Quote Originally Posted by uno
And please don't say that Israel is interested in conquering Lebanon's territory. Also, keep in mind that Israel in the past has forced its own citizens out of large territories of land in a gesture for peace.
Well, I don't think Gaza counts as a large territory. With its 1.5 million or so Palestinian inhabitants, it was total fantasy to think that Israeli settlement there could ever achieve anything (not unless the long term intention was to expel the existing population into Egypt or something like that). So I assume you're talking about the Sinai area. Well, that did secure peace with Egypt and proves that a "land for peace" deal can work, and remember Egypt was Israel's greatest enemy in earlier wars. If someone suggested in the 1950s or 60s that Egypt would accept Israel's existence, they would probably have been dismissed as mad.

As regards Lebanon, I don't think anyone is suggesting Israel wants to conquer its territory but clearly Israel has a different attitude to the West Bank. The course of the wall and the expansion of settlements prove that. And ultimately all these conflicts are interconnected, An outbreak of violence on one front can trigger clashes on another. There has to be a comprehensive peace deal for the Middle East that addresses all outstanding issues, including Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Israel might say that they have no partner to negotiate with, and it's true that while Hamas refuses to accept the existence of Israel and to renounce violence there is little hope of peace. But Israel's determination to continue building settlements and annexing land on the West Bank is also a huge obstacle to agreement. Locking up 2.5 million Palestinians behind walls into pockets of land in the West Bank, enveloping them inside the state of Israel but without any voice in that state is insane. It's also immoral and totally unworkable.

And lastly, you don't have to expand settlements and deny Palestinians their own state in order to keep Israel secure. Any agreement could still see Israeli forces along the Jordan valley to ensure no weapons or rockets got through to those opposed to the peace.