Title: Israeil
1Occupied lands
2 - Ground zero in the Mideast struggle over land is
East Jerusalem, including the historic Old City
center. Both Palestinians and Israelis lay claim
to Jerusalem as their capital. The two sides also
are battling over Gaza and the West Bank, where
Jewish settlers have staked claims in the midst
of territory designated for Palestinians
3 - Other hot spots include the border between Israel
and Lebanon, where Hezbollah guerrillas have
clashed with Israeli troops, and the Golan
Heights -- a strategic plateau in southwest Syria
that Israel captured in 1967.
4West Bank and Gaza
5Following the 1967 and the 1973 war, the U.N.
Security Council passed Resolutions 242 and 338
calling for Israel to withdraw from territories
it had seized in the fighting, including the West
Bank and Gaza. The resolutions called for the
Arabs, in turn, to recognize Israel's right to
exist. Israel eventually agreed to the
resolutions as did Egypt and Jordan.
6Following the 1967 and the 1973 war, the U.N.
Security Council passed Resolutions 242 and 338
calling for Israel to withdraw from territories
it had seized in the fighting, including the West
Bank and Gaza. The resolutions called for the
Arabs, in turn, to recognize Israel's right to
exist. Israel eventually agreed to the
resolutions as did Egypt and Jordan.
- In the years following the wars, thousands of
Jewish settlers staked claims in Gaza and the
West Bank. The settlers, guarded by the Israeli
military, continued to establish homes in
scattered areas of Gaza and the West Bank even
after 1988.
WEST BANK
7Jerusalem
8 - Israel gained control of western portions of
Jerusalem in 1948. Israel retained control over
the New City following the 1949 armistice until
1967
- Israel considers Jerusalem its "eternal and
indivisible" capital. Palestinians say eastern
Jerusalem is the capital of their future state.
9Lebanon border
- Israel announced the end to its 22-year military
occupation of southern Lebanon on May 24, 2000.
Israeli troops began to withdraw from the
nine-mile security zone on May 22, 2000, after
then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered the
pullout six weeks ahead of a self-imposed July 7
deadline.
10 - The zone was carved along the border in 1985 as a
buffer between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli
civilians in northern Israel. Filling the
security void will be UNIFIL -- United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon -- a peacekeeping
contingent of 4,500 troops from Ghana, France,
Finland and Fiji among others. The U.N. plans
eventually to expand the force to more than
7,500. The United Nations had been calling for
Israel's withdrawal since 1978.
11Golan Heights
- A major obstacle to peace between Israel and
Syria is the issue of the Golan Heights, a
strategic plateau in southwest Syria that Israel
captured during (June 5-10, 1967). Israel put
the Golan under military occupation to protect
its northern border and by the late 1970s had
established nearly 30 civilian settlements in the
territory. In 1981, it unilaterally annexed the
area. Syria wants Israel to return all the
territory that was under Syria's control on June
4, 1967.
12 - Israel reportedly is willing to return some of
the Golan but wants to retain the 1920 border
drawn during the French Mandate of Syria and the
British Mandate of Palestine following World War
I. The Golan Heights embraces 1,250 square
kilometers (500 square miles) and borders
southern Lebanon, northeast Israel and northwest
Jordan. Its elevations range from 2,000 meters
(6,600 feet) in the north to below sea level
along the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) and the
Yarmuk River in the south.
13A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent
Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict
14A peace plan developed by the "Quartet" -- the
European Union, Russia, the United Nations and
the United States -- was presented to the
Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government
April 30. The three-phase "road map" sets these
goals
- A "final and comprehensive settlement" of the
conflict. - "An independent, democratic and viable
Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace
and security with Israel."
15Phase 1 Ending Terror And Violence, Normalizing
Palestinian Life, and Building Palestinian
Institutions -- Present to May 2003
RD MAP
16Palestinian Authority
- Accepts "Israel's right to exist in peace and
security." - Dismantles "terrorist capabilities and
infrastructure." - Ends all incitement against Israel.
- Holds free, open, and fair elections.
17Israel
- Confirms commitment to "an independent, viable,
sovereign Palestinian state." - Freezes all construction in Jewish settlements.
- Dismantles illegal settlement outposts built
since March 2001. - Withdraws from zones reoccupied during the
conflict.
18Phase 2Transition -- June 2003-December 2003
19 - Israel moves to "enhance maximum territorial
contiguity" for the Palestinians. - International conference launches the process
leading to a Palestinian state with provisional
borders.
20Phase 3Permanent Status Agreement and End of
the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict -- 2004 2005
21International conference tackles
- Permanent borders
- Status of Jerusalem, refugees and settlements
- Peace between Israel and other Arab states.