# Conflict Zone

By [DYLIT Chronicles](https://dylit.info/user/dylitmediabuzz)

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Inside the Polisario Front: The Movement Defying Morocco, Israel, and U.S. Plots in Western Sahara A Colony Without an End Western Sahara is a stretch of desert on Africa's Atlantic coast, roughly the size of the United Kingdom. Spain colonized it, then withdrew in 1975 without holding a promised referendum on self-determination. Morocco and Mauritania moved in and split the territory; Mauritania pulled out in 1979, and Morocco has controlled most of it since. The Polisario Front, founded in 1973, first fought Spain and then took up arms against Morocco, declaring the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1976 with a government-in-exile based in Tindouf, Algeria. Today Rabat administers roughly 80% of the territory behind a fortified sand wall known as the Berm, while Polisario controls a thin strip to the east. From Guerrilla War to Ceasefire, and Back Again Polisario's stated goal has always been independence through a UN-supervised referendum, a position Algeria has backed for decades. A 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire ended sixteen years of fighting and created MINURSO, the mission tasked with organizing that vote. The referendum never happened, largely because Morocco and Polisario couldn't agree on who'd be eligible to vote. In November 2020, after Moroccan forces moved against Sahrawi protesters blocking a road near Guerguerat, Polisario declared the ceasefire over and resumed low-intensity attacks along the Berm, mostly artillery and drone strikes Morocco says have caused little damage. Each side blames the other for restarting the conflict. Allegations of Foreign "Plots": Claims, Not Established Fact This is where accounts diverge sharply. In December 2020, the outgoing Trump administration recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel, part of the broader Abraham Accords push. Since then, Morocco has become a major buyer of Israeli drones and surveillance technology. Algeria and Polisario officials describe this as a coordinated Moroccan-Israeli-American effort to bury the referendum permanently, pointing to U.S. congressional bills seeking to label Polisario a terrorist group over alleged Iran and Hezbollah ties as evidence. Independent analysts, including a 2025 Jamestown Foundation review, found little credible evidence for those terrorism claims and traced much of the narrative to Moroccan and Israeli media. Morocco, meanwhile, says it has intelligence showing Hezbollah armed and trained Polisario fighters starting in 2016, an allegation Hezbollah denies; Rabat cut ties with Iran over it in 2018. Separately, investigations by Amnesty International and a media consortium found Moroccan security services used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists and foreign officials, including Spain's prime minister. Morocco and Israel have denied wrongdoing, and no court has confirmed the allegations. Readers should treat "plot" narratives from any side as claims requiring independent verification, not settled fact. Where Things Stand Now Diplomacy has tilted toward Morocco recently. In October 2025 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2797, backed strongly by Washington, calling Morocco's autonomy plan the "most feasible" basis for a settlement, a shift from treating it as one option among several. The resolution also extended MINURSO's mandate to October 2026. Russia, China and Pakistan abstained; Algeria didn't vote. The U.S. and UN co-chaired ministerial talks with Morocco, Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania in early 2026, and UN envoy Staffan de Mistura continues shuttling between the parties. Polisario has rejected the resolution's framing and reaffirmed its demand for a referendum, while Morocco calls the shift a historic vindication. With MINURSO's mandate up for review again and no referendum in sight, Western Sahara remains one of the world's longest-running decolonization disputes, its outcome shaped as much by great-power alignment as by the wishes of the Sahrawi people themselves.   Sources Related Videos How Morocco's Western Sahara gamble paid off — Mapped Out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaPnzZi3hoE Western Sahara: The Desert Fighters — ARTE.tv Documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykA06lNwsAw Polisario Front: Conflict, History, Movement, & Rebel Group — WION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvxPJXm-9co Morocco and the Polisario Front: What's Going On In Western Sahara? — Intissar Fakir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At776t0Fdss