Oslo's Undoing: How 'Peace' Became a Blueprint for Conquest
The idea of a two-state solution, enshrined by the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, began its quiet, tactical collapse decades ago. While publicly committing to negotiations, the Israeli establishment simultaneously advanced a relentless expansion of settlements, effectively fracturing any contiguous Palestinian state. The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank more than doubled from 200,000 in
1993 to over 460,000 by 2020. This demographic shift, alongside a web of legal maneuvers, has systematically dispossessed Palestinians of their land, turning the promise of self-determination into a legal fiction. Instead of fostering coexistence, Oslo created segregated zones, further entrenching occupation. Area C, comprising 61% of the West Bank, was designated for Israeli control,
theoretically awaiting final status negotiations. In practice, this classification became a pretext for accelerating settlement construction and demolishing Palestinian structures, squeezing communities into ever-smaller enclaves. The international community, led by the United States, has consistently condemned these actions as illegal under international law, yet provided billions in aid to the
very power enacting them. The US, for instance, provides over $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel, despite its ongoing violations. The current annexation plans, ranging from legalizing outposts to outright formalizing Israeli sovereignty, are not a deviation but a logical conclusion of this historical trajectory. The 2018 Nation-State Law, which declared Israel the “nation-state of the