provided for the

settlement of a unity government within 5 weeks

and parliamentary elections to be held within 6

months. The first step of the agreement was reached

on 2 June 2014, when a Palestinian unity

government was sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas

(better known as Abu Mazen, the president of the

PA since 2005). The ministers of the new

government, that would exercise his power over

both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, are all from

Fatah, while Hamas has no representation inside the

cabinet. However both sides are advantaged by the

reunification: Fatah realized an important diplomatic victory, which would rise the consensus among the

population, Hamas broke the isolation that was stifling it. On the other side Israel, that considers Hamas a

terroristic organization, expressed great concern for the agreement and threatened to undertake no better

specified sanctions against the PA. Many other foreign countries (such as USA) expressed their concern for

the agreement and stated that their future behavior towards the PA, would depend on its commitment to

peace.

Operation Protective Edge

After the 2012 ceasefire between Hamas and Israel there was a significant reduction of the shelling of

rockets on the Palestinian side and of military actions inside the Gaza Strip on Israeli one. However the

situation remained very tense due to the many unsolved problems: in particular, the Palestinian living in

the Gaza Strip lamented the catastrophic consequences over economy of the ongoing embargo, and the

restrictions to which Palestinian fishermen were subjected. As a consequence, many secret tunnels linking

the Gaza Strip with Egypt and Israel were built, in order to import goods from other countries illegally .

According to Israel, these tunnels were used also to import weapons, such as the rockets fired over the

Israeli territory.

When, on 12 June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped, the situation grew increasingly tense:

Israel accused Hamas to be responsible of the kidnapping (even if its leader denied their involvement) and

started to take measures against it. At the end of the month the dead bodies of the three boys were found.

By that moment the situation degenerated rapidly: dozens of rockets were fired over Israel and IDF air

force bombed several sites in the Gaza Strip.

On 8 July Operation Protective Edge began with several airstrikes. On 20 July, IDF land troops invaded the

Gaza Strip, with the aim of destroying the tunnels and stop the launching of rockets. They withdrew on the

5th of August after having completed their mission. Several attempts to establish a truce were made, but

they didn’t last for more than a few days. Also after the withdrawal of land troops the airstrikes went on,

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until an agreement was finally reached on 26 August and a ceasefire was signed. At the end of the

operation more than 2100 Palestinian were killed (according to PCHR) and more 10 000 wounded. Israeli

losses amounted to 71 people.

The terms of the deal are that Israel will allow the humanitarian aid and construction materials to enter

Gaza and will extend the fishing zone to six miles off the coast. These conditions (although they are quite

the same as the previous agreements) have been claimed by Hamas as a great success, and the war as a

victory.

Major Players involved

Fatah is a Palestinian Organization founded by Yasser Arafat and Khalil Wazir in 1959, afterwards become

one of the major parties inside the PLO. After the death of its historical leader Yasser in 2004, internal

struggles emerged and in 2006, in the parliamentary elections, the

organization lost its majority in the Palestinian parliament to Hamas. A

civil war emerged between the two parties, which resulted in the

subdivision of the Palestinian-ruled territories. Fatah controlled the West

Bank, while Hamas the Gaza Strip. In 2013 a reconciliation between the

two parties was settled and in 2014 a unity government was formed.

However the situation has not changed at all.

Hamas was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It is a political

organization with a strong military wing (20 000-25 000 troops) and has the aim of creating an independent

Islamic state in the Palestinian territories by destructing Israel. Hamas gained most of its importance during

the second Intifada, and due to the consent obtained among the people,

won the parliamentary elections in 2006; this resulted in the Palestinian

Civil War. After 2007 Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip and even if in

2014 a unity government was officially formed with Fatah, Hamas de

facto rules the Gaza Strip. It is considered a terroristic organization by

many states, including Israel, USA, the European Union and Egypt. It has

been supported in the past by Syria, Iran and Qatar, even if nowadays it is

quite isolated.

