History: The Israel-Palestine war
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A Palestinian city destroyed by Israeli missiles
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On the 7th of October 2023, the Palestinian militant group HAMAS launched a surprise attack on Israel with gunmen infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip. This is as a result of the seven decades of war and conflict between Israel and Palestine that has destabilized the Middle East.
As of 10 December 2023, over 19,000 Palestinians and Israelis in all have been killed in the Israel–Hamas war, including 63 journalists (56 Palestinian, 4 Israeli and 3 Lebanese) and over 100 UNRWA aid workers.
Map of Israel and Palestine after the 1947 partition
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Before 1948, the territory that is now the modern state of Israel was part of the British-administered League of Nations mandate known as the British Mandate for Palestine. The League of Nations granted Britain the mandate in 1920, following the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The mandate encompassed a region that included present-day Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.
During the mandate period, conflicts and tensions between the Jewish and the Arab communities escalated which led to the raise of conflicting national interests. The Jewish population sought the establishment of a National Homeland as promised by The Balfour Declaration of 1917, while the Arab population was against the idea, fearing that they would lose their national rights and land. Between 1920 and 1945 the number of Jews in the mandate grew due to the persecution of Jews in Europe by Nazi Germany.
In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan that would have created separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as an international city. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, but the Arab leadership rejected it, leading to a series of conflicts.
On May 14, 1948, unable to solve the problem, Britain withdrew and David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared the establishment of the State of Israel. This declaration was followed by the invasion of the Arab armies, marking the beginning of Arab-Israeli war.
Major conflicts after 1948
Following the Declaration of the establishment of the state of Israel, The Arab League intervened on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs, They march their force into the Former British Palestine, beginning the main phase of the war. With around 15,000 casualties, the war ended in a cease-fire and armistice agreements of 1949. With Israel holding much of the territory, Jordan occupying West Bank and Egypt taking over the Gaza Strip, where the All-Palestine Government was declared by the Arab League on the 22nd of September 1948.
Through the 1950s, Egypt and Jordan supported Palestinian militant attacks into Israel, while Israel carried its own operations in Egypt and Jordan. The 1956 Suez Crisis resulted in a short-term occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel thereby exiling the All-Palestine Government. The Gaza Strip was later restored due to Israel’s withdrawal. In 1964, a new organization, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established by Yasser Arafat. It won the support of most Arab countries and was granted a seat in the Arab league.
On October 6, 1973, a coalition of Arab countries mainly consisting Syria and Egypt launched an attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Egypt and Syria crossed over the ceasefire lines that were agreed upon prior to 1973. Egypt had in particular tried to reoccupy much of the area surrounding the Suez Canal, whilst the frontline with Syria was mainly situated around the north. The war concluded with an Israeli victory, however, both sides suffering tremendous casualties.
As well as wars, there have been two Palestinian intifadas or uprisings between 1987-1993 and again in 2000-05. The second intifada saw waves of Hamas suicide bombings against Israelis.
Main ISRAEL-PALESTINE ISSUES
Two-State Solution:
The Two State Solution was an agreement that would establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Hamas rejects this solution and is committed to Israel's destruction. Israel insists on a demilitarized Palestinian state for its security.
Settlements:
Most countries consider Jewish settlements on the 1967-occupied land illegal. However, Israel disputes this, citing historical and Biblical ties. The ongoing expansion of settlements is a major point of contention.
Jerusalem:
Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, with significant religious sites, as the capital of their state. Israel asserts Jerusalem as its "indivisible and eternal" capital, a claim not recognized internationally. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2018, relocating the U.S. embassy without specifying its jurisdiction in the disputed city.
Refugees:
Approximately 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, mostly descendants of those who fled in 1948, reside in various areas. Many refugees remain stateless, with about half living in crowded camps, according to the Palestinian foreign ministry.
Attempts made for peace
Israel-Palestinian peace talks were held on and off between the 1990s and 2010s, interspersed with outbreaks of violence.
A negotiated peace did seem possible in the early days. A series of secret talks in Norway became the Oslo peace process, forever symbolized by a ceremony on the White House lawn in 1993 presided over by President Bill Clinton.
In the 2000s attempts were made to revive the peace process - including in 2003 when a roadmap was devised by world powers with the ultimate goal of a two-state solution, but this was never implemented.
The most recent peace plan prepared by the US when Donald Trump was president was called "the deal of the century" by Prime Minister Netanyahu, but was dismissed by the Palestinians as one-sided and never got off the ground.
Recent Developments
The October war is the most significant escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in several decades. The two sides have traded daily rocket fire, and Israel ordered more than one million Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate ahead of a ground invasion that began on October 28. Israeli forces have encircled Gaza City, cutting it off from southern Gaza and squeezing Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in the city. Gazan health officials say the war has killed 10,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children. The territory is also desperately low on water, fuel, and supplies as Israel has rejected humanitarian pauses and limited the amount of aid that can enter.
The displacement of millions more Palestinians presents a dilemma for surrounding countries which have absorbed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the past but have resisted accepting anyone during the current war. They fear that Gazans, many of whom were already displaced from Israel will not be allowed to return once they leave. Egypt also fears that Hamas fighters could enter Egypt and trigger a war in the Sinai by launching attacks on Israel. So far, negotiations have resulted in only 1,100 people exiting Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. The other 1.5 million displaced Gazans 70 percent of the population have nowhere to go and face dire living conditions and security risks.
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