The Palestine-Israel conflict is one of old conflicts going on this planet which started soon after world war two. Despite the best efforts by world to solve this issue through mediation and dialogues it is still here and engulfing the futures of many on both sides and anarchy in the region. This conflict soon broke out after the end of World War II when British’s ended their mandate in Palestine. The land was separated in two parts by British’s, one for Israeli’s and second one Palestinian Arabs under UN special committee for Palestine UNSCOP. Arab state was based on 42 % of land and Israeli state was based on 50 % land and the rest of land which also included Jerusalem has status of International zone. Under resolution 181 of UN General Assembly this was endorsed on 29 November 1947.

This was rejected by Arabs while Jews accepted this. This led to clashes between both groups at local level but the major war fight started soon after Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, soon after this declaration neighboring Arab states went on war with Israel and when this all ended in early 1949 Israel gained 78 % of land which was more than planned one and about 700,000 of Palestinians were displaced from their homes and took refuge in safe lands. Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO was established in 1964 with the help of Egyptians and Yasser Arafat was selected as the chairman in 1969. From 1949 to 1973 Arab countries and Israel fought three other major wars and the results were in favor of Israel except war of 1956 with Egypt. PLO was endorsed as legal representative of Palestinian people in October 1974 by Muslim states.

In 70’s PLO used different kind of violent activities against Israeli’s for achieving fame and support on global level. Israel response towards actions of PLO was condemned by UN and civilized world which was construction of settlements in captured territories. From 70’s till today there have been many significant developments like wars and peace deals; withdrawal from Gaza and West Bank and handing over authority of these two regions to Palestinians, emergence of groups on Palestinian side, changes in policies, public opinion and tactics of both groups which brought destruction and blood to both groups and moments of peace but still this conflict remains unresolved.

Because of the clash of identities which led to unacceptance of each other causing wars and occupation of territories, violence propagated against civilians, the religious beliefs on both sides, the violations of human rights and blockade of the Palestinian administrated zones have intensified this conflict. Violence and policy of non-acceptance aren’t the solution to this issue; both parties should trust each other and sit on table.

Nationalism has great impact on this conflict and stability of region, its historic nature and current crisis has led to violence in the region and as well as globally. Due to this conflict both groups have used violence towards each other which led to many deaths. This issue has triggered nationalism on both sides which have given rise to hatred even among youths. The main causes behind this conflict are use of violence, expansion of settlements and disunity of Palestinians. This issue as being one of oldest ones is a serious obstacle in the achievement of stability and peace in the region, and also to peace in the world.

The research will be qualitative in nature which will be based on library research in systematic and illustrative way. Collection of data will be of primary and secondary sources including books, agreements, and statements of political leaderships, research articles, research papers, summit declarations and other sources.

• What are the causes of violence in Palestine-Israel conflict and their impact on peace process?

• How the disunity of Palestinians is affecting the relations of both groups and peace process?

• What are the impacts of settlement expansion on the talk initiation between Palestinians and Israeli’s?

• What would be the future prospects and steps taken to the solution of this conflict?

Modern Palestinian and Israeli conflict in this 21st century has great impact on regional as well as global level. The importance of this conflict is increasing due to increase in violence on the basis of sociocultural, socio-political and socio-economic differences between these groups. Beside that this conflict has created humanitarian situation in Palestinian territories due blockade and psychologically affecting people from both sides. Additionally this conflict has affected world politics from Arab states adopting diplomatic and economic actions in wake of Israeli or its ally states steps.

Being old conflict and a hurdle in regional security of Middle East lots of work has been done on this issue ranging from books to research articles and research papers, etc. William L. Cleveland in his book A History of Modern Middle East states that after the failure of Arab states against Israel in 1967 and losing more territory belonging to Palestine, the Palestinians thought that it’s their duty to end the occupation and free their homeland from Zionist occupiers. Soon after the Arab defeat small organizations inside Palestine and Jordan started to work rapidly, their members were mostly young students [1].

