THERE are almost as many arguments about when and how the conflict in Gaza started as there are historians.

In modern times, I am prepared to settle for the Balfour declaration of 1917 which stated that the UK Government sympathised with the Jewish Zionist aspirations and that “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

The letter also says that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

The problems over the years have been many and complex, but at the forefront has been the persistent expansion of the Jewish community at the expense of the Palestinians. Which is in direct conflict to the Balfour Declaration.

It’s a conflict that has sometimes stumbled and sometimes been driven into the most horrendous bloodshed.

Both sides have committed atrocities and there is no sign of that ending. The current actions of the Israeli state will surely give birth to the next generation of Hamas. Young boys witnessing the massacre of their families and the destruction of their homeland will be traumatised and angry. And those that would recruit them will find plenty of willing volunteers.

The creation of a two-state solution has been a long-term goal for many but until this current ugly bloodletting is ended there is no place for such dreams.

A ceasefire and only a ceasefire can provide space where hope can be rebuilt and solutions sought.

But it will take longer to rebuild diplomatic relations and the trust required for that to be successful than it will to rebuild the bombed homes, hospitals, schools and roads of Palestine.

In 1997, while still President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela said: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Today it seems we are no further forward. We need men of vision like Mandela, not the opportunists like Sunak and Starmer.