Israel was created in 1948 with resolution 181 of the General Assembly. Its existence was not well accepted

by the local Arab population and by the neighboring countries. This fact

was the main cause of the many Arab-Israeli wars and is still an important

issue to consider in order to understand the present situation. Israel is a

modern state with a flourishing economy and a very strong army. Its main

allies are the United States and India, and it is in good relations with the

European Union and Egypt. It has many enemies among the Arab states

(Iran, Iraq, Syria among the others). 32 members of the United Nation

don’t recognize Israel.

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Islamic Jihad is a political and military organization active in Palestine (and especially in the Gaza Strip), the

aim of which is to destroy Israel and create an Islamic Palestinian State. Even if it is less famous than Fatah

and Hamas, it has a certain military power (about 8 000 troops). It is responsible of many terroristic actions

and the launch of rockets on Israel.

United States of America. They are the most powerful Israeli ally. USA have always played an important

role in the peace process as a mediator between the two fronts (the Camp David Summit is an example)

and have a significant influence in determining the development of the situation.

Egypt neighbors with both Israel and the Gaza Strip. It was one of the principal Israel enemies, but the

relations between the two states have improved in the years, and now the two countries can be considered

allies. Egypt has a very important role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict mainly for two reasons: because of

the strategic border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and because Egypt often plays as a mediator

between the two fronts in the peace conferences.

Iran has been the most important Hamas ally in the past. The relations between them have cooled since

the Syrian revolution, as they support two different fronts. However Iran remains one of the main source of

weapons for Hamas. This country has never recognized the existence of Israel.

Timeline of events

1917 Balfur Declaration

1936-1939 Great Arab Revolt

29th November 1947 Resolution 181 of the UN establishes the end of the British mandate and the creation of two states: one for the Jews and one for the Arabs living in Palestine

1st May 1948 UK withdraws from Palestine some months before the end of its mandate

14th May 1948 The State of Israel is created

15th May 1948-25th January 1949 1st Arab-Israeli war: the day after the creation of Israel a league of Arab countries attacks Israel, but is defeated

1949 Israel is admitted to the United Nations

1956 Suez Crisis: the Israeli army attacks Egypt and conquer the Sinai Peninsula; it is later forced to give it back

1964 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded

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1967 Six days war: Israel attacks simultaneously Egypt, Syria and Jordan, conquering the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and other territories

1973 Yom Kippur War: Egypt, Syria and Jordan attack Israel during a national festivity, but are finally defeated

1978 Camp David Accords: Israeli prime minister Begin and the President of Egypt Sadat meets at Camp David (USA)

1979 The peace-treaty between Israel and Egypt is signed

1982 Operation “Peace in Galilee”: Israeli invades Lebanon

1986-1991 1st Intifada: the Palestinians living in the occupied territories rebel

1991 Madrid Conference

1993-1995 Oslo Accords: a series of agreements between Israel and PLO bring to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PA)

1996 Free elections take place in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for the first time: Arafat wins

2000 Camp David summit

2000-2005 2nd Intifada: the Palestinian civil population rebels again against the Israel military occupation; the shelling of missiles from the Gaza Strip begins

2006 The elections for the renewal of Palestinian Legislative Council bring Hamas to victory

2007 Palestinian Civil War: Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian parties, fight for the control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: the first one is conquered by Hamas, the second one remains to Fatah The Israeli embargo against the Gaza Strip begins

2008 Operation Cast Lead: the IDF invade the Gaza Strip in order to stop the shelling of missiles over Israel; massive causalities for the Palestinian civil population

2012 Non-member observer State status is granted to the PA with a resolution of the GA

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Relevant UN treaties and events

After the creation of Israel, hundreds of resolutions have been passed by the UN organs concerning the

situation of Palestine; just the most important are reported here:

Resolution n. Committee Year Content of the resolution

181 GA

1947 Endorses the end of the British mandate and the creation of an Arab State and a Jewish one, specifying the boundaries of each of them

302 (IV) GA 1949 Establishes the creation of a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in order to deal with the refugee crisis

242 SC 1967 Being approved after the Six Days War, calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories and a just settlement of the refugee problem

338 SC 1973 Approved during the Yom Kippur War, calls for a ceasefire an implementation of resolution 242

425 SC 1978 Requests Israel to cease military actions "against Lebanese territorial integrity and withdraw forthwith its forces"

1322 SC 2000 Expresses concern over the tragic events that have taken place during the first days of the second Intifada

1397 SC 2002 Reaffirms the necessity to put an end to the violence between Palestinians and Israelis. This is the first resolution of the Security Council to call for a two-state solution of the issue.

1515 SC 2003 Endorses the road map for peace in the Middle-East and re-affirms the commitment to actualize a two-state solution

1860 SC 2009 Calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, to be followed by the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, and condemns any violence against civil population

67/19 GA 2012 Decides to accord the PA a non-member observer State status in the United Nations

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Main problems and possible solutions

Trying to find a solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict we can start by distinguishing the long-term

solutions from the short-term ones. The aim of the first ones is to find a stable political asset of the Mideast

area, which should result in a lasting peace, based on the mutual recognition and respect of the two sides

now at war. The aim of the second ones is to find some practical (even temporary) solution for the

problems that need to be dealt with urgently. A resolution of the Security Council should include both of

them.

Long-term solutions

Two-state solution: this was the original idea of the UN when resolution 181 was approved. It provides for

a subdivision of Palestine into two states: a Israeli-Jewish one and an Arab-Muslim one. The main

advantage of this type of solution is that it can be “historically justified”, as it was to be applied already in

1948, and therefore it is more likely that the two sides will accept it. The main problems are that it would

be very difficult to decide were the borders between the two states shall pass (Israeli settlements,

Palestinian refugee right of return, water access etc.) and that Hamas still refuses to recognize the right of

Israel to exist.

One-state solution: it provides for the creation of a joined Israeli-Palestinian state. This could be an ideal

solution for many aspect: the refugee problem would be solved as the Israeli settlements’ one, and there

would be no borders to be established neither. However it has the big disadvantage that nothing like that

has ever been tried in the past, and that many Israelis and Palestinians would not accept such a state.

(Remember that the UN charter recognize the self-determination of peoples, so it is not possible to force

them to live together if they don’t want to).

Short-term problems and solutions

Refugee problem: as you are a delegate of the Security Council, this issue is not properly of your concern (it

should be debated in the Human Rights committee instead). However, as it has many political

consequences (like for the Lebanese wars), it would be wise at least to mention it.

Fatah-Hamas conflict: even if the relationship between the two Palestinian most important parties is

significantly improved in the last period, the Gaza Strip remains de facto under the control of Hamas.

Moreover there has been rumors of a coup organized in the West Bank by the latter against Fatah and

eventually foiled by Israel. Therefore, if your state is for the reunification of the two parties, you should be

interested in the improvement of the unity government.

Blockade of the Gaza Strip: the international community claims that the blockade resulted in a

deterioration of the people living in the Gaza Strip, but Israel states that it is necessary to prevent the illicit

trade of weapons.

Settlements’ problem: the number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank is increasing every year.

Palestinians, with most of the foreign countries, considers them to be illegal, but Israel is not going to stop.

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Terroristic actions: the number of civilians who died as a consequence of terroristic actions is huge, and it is

still increasing. The Security Council has the power to take measures against it, or at least to condemn

anyone involved.

Bibliography

Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_page

BBC news. http://www.bbc.com/

The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/uk

Il Post. http://www.ilpost.it/ (Italian)

UN website. http://www.un.org/en/

IDF website. http://www.idf.il/english/

State of Palestine permanent mission to the United nations website. http://palestineun.org/

UNISPAL website. http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/home.htm?OpenForm

UNRWA website. http://www.unrwa.org/

Security Council Report. http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/index.php

PCHR website. http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/

Storia del conflitto arabo israeliano palestinese. Giovanni Codovini. Bruno Mondadori.1999 (Italian)