Right now, the prospect of peace in the Middle East seems about as likely as a beauty queen actually having any impact on global politics. I, for one, would put my money on the beauty queen... they, at least, grow up and become governors of Alaska.

There have already been four internationally-sanctioned attempts at peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ? the Oslo Peace Process (1993), the Camp David Summit (2000), The Road Map for Peace (2002) and the Annapolis Peace Summit (2008) ? as well as the Arab Peace Initiative put forward as a 'feasible' solution by the Arab nations.

And yet, Hamas is still shooting rockets into Israel on a daily basis and Israel's latest offensive against the Palestinian people has claimed the lives of over 1000 people. Peace, it would seem, is infinitely more difficult than death and destruction.

Peace requires compromise; it requires fearlessness; and it requires commitment. Until one, or both, of the parties involved has the courage to compromise, peace will remain elusive and the Middle East will slowly destroy itself under the strain of hatred, fear and revenge. We take a look at some of the core issues impeding peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jerusalem

Currently entirely under Israeli control, Jerusalem plays a fundamental role in both Jewish and Arab religious and historical narratives. Israel refuses to budge on the issue of Jerusalem because it fears that Jewish holy sites will be desecrated under Palestinian control. When Jerusalem was under Palestinian control, no Jews were allowed to visit the Western (or Wailing) Wall or any other Jewish holy places and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated.

Israel also fears that should Jerusalem be placed under Palestinian control, the security of Jews residing in Jerusalem would be threatened, as Jerusalem has been a prime target for terrorism since 1969.

The Palestinians too are afraid that their holy sites will not be treated with the respect they deserve ? there have been several attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque since 1967, including a serious fire in 1969.

Palestinian refugees

Approximately 711 000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from Israel following its creation in 1949. The UN definition for a Palestinian refugee includes all the refugees' descendants, which means that the current number of refugees stands at roughly four million. Most of these people were born outside of Israel, but still claim Right of Return to Israel.

Israel claims that the Palestinians left of their own free will and not through coercion and objects to the Right of Return policy on the grounds that, with the exception of Jordan, no other Arab countries have granted citizenship to Palestinian Arabs, thus exacerbating the crisis. They argue furthermore, that none of the 900 000 Jewish refugees who fled anti-Semitic violence in the Arab world were ever compensated or repatriated.

Israel accepts the right of the Palestinian Diaspora to return to a new Palestinian state, but argues that a return to Israel would threaten the stability of the Jewish state.

Israeli settlements

In the years following the 1967 Six-Day War (in which Israel took control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), Israel re-established communities that were destroyed in 1929 and 1948 (such as Hebron) and set up numerous new settlements in the West Bank. These efforts intensified during the peace process of the 1990s.

The settlements, which are now home to roughly 380 000 people, are considered illegal by much of the international community. Israel justifies the existence of the settlements by claiming that the territories are not 'occupied', but rather 'disputed' (as they were previously under the control of Egypt and Jordan, rather than that of the Palestinians).

On a practical level, aside from nationalist concerns, Palestinians object to the diversion of resources needed by Palestinian towns (arable land, water etc) and that the settlements reduce Palestinians' ability to move freely in their own territory owing to Israeli security concerns.

Security

Israel is hesitant about disengaging from the West Bank and giving up control over Gaza airspace and sea access because of security concerns. In 2006, the year following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the Israeli government recorded 1726 Qassam rockets attacks from the Gaza Strip.

Without the West Bank, Israel is only nine miles across at its narrowest point, which also happens to be close to its greatest population centre. The Jewish state fears that should they give up complete control of the West Bank, they will be making themselves vulnerable to future attacks by an Arab alliance (based on their experiences in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War).

Resource distribution

A central, and very reasonable, concern to Palestinians is that they be given enough land and resources for a viable society. They cannot give up too many resources to Israel, as doing so may result in complete economic collapse.

In the Middle East, the most important (and therefore most politically loaded) resource is water. Israel gets most of its water from two large aquifers which stretch across the Green Line (the administrative line that separates Israel as it was in 1949 from the occupied territories). Some of the wells used to draw this water lie within the Palestinian Authority areas and although water from the Western Aquifer is drawn entirely on Israel's own side of the Green Line, the source of water is nevertheless the shared groundwater basins located underneath both Israel and the West Bank. Israel currently supplies the West Bank with 77 percent of its water supply.

International status

In the past, Israel has demanded control over the border crossing between the Palestinian territories and Egypt and Jordan. It has also demanded the right to set import and export controls, arguing that Israel together with the occupied territories is one single economic space.

The status quo obviously benefits Israel, not only because it can control what does and doesn't enter the occupied territories, but also from an economic perspective. If Palestine were given international status, Israel would no longer be able to police its borders or exert control over the economy.

Clearly compromises need to be made on both sides. If you were a mediator, what would you suggest?