The Israeli-Palestine conflict dates back to 1947 when the United Nations (UN) established Resolution 181, or the Partition Plan. The Resolution aimed to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. In 1948, the Israeli state was formed, inciting the first of many future Arab-Israeli conflicts. The war concluded with Israel’s victory in 1949, leading to over 750,000 displaced Palestinians and the splitting of their territory into three sections: the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
As tensions continued to arise, Israel launched an attack on Egyptian and Syrian forces, jumpstarting the Six-Day War. The war ended in Israel’s favor, giving them control over the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Six years following the war, the Yom Kippur War, or October War began, as Egypt and Syria instituted a joint surprise two-front attack on Israel, to regain the lost territory. This did not lead to immediate gains for any side of the conflict. However, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat argued it was a win for Egypt. The conflict opened negotiations for Egypt and Syria on regaining the taken land.
In December 1987, the First Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, commenced the emergence of the group Hamas. Hamas is short for Harakat a-Muqawama al-Islamiya, translated to “Islamic Resistance Movement,” founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, an activist in the local branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. The group opposed the idea of peace talks and later implemented the Oslo Accords, initiating a series of suicide attacks against Israeli targets. Since then, the terrorist group has launched several violent attacks, declaring their commitment to armed resistance against Israel to destroy and replace it with an Islamic state.
Finally, after a long period of endless conflict, in 1978 Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords bringing forth peaceful relations between the two rivaling nations. The Camp David Accords did result in a ceasefire of both Egypt and Israel, yet the deeply rooted issue of Palestinian self-governance remained unresolved. Pre-existing tensions of Palestinians living under the Israeli government along the West Bank and Gaza Strip began to rise.
The 1993 Oslo Accords I were launched to mediate the conflict. This enabled mutual recognition of both the Palestinian and Israeli governments. The Oslo Accords eventually expanded in 1995, creating the Oslo Accords II—adding provisions and requiring Israeli withdrawal from 6 cities and 450 towns in the West Bank.
In March 2018, further disputes began to arise as Palestinians stormed the Israeli set fence surrounding the Gaza Strip, leading to Israeli forces wounding over 6,000 Palestinians and killing 183 of them.This dispute brought back tensions between the two rival nations, leading to more conflicts emerging in the future.
All the prior conflicts between these endlessly rival nations are not listed. Eventually leading to another violent event in October last year.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza launched thousands of rockets towards Israel. The rockets passed through the fence of Gaza, entering Israeli towns and killing Israeli forces and civilians. This led to an eruption of violence, causing Israel to declare a “state of war alert” and immediately strike the Gaza Strip, including residential buildings and health care facilities. The strikes hitting Palestinian hospitals led to seven deaths and various damaged homes surrounding the area, with only a third of Gaza’s hospitals still partially operational.
Ten-year-old Mahmoud al-Zameli fled from the bombing. Zameli sadly remarked, “Yesterday, I was playing with the children over there. They have all died, I’m the only one still alive.” Israel has not declared whether or not it will storm the final two Gaza areas, yet Israel has declared it will not stop until Hamas is defeated.
These warring nations are endlessly battling each other, leading to destruction within both nations impacting their citizens. For instance, Gazan officials report that over 50% of housing units in Gaza have been demolished as a result of the quarrel. Specifically, at least 138,000 buildings across the entire Gaza Strip have been destroyed. Additionally, within the Gaza Strip, studies suggest over 1.9 million people are displaced causing many to resort to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East shelters.
UNRWA commissioner Philippe Lazzarini said, “Overcrowded and unsanitary UNRWA shelters have now become “home” to more than 1.4 million people.”
This conflict has recently gotten President Joe Biden from the United States involved, proposing a two-state solution to resolve the conflict. However, this solution was quickly turned down and the battle for land continues. This 75-year-long conflict is not easily solvable, however, solutions for creating peace between the two nations continue to be proposed.
