The Political Economy of Palestinian Nationhood, Independence and Development in the Wake of War

A catastrophic war, with no decisive end in sight, has been waged against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since October 2023, with incalculable human,  economic, social, environmental, and geo-political costs. 

At stake is not only the future of five million Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), but indeed the Question of Palestine and Palestinian nationhood are again at the forefront of the global agenda. The majority of Western states have stood by Israel and in some cases funded its war effort, while the people of Palestine have been left to fend off this onslaught with little support except from international humanitarian agencies, states in the Global South, and increasingly global public opinion. 

Israel, long considered under international law as the occupying power in the Palestinian territory, is now under prosecution in the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide.
In addition, the ICJ’s landmark July 2024 Advisory Opinion deemed Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied territories illegal, and that they amounted to annexation and creating an apartheidlike regime. Israel faces external isolation, internal ideological divisions, and the risk of civil strife. The so-called “day after” this war ends will force Israel to consider its future as either a parliamentary democracy governed by the rule of law, or as an ethno-religious settler State. The majority of States worldwide have come to the realization (some only more recently) that as long as Israel continues to deny the right of the Palestinian people to selfdetermination in their own nation-state, then the prospects for peace and justice will remain distant.

In Palestine, while political division continues to undermine the Palestinian position domestically and globally, the imperatives of providing humanitarian relief, basic needs, temporary shelter, and essential services will dominate the focus of international aid and Palestinian efforts for at least the coming year or two. But preparing to move from relief to recovery and rebuilding must begin sooner rather than later. Any hope of recovery and rebuilding depends on a serious and combined global response from states, institutions, and civil society to the mass destruction, trauma, and injury inflicted on the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. However, the speed, focus, and effectiveness of such a response are wholly dependent on political developments in three main domains: in Palestine (including Palestinians in the oPt and the diaspora), in Israel (including Israelis inside the “green line” and in its illegal settlements), and in the UN and international legal system (and the degree of States’ compliance with it).