While primary focus remains on Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry is still hoping for a resumption of the so-called peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It remains crucial that the basis for resumed negotiations be clarified and that Israel recognizes that it is an occupying power. The definition of what Israel is in the Palestinian territories cannot remain nebulous, as it has since 1967. Unless the legal basis of Israel's status is clearly defined, the futility of what is termed “negotiations” by Secretary Kerry and his predecessors will continue as it has since the Oslo agreements.
On the Palestinian side, if a negotiated settlement is to take place, it is imperative that it not be reached exclusively through the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, but include the totality of the territories occupied since 1967, which inevitably includes the Gaza Strip. This makes it necessary for the two factions in the West Bank and Gaza to unite as a negotiating team prior to any commitment to a negotiating process. Unless these conditions are clarified, accepted and made operational, the futility of “resumed negotiations,” despite Kerry's good intentions, will persist.