A letter written by British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour to the British Zionist, Lord Rothschild in the end of 1917, which reads as, “His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that 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 [2].”

The use of violence, expansion of settlements and disunity among Palestinians have remained obstacle in building environment for achieving peace and these have created more farness between Israeli’s and Palestinians.

The theory of nationalism explains this conflict in an excellent way.

Nationalism is the most powerful ideology of the contemporary times. Moreover, nationalism has become a global culture, and a major block of contemporary international system. On the bases of Nationalism, states have sovereignty, and are above from moral and normative principles. Furthermore, there are two schools of thoughts, Primordial and Instrumentalism. The first believes that nationalism is based on certain objectives factors such like, culture, color, race, and language etc. while the other believes that nationalism is an idea which is based upon perception, the perception of Us vs Them.

Nation is variably a collective personality, in which different ethnic groups are merged into one idea of nationhood. For the desire to nationality into one common nation and protecting the nation state, a new concept of Nationalism got its root in the wake of globalization and industrialization. Globalization and industrialization have been seen as the most dangerous threat to the nation states and nation hood. Though nationalism was not a new concept but it was strengthened during 18th century. In twentieth century, it was nationalism which became the root cause of the independence of Sub-continent and the African states. The national instinct or consciousness, without which nationalism could not conceived, and it is the national selfconsciousness which triggers the nationalism.

Excluding conclusion and introduction research is divided into three sections though. First section will explain the emergence of Palestine-Israel conflict in the historical perspective in briefly. Moreover, the second section will discuss about new dimensions including the split of Palestinians, expansion of settlements by Israel and propagation of violence against civilians by both sides. Furthermore, the third section will discuss the efforts made for the solution of this conflict on global and international level. Finally, the research study ends with the conclusion.

The Palestine Israel conflict: a historical perspective

Geography and origin of identities: This conflict is one of old ones which started soon after world war two. Before understanding the Palestine-Israel conflict we must know about the region and history of it, the geography, and the people. “The Middle East consists of the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran and sometimes beyond. The central part of this general area was formerly called the Near East, a name given to it by some of the first modern Western geographers and historians, who tended to divide the Orient into three regions. Near East applied to the region nearest Europe, extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf; Middle East, from the Gulf to Southeast Asia; and Far East, those regions facing the Pacific Ocean [3].”

Word “Palestinian” is a general term used for people living in the regions of Canaanite to Phoenician or Moabite or Edomite. These people have been ruled by different civilizations like Roman, then Greek, then Byzantine, and then Arab’s. The examination of history tells that in this region which is today known as Palestine and in past it was called Canaan, and many cultures existed and they have gone through changes with the passage of time. The Canaanites successors are Israelite’s which are forefathers of Jews and of today’s Palestinian’s too. Today’s Palestinian Arab culture is because of advent of Islam is last part of seventh century by Arabs.

Migration of Jews: By 1900 immigration to Palestine by Jews also led to the establishment of about 20 new exclusive communities or colonies where some 5,000 Jewish immigrants lived (Smith 1984: 15). In the wake of the anti-Jewish Russian pogroms of 1881–84 and 1903– 06 thousands of Jews chose to escape to Palestine. These waves of immigration were known in Hebrew as aliyah (ascent). This concept of aliyah, of an ‘ascent’ to the Holy Land by Jews through immigration, became one of the fundamental tenets of modern Zionism and was later enshrined in the ‘Law of Return’ by the state of Israel. The first waves of immigration to Palestine during this period were made for ideological, pragmatic and spiritual reasons. The first aliyah dates from the period of 1882–1903. Jews came to Palestine to settle the land. During this time the majority of these Zionist immigrants came from Eastern Europe or Russia and they established new communities (moshav) mostly in the countryside. The second aliyah (1904–14) was much more ideologically motivated by socialist Zionist ideals and it was from this group of immigrants that the first socialist utopian community known as kibbutz (gathering) was founded.

