Decades of diplomatic negotiations have functioned more as a mechanism to manage the Israeli occupation than to end it, according to an opinion piece published by Al Jazeera.
The author, a former member of the Palestinian negotiating team during the early 2000s, claims that Israel used the period of the Oslo Accords to aggressively expand its presence in the West Bank.
"As the negotiations took place, Israel used the opportunity to build and expand its illegal settlements, doubling the number of Israeli settlers within seven years of the Oslo negotiations," the report states.
According to the source, international leaders from the United States and Europe promoted negotiations as the only path to Palestinian freedom, despite the lack of a 'Plan B' to enforce international law.
The author argues that this process allowed Israel to continue its territorial expansion under the guise of seeking peace.
A pattern of territorial expansion
The report asserts that the current Israeli political leadership has moved away from the 'flowery language' of the 1990s toward an explicit goal of annexation.
Israeli leaders now openly intend to annex the West Bank and recolonize the Gaza Strip, according to the Al Jazeera piece. The author notes that Israel has also extended its military operations deep into Lebanon and Syria, often during periods of ceasefire.
Recent years have seen a normalization of attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and media outlets, the author claims.
The piece warns that Lebanon is currently falling into the same diplomatic trap experienced by Palestinians in the 1990s.
"At the end of these negotiations, if there ever is an end, Lebanon and Syria will end up with less land than before," the author writes, describing the diplomatic process as a 'recipe for Israel to perpetually remain.'
Ultimately, the author questions whether the international legal system will finally confront these violations of sovereignty or if the current pattern of land theft will become the new global status quo.
