Despair overwhelms Gaza and the West Bank. In the past few days Israel’s air force has hit Islamic Jihad targets, killing at least 25 Palestinians. A response by Hamas would provoke even fiercer, lethal Israeli action
voted to divide Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, Palestinians are still waiting for one. While Israelis celebrate May 14th 1948 as their day of independence, Palestinians mourn theirIsrael now rules over 7m Palestinians, including those in Israel and in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are internationally regarded as the basis of an independent Palestinian state. Another 7m are strewn across the Arab world and beyond, about half registered as refugees .
A recent opinion poll said 77% of Palestinians wanted him to resign; four-fifths consider his regime corrupt. The West Bank’s economy has festered. Frustration is rising. A new, or uprising, could erupt. Last year’s West Bank death toll from violence was the highest since the end of the previous deadlyGaza is more hopeless still. “It’s practically a separate state,” says a former head of Israeli intelligence, Tamir Hayman. Israel controls its borders, sea and air space so its 2.
So despair overwhelms Gaza and the West Bank. With no prospect of negotiations and foreign mediation, over 40% of Palestinians favour violence against Israel, according to a poll conducted by Zimam, a Palestinian. Nearly 40% say they dislike the main Palestinian parties. Over 70% have lost hope in a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine co-existing side by side.
But the rise of Israel’s far right horrifies Arabs on both sides of Israel’s security barrier . Mr Smotrich says there is “no such thing as Palestinians” and has called for “finishing the job”, a euphemism for expelling Arab Israelis.A growing number of Palestinians in the diaspora, including refugees, are paying less heed to the officialleadership under Mr Abbas.
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