The Gaza war has brought back to the fore the debate over the two-state solution to the conflict, which is still seen by many countries as the path to peace even though the negotiation process has been stalled for a decade.

Nearly seven months after the start of the war in Gaza, the US, Israel’s closest ally, has declared that both Israel’s security and the future reconstruction of Gaza cannot be achieved without steps towards a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Israel, against which international pressure has intensified, expressed its anger on the decision of Spain, Ireland and Norway to formally recognize a Palestinian state. Madrid, Dublin and Oslo signaled their move as a way to speed up efforts to reach a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli military-occupied West Bank, welcomed the move, while Israel recalled its ambassadors in protest, saying such moves could jeopardize its sovereignty and security.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly declared that a sovereign Palestinian state would pose an “existential danger” to Israel.

The two-state solution envisages the existence of an Israeli and a Palestinian state side by side.

Issues that have consistently hindered the progress of discussions on the two-state solution concern the conflict between the two sides over Jewish settlements in the occupied territories that the Palestinians believe should be included in the Palestinian state, but also issues such as borders, the return of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, an ancient city holy to both sides.

The origins of the two-state solution

In British Palestine there were conflicts between Arabs and Jews who had immigrated to the area as they fled Europe where they were facing persecution.

In 1947, the United Nations agreed to a plan to partition Palestine which provided for the creation of an Arab and Jewish state and Jerusalem under international rule. The Jews accepted the plan, which gave them 56% of the land while the Arab League rejected it.

The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. A day later, five Arab states launched an attack against it. The war ended with Israel controlling 77% of the territory.

About 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, securing control of all lands from the Mediterranean to the Jordan Valley.

Palestinians remain stateless, with most living under Israeli occupation or as refugees in neighboring states. Some – mostly descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel after its creation – have Israeli citizenship.

Was there ever a deal?

The two-state solution was the foundation of the US-backed peace process launched by the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The agreements led to the recognition by the PLO of Israel’s right to exist and the renunciation of violence, but also to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Palestinians hoped this would be a step towards an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The peace agreement was rejected, however, by both sides.

Hamas, an Islamist movement, carried out suicide attacks that resulted in the deaths of many Israelis and in 2007 seized Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in a brief civil war. Hamas’s 1988 charter advocates the destruction of Israel, although in recent years it has said it would accept a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. Israel characterizes Hamas’s shift in stance as a ruse.

In 2000, US President Bill Clinton initiated talks between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David, but the effort failed.

The status of Jerusalem, which Israel considers its “eternal and indivisible” capital, was the main obstacle.

The conflict escalated with the second Palestinian intifada in 2000-2005. US governments have tried to revive the peace process – to no avail, with the last attempt collapsing in 2014.

What can Palestine be like?

Proponents of the two-state solution envision a Palestine in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank connected by a corridor through Israel.

Two decades ago, details of how it might work were laid out in a blueprint by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

Known as the Geneva Accords, its principles include the recognition of the Jewish quarters of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the recognition of the Arab counterparts as the Palestinian capital. At the same time, the Agreement foresees the demilitarization of the Palestinian state.

Israel would annex large settlements and cede other land in exchange, while at the same time moving to resettle Jewish settlers in Palestinian sovereign lands outside of these areas.

Is a two-state solution possible?

The obstacles grew over time. While Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, settlements expanded into the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with their population growing from 250,000 in 1993 to 695,000 three decades later, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now. The Palestinians say this undermines the basis of a viable state.

During the Second Intifada, Israel also built a barrier to stop Palestinian attacks. The Palestinians call it a land grab.

The Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas administers islets of land in the West Bank, surrounded by a zone of Israeli control, 60% of the territory, including the Jordanian border and settlements defined in the Oslo Accords.

Netanyahu’s government is the most hardline in Israel’s history involving religious nationalists who draw support from settlers. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last year that there is no Palestinian people.

Hamas won elections in 2006 and a year later drove pro-Abbas forces from Gaza, dividing the Palestinians.

Is there a possibility of an agreement that will lead to two states?

The status of Gaza is the immediate question. Israel aims to eliminate Hamas and maintains that it will not agree to any deal that would allow it to return to power. Netanyahu has declared that Gaza must be demilitarized and placed under the full security control of Israel. At the same time, he has stated that he does not want Israel to rule Gaza or restore the settlements there.

For its part, Hamas claims that any Gaza deal that excludes it is an illusion.