The territorial and ethnic tensions between Israel and Palestine is rooted in the Jewish migration into Palestine to escape anti-Semitism and the extreme Zionist movement during the early 20th century. In 1947, the British government handed the conflict to the United Nations, where the institution created the Resolution 181, an unfair partition of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. Although the Jewish population represented one third of Palestine and only owned six percent of the total land area, they were given fifty five percent of the land, which included important economic sectors. This led to escalated conflicts between these two groups, leading to the ethical cleansing of 15,000 Palestinians and destruction of their homes by radical Zionists, especially in 1948. This historical travesty is called the Nakba. At least 750,000 Palestinian refugees have fled their homes between 1947 to 1949, including the refugee families who were housed in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood supported by the UNRWA. The refuge was originally under Jordan until 1967, when Israel occupied the territory until its annexation in 1980, which most countries do not recognize. However, Israeli settlements have been evicting and harassing Palestinians who have been living in Sheikh Jarrah for generations, while developing and expanding these territories claiming that they had properties prior 1948, which is illegal under international humanitarian law according to the UN. These acts are also supported by the Israel government, discriminating and promoting hypocrisy, as Palestinians are unfairly banned from reclaiming their land lost in West Jerusalem in 1948. Both sides also claim Sheikh Jarrah and Jerusalem in general is a sacred land in respect to their religion, which also amplifies the division.

Especially due to the COVID-19, the Palestinian economy had a large decline of around 10%, the largest decline since 1994, when the Palestinian Authority was established. In 2019, the unemployment rate in Gaza was above 50%. Another reason for the weakened economy of Palestine is due to Israeli control and its ban on certain imports. Occupation has prevented the Palestinian people from developing their oil and natural gas resources in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has also deducted about $138 million from Palestine’s clearance revenues. Another issue that disrupts Palestinian refugees is pollution that creates a public health issue. In Gaza, the destruction and demolition of the sanitation infrastructure has resulted in environmental breakdown. Israel also transfers hazardous waste produced inside Israel to the West Bank, thus threatening the health of the Palestinian people, the environment and natural resources. Currently, as Israel is Palestine’s closest trading partner, Palestinian workers have lost their jobs during the pandemic due to the Israel economy being shut down for the majority of 2020. Between the pandemic and recent conflict between Israel, socioeconomic conditions in Palestine have declined. However, the US did transfer $1 billion in aid, allowing for some economic relief.

Geography is arguably the main point of contention between Israel and Palestine, so it is important to understand where exactly this conflict is occurring. Jerusalem is at the heart of this region, as both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capitals. Jerusalem is in Western Asia, located to the west of Jordan and is to the east of Egypt, sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. By land, it connects Egypt to the Middle East region.

At this current moment in time, Palestine is internationally recognized as a region of the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Israel is internationally recognized as its own country that borders Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. However, Israel claims that the West Bank– and the entirety of Jerusalem– belongs to them, a statement largely seen as unsanctioned by the international community. While Israel has disengaged from the Gaza Strip, the international community still recognizes this region as Israeli-occupied Palestinian land, an assessment which Israel disagrees with despite the fact they control the airspace in Gaza.

In terms of climate, the region is classified as adhering to a “Hot-summer Mediterranean climate” which is characterized as highs in summers at the 75° Fahrenheit (24° Celsius) range and lows in the 50° Fahrenheit (10° Celsius) range.

The US federal government has planned to assist in restoring the “economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people”, which is represented by “$75 million in economic and development assistance in West Bank and Gaza, $10 million for peacebuilding programs through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and $150 million in humanitarian assistance for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)”

Egypt and Qatar have been heavily involved in the diplomacy between these two countries, playing the role of mediator leading to the recent ceasefire.

Potential US Bill: DEFENDING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN AND FAMILIES LIVING UNDER ISRAELI MILITARY OCCUPATION ACT

Created by Representative Betty McCollum, the bill uses “U.S. taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for: the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; to support the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or, to extend any assistance or support for Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law”