EXPLAINER: Can the 'two-state solution' be revived?

"I state clearly, as Prime Minister of this great country, that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made that announcement on Sunday, September 21 - nearly two years after the start of the war in Gaza. 

Starmer said his government wanted to "revive the hope of peace and the two-state solution." But what exactly is the two-state solution? 

The idea is that Palestinians live in their own country, side by side with Israel. Right now, they live in Gaza and the West Bank. But in effect, Israel has controlled these areas since the 1967 war, when it seized Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan. 

The two-state solution took center stage in 1993, when U.S. President Bill Clinton helped secure a deal between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. 

That deal became known as the Oslo Accords, a series of interim agreements that paved the way for a Palestinian government. 

Israel announced a plan to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, while the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed to recognize Israel, as well as its citizens' right to live in peace. 

It seemed the two sides had finally found a solution after decades of conflict. 

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin delivered a speech at the signing ceremony in September 1993, saying, "Enough of blood and tears. Enough!"

PLO leader Yasser Arafat also delivered a speech that day. It was hopeful, but also cautious. 

"The difficult decision we reached together was one that required great and exceptional courage," said Arafat. "We will need more courage and determination to continue the course of building coexistence and peace between us."

In the end, those words would prove prophetic. Negotiators had until May 1999 to reach a permanent deal. But by early 2000, talks had ground to a halt. 

Clinton stepped in again, holding a summit at the presidential retreat, Camp David. Those talks collapsed in July, with both sides blaming each other. 

And then, just over two months later, the peace process went up in flames. 

Israeli politician Ariel Sharon entered the compound holding Al-Aqsa Mosque, a place Muslims consider sacred. The move sparked a conflict that raged for nearly five years. More than 4,000 people were killed – most of them Palestinians.

Sticking to the plan

It seemed the plan for a two-state solution was plagued with problems. But the United States persisted with it. 

President George W. Bush visited Bethlehem in January 2008, making it clear that the U.S. still backed the idea. 

"Someday, I hope that as a result of the formation of a Palestinian state, there won't be walls and checkpoints," said Bush. "People will be able to move freely in a democratic state. That's the vision." 

But the walls and checkpoints remained. And yet, Israel said it wanted freedom for Palestinians. 

"Israel remains fully committed to peace and the solution of two states for two people," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2013. "We extend our hand in peace and in friendship to the Palestinian people." 

So what happened? After all, Israel backed a two-state solution. Likewise, its biggest ally, the United States. But more than 30 years after the Oslo Accords, any plans for peace are now in tatters. 

Some Palestinian officials blame Israel, saying it never embraced the two-state idea. 

Hanan Ashwari is one of them. Ashwari is a former minister in the Palestinian Authority, the interim government set up after the first Oslo Accords. She said in a 2023 interview that the deal was little more than a smoke screen for Israeli leaders. 

"Israel used the process to implement and entrench its own apartheid system," said Ashwari. "It also used it to implement its own permanent occupation."

Israel has continued to build settlements in areas that Palestinians call home. The United Nations (UN) has declared those settlements illegal in terms of international law, and yet the numbers keep going up. Before the Oslo Accords, there were just over 100,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Data from activist group Peace Now suggests there were half a million by 2023. 

The fear and the fury 

But Israel claims there's another side to the story. It says militants have attacked it - again and again - and it's warned there can be no Palestinian state, if that state tries to harm it.

The October 7 attacks fed into that argument when Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people after crossing into Israel from Gaza. Israel has responded by reducing Gaza to rubble. It also killed more than 65,000 people in less than two years – that figure according to Gaza's health ministry, which is run by Hamas. 

Major powers such as China, Russia, France and the UK have repeatedly called for a ceasefire. They've also backed a two-state solution. 

But the U.S. has opposed those moves. It refused to back a UN declaration laying out a roadmap for the two-state solution. That declaration called for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and a guarantee that Hamas would have no role in a future Palestinian government. 

The U.S. has also blocked calls for a ceasefire, choosing to veto six draft resolutions at the UN between late 2023 and September 2025. 

President Donald Trump has said that he has plans for Gaza, telling reporters that it could be transformed into the "Riviera of the Middle East." But there's been no mention of two states. 

"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip," Trump said after meeting with Netanyahu in February. "We will do a job with it too. We'll own it."

'A reward to terrorism'

It seems Israel has also turned its back on the two-state solution. Netanyahu delivered a televised address on the same day that the UK, Canada and Australia recognized the Palestinian state. He did not mince his words. 

"I have a clear message for those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7th. You are giving a huge reward to terrorism. And I have another message for you: It will not happen … For years, I have prevented the establishment of this terrorist state, despite tremendous pressure both domestically and internationally."

All of this is a far cry from that historic day in 1993. But not everyone in Israel is pointing fingers at the Palestinians. Yossi Beilin was a member of the Israeli negotiating team in the lead-up to the Oslo Accords. He gave an interview to Reuters, just over a month before the October 7 attacks. 

"The problem is that the rightist governments in Israel, mainly under Netanyahu, used the interim agreement and made it a permanent one," said Yossi Beilin, a member of the Israeli negotiating team. "They believed these things can be there forever. They can't." 

More than 150 countries have backed the idea of a two-state solution. That's roughly three quarters of the nations represented at the UN. It will not be easy to implement a two-state solution, especially with the number of Israeli settlements across the West Bank. But for many leaders, it's a vital step.  

"The hope of a two-state solution is fading," said Starmer as he made his historic announcement.  "But we cannot let that light go out. That is why we are building consensus with leaders in the region and beyond, around our framework for peace."

The two-state solution does offer a framework. But peace is more than a problem to be solved. Ultimately, it's about hearts and minds, and no plan works without them.  History shows us that – in haunting, harrowing detail.