The origin and timeline of conflict: The interference of Britain in Arab peninsula, the Jewish persecution in Europe along with their desire of homeland based on Zionism and Arab’s desire of separation from Ottoman Turks are the main factors behind the rise of conflict. The promises made by Britain to Arabs and Jews in Europe before and after World War I led to clash of interest and rise of conflict.

Beverley Milton-Edwards in his book The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A people’s war explains that the with start of World War I, the Palestinians showed their support for Ottoman’s but it was mostly by elders and younger’s adored idea of Arab nationalism and rebelled against Turk’s. He further states that during this all British’s, Arabs and other groups signed agreements and made deals which had great impact on the future of this region. The first one was Hussein- McMahon correspondence; this was series of letters exchanged by Sharif Hussein of Mecca and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner of Egypt. The main theme of these letters was that Brittan would accept the Arab states in the boundaries defined by Hussein of Mecca, carved out in aftermath of war against Ottoman Turks and Arabs should support Brittan against Ottoman’s which will also lead to Arab separation.

The second was Sykes–Picot Agreement which was about the control of territories gained by allied after World War I, under this agreement Palestine was given a status of International status and was known as “Allied condominium” but after further negotiations Haifa and Acre, two cities were given to British which was against Hussein- McMahon Correspondence and later was exposed by UUSR under Lenin. This show allies wanted Arab’s independence but without compromising their interests. However in 1917 Great Britain also made promise to Zionists to help them in establishing a homeland in their occupied territory.

A letter written by British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour to the British Zionist, Lord Rothschild in the end of 1917, which reads as, “His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that 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 [2].”

New dimensions of Palestine Israel-conflict

After the 1967 war there were new directions in this conflict which can be seen as organized use of violence, political organization’s involvement, the colonial behavior of Israel and disunity among Palestinians.

William L. Cleveland in his book A History of Modern Middle East states that after the failure of Arab states against Israel in 1967 and losing more territory belonging to Palestine, the Palestinians thought that it’s their duty to end the occupation and free their homeland from Zionist occupiers. Soon after the Arab defeat small organizations inside Palestine and Jordan started to work rapidly, their members were mostly young students [1].

Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO was established on the dictation of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Naser to server as legal representative as well as to lead in struggle for freedom. Yasser Arafat took charge of PLO as leader in 1969; he was head of Al-Fateh organization at the same time. PLO was the name for world in reality it was group of organizations which included Fateh, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and, in the occupied territories, the Palestine Peoples Party (PPP, formerly the Communist Party). It was based on leftist ideas with revolutionary spirit to launch armed activities for liberation of Palestine. After the events of Black September in 1970 PLO was driven out from Jordan, it moved to Lebanon. Later after the invasion of Lebanon by Israel it was forced to Lebanon and moved its organization to Tunis. Invitation to Yasser Arafat’s to address the UN General Assembly in 1974 was the main victory of PLO came [2].

The PLO kept using armed activities till signing of Oslo accord in 80’s, violence has remained hurdle in whole peace process.

Jad Issac states in Israel-Palestine Conflict Parallel discourses that, Settlements came to know soon after Israel won the 1967 war, Israel planned to establish settlements for Israeli’s under PM Levi Eshkol, Palestinians were forced to leave their land on short notice and their land was confiscated by State of Israel in newly captured territories of East Jerusalem, Gush Etzion, and the Golan Heights. Nearly 55 % territory under Israeli occupation has been declared no go areas of Palestinians and grabbed under the names of declared as closed areas or nature reserve. The number of settlements in Gaza was 21 by 2005 which were evacuated along with 4 settlements from West Bank. The number of settlements in West Bank is 199 [4].

Phoebe Greenwood writes in his article “Palestinians prepare to lose the solar panels that provide a lifeline” published by The Guardian that “The problem for Palestinian communities here is that permission to build any infrastructure is very hard to come by. According to figures from the civil administration quoted by the pressure group Peace Now, 91 permits were issued for Palestinian construction in Area C between 2001 and 2007. In the same period, more than 10,000 Israeli settlement units were built and1, 663 Palestinian structures demolished [5].”

