Why is peace so hard?

The five big questions

Settlements make this harder every year: more than 700,000 IsraelisIsraeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem✕about 737,000As of end of 2024About 504,000 in the West Bank and about 234,000 in East Jerusalem. Settler organisations, using Israel's population register, give a higher West Bank figure (about 529,000 at the start of 2025).Sources: European Union (EEAS) — Report on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem (January–December 2024) (2025)Peace Now (Israeli anti-settlement group) — Settlements data: population and number of settlements (2026) live beyond the Green Line — about a third in East Jerusalem, many in big blocks near the line, and a growing number deep inside the West Bank.

Possible futures

• Two states: the official goal of the UN and most governments. In 2002 Arab states offered Israel peace and normal relations in return for a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines; Israel did not accept.
• One state with equal rights: backed by some on both sides. Most Israeli Jews reject it, saying it would end the only Jewish state.
• One Palestinian state instead of Israel: the aim of Hamas, whose 2017 document still calls for the liberation of Palestine "from the river to the sea". Israel and most governments reject it.
• The situation stays as it is, or Israel annexesAnnexation✕When a state declares that land it controls is now officially part of its own country. Israel annexed East Jerusalem (1980) and the Golan Heights (1981). Some Israeli politicians want to annex all or part of the West Bank.All words explained → the land: Israel keeps control, with limited Palestinian self-rule. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Israel's B'Tselem say Israel's rule already amounts to apartheidApartheid✕A crime under international law: a system of domination by one racial group over another, named after South Africa's former regime.Palestinians and groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem: Israel's rule over Palestinians amounts to apartheid.Israel and its supporters: the label is a smear: Arab citizens of Israel have equal rights, and the situation in the West Bank is a security conflict, not a racial system.All words explained →; Israel rejects the label.

Enemies have made peace here before: Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. And Israelis and Palestinians who lost relatives to the conflict still work together, for example in the Parents Circle–Families Forum.

Two views

What would make peace possible?

Many Israelis say

Security first. No more attacks like 7 October; Hamas out of power; Palestinian leaders who truly accept a Jewish state and stop praising violence; and Arab states that make peace and help guarantee any deal.

Many Palestinians say

Freedom first. An end to the occupation and to settlement growth; a real state with East Jerusalem as its capital; recognition of the Nakba and of refugees' rights; and accountability for crimes against Palestinians.

These are widely held views, not the views of every Israeli or every Palestinian. Both societies argue about these questions among themselves.

How to follow the news fairly

You now know more about this conflict than most people who argue about it online. Four habits help:

• Ask where a number comes from, and when.
• Watch the words: "killed" or "died"? "Occupied" or "disputed"? "Militants" or "terrorists"? Words reveal points of view.
• Hear each side in its own words, not only what its opponents say.
• Be careful with videos online: old or fake images spread fast in every war.

Behind every number is a person — Israeli or Palestinian — with a family, a home and a future.

Go deeper · optionalMore: Jerusalem, where the compromises come from, and other ideas▾

Jerusalem. Israel calls the whole city its capital. Most countries do not recognise this and keep their embassies in Tel Aviv; the United States moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018.

Where the compromises come from. Most of the "usual compromises" above come from the Clinton Parameters of December 2000 and later talks in 2001 and 2008, when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came closer than ever to an agreement. The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative also asked for East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and a "just" solution for refugees.

One state. Many Israeli Jews fear that in a single state they would become a vulnerable minority. Some Palestinians and some Israelis argue that equal rights for everyone between the river and the sea is the only fair answer.

A confederation. Some joint Israeli–Palestinian groups propose two states with open borders and shared institutions.

Public opinion. Polls in both societies show that, since 7 October and the war, few people believe peace is close. Polls also show that opinions change when events change — as they did in the 1990s.