Two-state solution in the context of "Palestinian territories"

The status of Jerusalem has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict" due to the long-running territorial dispute between Israel and Palestine, both of which claim it as their capital city. Part of this issue of sovereignty is tied to concerns over access to the holy sites of Jerusalem in the Abrahamic religions; the current religious environment in Jerusalem is upheld by the "Status Quo" of the former Ottoman Empire. As the Israeli–Palestinian peace process has primarily navigated the option of a two-state solution, one of the largest points of contention has been East Jerusalem, which was part of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank until the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.

The United Nations recognizes East Jerusalem (and the West Bank as a whole) as the territory for an independent Palestinian state, thus rejecting Israel's claim to that half of the city. There is broader consensus among the international community with regard to West Jerusalem being Israel's capital city, as it falls within Israel's sovereign territory (per the Green Line) and has been recognized as under Israeli control since the 1949 Armistice Agreements.

Intermittent discussions are held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a peace process. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in both this conflict and the wider Arab–Israeli conflict. Notably, the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel included discussions on plans for Palestinian autonomy, but did not include any Palestinian representatives. The autonomy plan was not implemented, but its stipulations were represented to a large extent in the Oslo Accords.

Despite the failure of the peace process to produce a final agreement, the international consensus has for decades supported a two-state solution to the conflict, based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 and 338. This includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state under the pre-1967 borders including East Jerusalem and a resolution to the refugee question based on the Palestinian right of return (in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, though Israel disputes this interpretation). This is in contrast to the current situation under the Oslo Accords in which the Palestinian territories are divided into areas of varying jurisdiction between Israeli military control and the Palestinian National Authority (PA), with the PA only having partial self-rule in Area A of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. A final settlement as stipulated by the Oslo Accords has yet to be reached.

The idea of establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has evolved through various proposals and disputes. During the British mandate period, numerous territorial and constitutional models were proposed for Palestine, none of them winning the agreement of all parties. In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was voted for. The leaders of the Jewish Agency for Palestine accepted parts of the plan, while Arab leaders refused it. This triggered the 1947–1949 Palestine war and led, in 1948, to the establishment of the state of Israel on a part of Mandate Palestine as the Mandate came to an end.

The Gaza Strip came under Egyptian occupation, and the West Bank was ruled by Jordan, before both territories were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since then there have been proposals to establish a Palestinian state. In 1969, for example, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) proposed the establishment of a binational state over the whole of the former British Mandate territory. This proposal was rejected by Israel, as it would have amounted to the disbanding of the state of Israel. The basis of the current proposals is for a two-state solution on either a portion of or the entirety of the Palestinian territories—the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which have been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Palestinian self-determination, also known as "Palestinianism", refers to aspirations by Palestinian nationalists for increased autonomy and sovereign independence as well as to the international right of self-determination applied to Palestine. Such goals are features of both the one-state solution and the two-state solution.In the two-state solution this usually denotes territorial integrity initiatives, such as resisting occupation in the West Bank, annexation efforts in East Jerusalem or freedom of movement along borders, as well as the preservation of important sites such as Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Conservatism in Israel is mostly based around upholding Jewish tradition, promotion of forms of Zionism that tend to be more irredentist in nature (i.e. Revisionist and Neo-Zionism, which promote the idea of Greater Israel as compared to Liberal or Labor Zionism, which are supportive of a two-state solution), promoting Israeli national security, maintaining the role of religion and the Rabbinate in the public sphere, support for the free market, and closer ties with the United States. However, a variety of ideological trends exist within Israeli conservatism, and not all hold up every single one of these ideals or points of view.

The one-state solution is a proposed approach to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process that envisions a single state within the boundaries of the former Mandatory Palestine. The term one-state reality refers to the belief that the current situation in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict amounts to a single de facto political space. The one-state solution is sometimes described as a bi-national state, reflecting the idea that it could provide self-determination to Israelis and Palestinians within a shared state.

It is a potential resolution to the conflict through the creation of a unitary, federal or confederate Israeli–Palestinian state, encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories (comprising the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), and potentially the Golan Heights. Perspectives differ: some argue that such a model would alter Israel's identity as a Jewish state and leave the Palestinians without national independence within a two-state solution, while others view it as an equitable framework for ending the conflict.

In Jerusalem, the "City Line" was a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) segment of the Green Line that divided the city between Israel and Jordan as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which ended the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. On one side was West Jerusalem, which was part of Israel, and on the other side was East Jerusalem, which was part of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank; East Jerusalem also included the Old City and the Israeli exclave of Mount Scopus. Additionally, a "Demilitarized Area" surrounding the British Government House was controlled by the United Nations. The City Line had numerous fortifications and obstacles on both sides, and various buildings in the city that were situated along the boundary were used as military posts. This arrangement was in place until the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, when Israel captured the entirety of Jerusalem. In 1988, six years before the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Jordanian government formally renounced the country's territorial claim to Jerusalem in favour of supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state, though the Jordanian Waqf continues to exercise authority over the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. Pursuant to the two-state solution laid out by the Oslo Accords, East Jerusalem has been sought by the Palestine Liberation Organization as the capital city of the State of Palestine.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735, adopted on 10 June 2024, calls on Hamas to accept a proposed hostage and ceasefire agreement in the ongoing Gaza war. The resolution, presented by the United States, details a three-phase proposal and notes Israel's acceptance thereof. The implementation of the described agreement would result in the release of all hostages held by Hamas, establish a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and advance a multi-year reconstruction plan. Additionally, the resolution rejects any demographic or territorial changes in the Gaza Strip and reaffirms the Security Council's support for a two-state solution, envisioning the unification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under Palestinian Authority governance. The resolution received unanimous support, with the Russian Federation abstaining from the vote.

In January 2025, Israel and Hamas reached a Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement, which is heavily based on the three-phase proposal outlined and backed in Resolution 2735.