At the end of Gaza-Israel war of 2014 Israel in response to killing of three teenagers and this war announced to confiscate 400 hectares of Palestinian land in West Bank, this is the most largest piece of land seized by Israel since 1967 war. The report published by Israel Herald states that “The Israeli military-run Civil Administration said, via an announcement on Israel Radio, that it was declaring 400 hectares of land in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem "state land, on the instructions of the political echelon".

According to reports on Israel Radio, the development is in response to the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers which took place prior to the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during which more than 2,000 people were killed, according to the UN most of them civilian [6].”

Israel plans to build more settlements, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in his recent statement pledged to build more settlements. This was said in a TV interview which states as “not a single settlement would be removed from the map if he is re-elected in March. “I don’t see such a move as being practical at this point. Since I’m in charge it won’t happen [7].”

United Nation’s and rest of world have condemned Israel’s plans to build to settlements on Palestinian territory. USA under Obama administration denounced to accept the legality of continuation of Israeli settlements. Obama stated during his speech at Cairo, Egypt that “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop [8].” Palestinians believe this is violation of Oslo agreement and repeatedly said that Israel must stop these settlements.

HAMAS (Harakat al-Muqawima al-Islamiya) and other organizations

Hamas is Informal name of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Harakat al-Muqawima al-Islamiya), formed from its acronym in Arabic. HAMAS is an Arabic word meaning “fervor” or “zeal.” HAMAS was founded in the Gaza Strip on 14 December 1987 by Shaykh Ahmad Yasin with Abdullah Darwish, Abd al-Aziz Rantisi, Salah Shahada, and Ahmad Shama, Palestinian followers of the Muslim Brotherhood. Constituted a few days after the start of the first Intifada, it proposed fighting for the liberation of Palestine and the re- Islamization of Palestinian society.

According to its charter, published in 1988, HAMAS sanctioned armed struggle against Israel only in Palestinian territory and proscribed inter-Palestinian armed conflict. Its leadership was composed of a board of directors (Mudiriya), a consultative council (Majlis al-Shura), and departments (Shaaba) or bureaus (Maktab). The political bureau (al-Maktab al-siyassi) was headed by a general secretary, and the military bureau (al-Maktab al-askari) supervised the operations of the armed branch (al-Jinah al-musallah), called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade after a martyr of the revolt of the 1930s [9].

Hamas has used different kind of violence against Israeli citizens and IDF personals which include kidnapping, sniper attacks, rocket attacks, most deadly suicide bombings and raids on outposts of IDF. It has also executed Palestinians accused of spying. Beside this all Hamas has opposed peace talks with Israel. It controls Gaza strip and is part of Palestinian unity government. The current chief of Hamas is Khalid Mashal. Hamas won 2006’s legislative elections and formed a unity government with Fateh in 2007 but same year they clashed over the authority issues with President Mahmoud Abbas.

There are many other militant groups which operate in territories controlled by Palestinian Authority; notables among them are Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Jund Ansar Allah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, The Popular Resistance Committee, and most of these groups has opposed peace with Israel and adopted violence for the liberation of Palestinian territory.

Organized use of violence/Intifada’s

Intifada term means uprising, it was first time used when the organized use of violence by Palestinians in retaliation for Israeli forces in response for their occupational acts from 1987 to 1993. The first intifada started after a road accident between IDF automobile and a truck carrying Palestinian laborers, this was followed by series of protests and replied with force from IDF. In start this was typical public protest, after passage of time PLO started to take over the situation and commanded from their base in Tunis. PLO also aligned with other groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad and formed a single body Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU) to coordinate this uprising. IDF continued to use violent methods for suppressing this uprising and was criticized by world.

