A Palestinian state is the foundation for regional peace

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

‘If the leaders do not have the wisdom and the courage to make the necessary decisions, however difficult, the people of the region will remain doomed to suffer’. In Gaza | Photo Credit: Reuters

There is one, and only one solution to the decades long, volatile and bloody situation in West Asia: the creation or the establishment of a sovereign, independent, viable Palestinian state. In essence, it is no different from the oft-touted two-state solution. But the two-state formula speaks of the establishment of two states living side by side in good neighbourliness. However, one state already exists. What is needed is to establish or create a new, second state, namely Palestine. There will never be peace and stability in the region unless this is done. All the conflicts in the region — Israel’s war on Gaza, the Iran war, the Hezbollah-Israel war, the Houthi phenomenon — will not be resolved unless a viable Palestinian state comes into being. Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbours will remain strained until it accepts the reality of a Palestinian state, just as the Arabs have reconciled to the reality of Israel.

United States President Donald Trump seems to have recognised the importance of working towards the creation of a Palestinian state. Resolution 2803 setting up a Board of Peace (BoP), which was adopted by the United Nations Security Council in November 2025 has the following provision in its annex: “While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA [Palestinian Authority] reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

A major player in this conflict-infested region is Iran. Iran has not always been hostile to Israel. Indeed, under the Shah, Iran’s relations with Israel were cordial and there was a sizeable Jewish community in Iran. Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, most Jews left for Israel. But there are still about 15,000 Jews in Iran. Iran’s Constitution provides for a seat for the Jewish community in Parliament.

Historically, there has not been perpetual enmity between Islam and Judaism. The Koran mentions many prophets and patriarchs from the Hebrew bible, such as Moses, and Abraham. The Crusades were fought between Muslims and Christians; the Jews were not a party to them. Jews were persecuted in countries professing Christianity. The Arabs bore no responsibility for the Holocaust which was carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. It would not be an exaggeration to say that but for the Holocaust, and the sense of guilt felt by the western countries, Israel might not have been born.