The Incompatibilities between Contemporary International Law and the Potential Solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Abstract

The legal status of Palestine is not entirely shrouded in controversy. It is nowadays uncontested that Palestine constitutes a self-determination unit under international law. As a result, Palestine is undoubtedly entitled to exercise self-determination as defined by international law. Self-determination provides for several types of exercise of that right and allows the realization of either one-State or two-State. This paper argues that it nonetheless remains far from certain whether contemporary international law is fully compatible with all the features of each of these two potential solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In doing so, this paper modestly aims at broaching some of the legal issues that could arise in the aftermath of a peace settlement leading to the creation of one or two States as well as prevent abusive and opportunistic interpretations of the relevant international legal concepts in the political discourse.