Security / Palestinian Perspective
Threats to Sovereignty
Though security is often framed as an Israeli concern, a future state of Palestine would be affected by many of the same threats, and would have a shared interest in countering them. However, many Palestinians have become convinced that Israeli security comes at their expense. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, Palestinians are regularly arrested, and at times, injured or killed, by Israeli forces.
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In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fall victim to air and drone strikes aimed at terror groups. More broadly, in the West Bank, Palestinians feel helpless against Israeli authorities and settlers. And they feel their dignity and livelihoods damaged by security checkpoints, military zones and the security barrier.
Having experienced the peace process drag on indefinitely, Palestinians seek a rapid Israeli disentanglement from their daily lives. Thus, from a Palestinian perspective, accommodating Israeli security in a peace agreement must meet Palestinian security needs and not compromise a genuine sense of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood.