Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza – my father saw it firsthand | Raja Shehadeh

Decades after the 1967 war, Israel is still under the illusion that violence against the Palestinians will give it peace and security

Fifty-six years ago, after Israel's victory in the six-day war in 1967, an intensive debate took place in the country regarding the future of the newly occupied West Bank and Gaza. The options ranged from outright annexation of the land by Israel, returning the West Bank to Jordan or the establishment of a Palestinian state.

My father, Aziz Shehadeh, was a proponent of the last. As a lawyer and activist for refugee rights, he proposed a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. Washington urged Israel then to translate its undefined position for a settlement into concrete terms.