Israel-Hamas war rages as crisis in Gaza deepens

US President Joe Biden in a Wednesday address in Tel Aviv said he supports the two-state solution in the pursuit of peace.

“Nations of conscience like the United States and Israel are not measured solely by the example of power. We are measured by the power of our example, and that’s why as hard as it is, we must keep pursuing peace. We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely and securely in dignity and in peace,” he said.

“For me, that means a two-state solution,” he added. “We must keep working for Israel’s greater integration with its neighbors. These attacks have only strengthened my commitment and determination and my will to get that done.”

What is the two-state solution?: The idea of the two-state solution involves an Israeli state next to a Palestinian state, existing side by side in peace. It has been the goal of the international community for decades, dating back to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and many nations say that it is the only way out of the conflict. But progress on the goal has been far from easy and has stalled in recent years. The two sides have failed to come to an agreement over several issues central to the solution.

Both claim parts, if not all, of the holy city of Jerusalem as their capital. They dispute where to draw borders and they continue to clash over Israeli settlements in occupied territory. In addition, what happens to the Palestinian refugees who fled what is now Israel after the 1948 war is a point of contention. The United Nations estimates that there are 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in the world.

It would recognize a 1967 demarcation line known as the Green Line to partition Palestinian and Israeli land, subject to land swaps based on negotiations, and it would divide Jerusalem between the two states.

Correction: This post has been updated to correct the number of Palestinian refugees around the world, as estimated by the UN.