In late 1988 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution (43/21) criticizing Israel’s “persistent policies and practices against the Palestinian people”: [The United Nations] Condemns Israel’s persistent policies and practices violating the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, and, in particular, such acts as the opening of fi re by the Israeli army and settlers that result in the killing and wounding of defenseless Palestinian civilians, the beating and breaking of bones, the deportation of Palestinian civilians, the imposition of restrictive economic measures, the demolition of houses, collective punishment and detentions, as well as denial of access to the media [3].

Second intifada is referred to the events which took place inbetween 2000-2005. It was triggered with controversial visit of Ariel Sharon, the likely next PM of Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem in September 2000. The Palestinians responded with protests and road blocks which were replied with force. Later on it took new directions the Palestinian groups started to use suicide bombings, road side bombs, ambushes, etc. And in response IDF started to use Tanks, Helicopters, 24 hour curfews, etc.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution (1322) on October 10 addressing the violence. The Council stated that it deplored “the provocation carried out at Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem on 28 September 2000,” and that it condemned Israel’s “excessive use of force against Palestinians [3].”

In 2008 after the failure of extension of truce between Israel and Hamas a major broke out between Israel and groups of Gaza which ended with 1417 deaths of Palestinians. In 2012 IDF launched major operation against Hamas and other groups involved in rocket attacks, ambushes leading to 6 Israeli deaths and 105 Palestinians deaths. And in 2014 after the kidnaping of three Israeli teens which were later killed a full scale war occurred between Hamas and Israel which involved infantry, artillery and Jets from Israeli side and guerrilla attacks from Palestinians. This ended with more than 2100 deaths from Palestinian side leaving 11000 wounded and 100000 homeless and Israeli side lost 72 lives [10].

Steps taken for the solution of Palestine-Israel conflict

After the five years of bloodshed world leaders perused both parties to sit and talk, a peace conference was sponsored by USA and Soviet Union in Madrid, Spain. Israel along with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and joint Jordanian-Palestinian’s were indulged in talks, and this was chaired by Bush-Baker. This conference was followed by different kind of talks but due to change of governments in USA no result was achieved. But this made both sides to think that it is possible and beneficial to talk. In September 1993 through back channel diplomacy by the help of Norwegian PM both groups led to accept each other and go for more in peace process. This led to more development in peace process and mutual agreement on many issues. Israel withdrew from West Bank and Gaza plus giving control to PLO. Further negotiations were carried out and Oslo II was signed. The main theme of this was establishment of zones for control of territory and safe passage for communication between Gaza and West Bank along with opening of Gaza Airport but it failed due to incomplete withdrawal of Israel.

Hebron Agreement was signed by Palestinian authority and Israel for the division of West Bank and security of Jewish settlers but it failed when Israel didn’t met the required withdrawal as promised and this led to riots in region along with Jewish settlement expansion plans in the region of Har Homa (known to the Arabs as Jabal Abu Ghneim) which was condemned by world through UN. In 1998 another accord was signed with the help of Clinton administration [11].

Mediation called Wye River Accord, the main subject of these talks were security and stoppage of terrorism by Palestinian Authority and changes in status of lands by Israel. But this was discontinued by Netanyahu due to internal pressure.

In September 1999 a memorandum was signed by both parties in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt which vowed to continue talks and implementation of all agreements made after 1993. In July 2000, Clinton in its last days of government invited Palestinian and Israeli leaders for negotiations but it was failed due to rigidity of Palestinian stance on their points. On the fifth anniversary of Oslo signing agreement Ariel Shron’s visit to Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) with a big security was the main thing behind the triggering of second intifada also known as Jerusalem intifada which was from 2000 to 2003. This led to protests and Israel replied with force, which later led to both sides use of violence leading to thousands of deaths and damage of property. UN Security Council condemned act made by Sharon and use of force against Palestinians through resolution 1322 [12].

