The US government says it opposes the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank but does nothing to stop it.
The reality is the IDF uses bulldozers to level Palestinian homes and olive groves forcing the Palestinian's to watch the theft while mostly Orthodox Jews are allowed to build settlements on the confiscated land.
There are now hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews in settlements throughout the West Bank.
It's hard to imagine a sovereign Palestinian state being established adjacent to Israel with so many Jewish settlers now residing there.
At present the idea of a separate Palestinian state being established adjacent to Israel is a secondary matter considering what is happening in Gaza now.
The UN Security Council has its hands tied with US vetoing an immediate cease fire in Gaza.
The real worry is the Gaza conflict expanding into a full blown Middle East crisis bringing in the Lebanese Hezbollah, who are allies of Hamas, Hezbollah has conducted small scale skirmishes sending rockets and drones against the Israeli's in northern Israel. Israel has responded sending rockets into Lebanon.
Recently Israel sent a missile destroying the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria and killing some diplomats. Iran responded with missiles sent into Tel Aviv Israel yet saying they don't want a war with Israel.
Another phenomenon is college students in a number of universities in America have been protesting against the Israeli siege in Gaza calling for an immediate cease fire and the US divest its support for Israel.
College student protests have spread to universities in Australia and Germany with authorities in all these countries cracking down on student protests.
Regarding the authorities especially in the US they forget peaceful assembly is protected by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.
Sure there's been some violence by some of the protesters but they've been off campus. Yet that has been the result of police using heavy handed measures to quell the protests. Use violence and it often begets more violence.
At present it's hard to envision how the violence in Gaza is going to be stopped. Diplomacy by countries hasn't been fruitful to this point primarily because the US, which could stop Israel, won't act to do it.
Why? Just re-read the first paragraph of this short piece.
[1] "Israel's ground invasion of Rafah: Live updates", RT. May 10, 2024
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