to Haifa, and the northeastern sectio!
             n, along the border with Syria. Palestine would receive the West Bank, Gaza Strip and some other surrounding areas. Jerusalem would become an international city, ruled neither by Muslims nor Jews (Gazit, 83). The advantage of this system was that both Palestinians and Israelis would have their own political sovereignty. Zionist leaders reluctantly agreed to this solution; however, the Palestinians refused to settle for anything less than the entire territory. Early in 1948, just after Israel declared independence, the Palestinians began fighting the Israelis for control of the area (Gazit 83-84).
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