In the last days of 2000 Palestinian and Israeli leadership met in Taba, Egypt with the mediation of Bill Clinton for solution of issues on territory, refugees, status of Jerusalem and security. But both sides couldn’t finalize agreement as Ehud Barak was replaced by Ariel Sharon and Bill Clinton by George W Bush, and Sharon didn’t accept these negotiations accusing Arafat unwillingness to compromise. A barrier was built by Israel on West Bank border to stop Palestinians from entering and conducting violence against Israeli civilians and security forces. Its construction started in 2002 and it is 400 miles long which has electronic fences, long walls, trenches and gates. The most of it is out of UN marked Green Line, separating about 10 % of land from Palestinian territory. Palestinian leadership saw it has an obstacle in the establishment of Palestinian state and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Yasser Arafat died on Nov 11, 2004 after a short term illness. This was a great blow to Palestinian cause as he was the main leader and voice of Palestinian people.

In 2006 Hamas won elections and formed a unity government which failed and Hamas took Gaza in its control. Fighters of Hamas attacked Israeli Security Forces in June 2006 killing many soldiers and capturing a soldier named Gillad Shalit. With the help of Egypt a peace deal was made between Israel and Hamas in 2008 but it lasted less than a year. Due to deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation because of Israeli blockade of Gaza a major war broke out between Hamas and Israeli Defense Forces on Jan 3, 2009. This started with air strikes followed by attack from ground troops. The main targets were police stations; Hamas head quarter, rocket launching sites and tunnels made for attacks and smuggling. In this war 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israeli were killed. The UN investigation stated that both sides committed crimes against humanity [13].

In 2009 Barack Obama as new President of USA showed his support for establishment of Palestinian state, halting of Israeli settlements and Hamas to end violence as well as play its role in achieving peace. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu halted the further expansion of settlements for 10 months in November 2009 after a visit to Washington. After the expiry of this promise settlement expansion started again, in response Palestinian Authority refused to continue talks till settlement construction is halted. After taking charge as Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013 met Israeli and Palestinian leaders many times, persuade them to engage in talks. His efforts bore fruits and talks were initiated but these failed due to delays from both sides.

A war between Israel and Hamas broke after the kidnapping of three Israeli teenager boys and later their killing in West Bank. Israel responded with large military operation which was focused on search and rescue in first phase but after failure in achieving these aims its objectives changed to punishment of the perpetrators involved in this crimes. This operation later targeted Hamas personals and assets in Gaza involving air, sea and land forces while in retaliation Hamas and other groups launched rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli territory. This ended with a toll of more than 2200 with 2127 Palestinians and 66 Israeli’s.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas proposed a peace plan in August 2014, this plan calls for nine months of direct talks followed by a 3 year plan for Israel to withdraw to the 1967 lines, leaving East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital. As part of the plan, Israel will freeze all settlement construction as well as release the final batch of prisoners from the previous talks. The first three months of the plan would revolve around the borders and potential land swaps for the 1967 lines. The following six months would focus on issues including refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, security and water [14].

The plan has been rejected by both US and Israel in response Abbas said it will take this plan to UN Security Council and further to UN General Assembly in case of veto from US, and to sue Israel for Israel- Gaza conflict of 2014 in International Criminal Court. In response of veto from UNSC President Abbas joined ICC by signing up membership treaty in the end of December.

The nationalism has long lasting effects on both groups in this conflict. The nationalism has fueled occupation and policy of nonacceptance which has created the obstacles in achieving peace in the form settlements and use of organized violence on both sides. The disunity among Palestinians made world confused to be negotiated with which party. In current scenario the disunity along with blockade, violence and expansion of settlements are main factors involved in worsening of this conflict.

The Palestinian groups should put down the violence and sit on table which will be beneficial for their cause and the state of Israel must stop the violent methods of suppression and occupational activities which are blockade of Palestinians territories, expansion of settlements and use of violence against civilians this will have a positive impact on peace process. Palestinians must have a united voice which should have a clear plan for negotiations. Moreover, there is still not too much late to solve the issue with peaceful means. The negotiations must involve all Palestinian groups under one umbrella and halting of violence from both sides in the shape of cease fire along with no expansion of settlements.