With tens of thousands of fatalities and millions of people displaced, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems from a colonial crime committed more than a century ago. For many years, scholars, military professionals, Western media, and international leaders have characterized the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as unsolvable, complex, and impasse-ridden.
Ancient History
Most of the ancient history of the Israelites comes from the Hebrew Bible. Abraham, a biblical figure, is considered the father of Judaism (through his son Isaac) and the patriarch of Islam (through his son Ishmael). Abraham’s descendants were believed to have been held as slaves by the Egyptians for hundreds of years before settling in Canaan (roughly today’s Israel). King David ruled the area during 1000 BCE. Around 957 BCE, his son Solomon built the First Temple, often known as Solomon’s Temple, in ancient Jerusalem. around 931 BCE, the region became divided into two kingdoms – Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Around 722 BCE the Assyrians invaded and destroyed the kingdom of Israel. The Babylonians seized Jerusalem in the sixth century BCE and controlled Judah. The Jews were exiled to Babylon after the destruction of the First Temple. After the Achaemenid Empire overthrew the Babylonians in 538 BCE, the ruler Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Judah. They rebuilt Solomon’s Temple (Second Temple).
The First Jewish-Roman War ended when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Roman Colosseum is believed to have been built in part from gold and materials looted from the Second Temple. All Jews were expelled from Jerusalem, which was occasionally the epicenter of anti-Roman uprisings, by the Roman Emperor Hadrian after the Bar Khokba Rebellion of 132-136 CE. Hadrian went even further, calling the region of Syria Palaestina and eradicating all evidence of Jewish settlement in Judea. Hadrian sought to eradicate a nation that had caused considerable damage to the Roman Empire by distancing the Jews from Judea and banning Jewish religious practice. Over the course of several centuries, numerous groups, including the Persians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Fatimids, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians, Mamluks, and Ottomans, conquered and ruled the land that is now Israel.
Modern History
The Ottoman Empire ruled over most of the West Asia, including the region of Palestine, from 1517 to 1917. By the 19th century, the territory was inhabited by almost 87% Muslims, 10% Christians and 3% Jewish. Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, promoted the notion of a Jewish state in Palestine for the Jews during the 1800s. Zionism is the name given to this philosophy, which gained a lot of traction among Jews in Europe at a time when they were subject to prejudice and even pogroms.
The Balfour Declaration, which guaranteed “the establishment in Palestine a national home for the Jewish People,” was a pledge made in 1917 to the Jewish community in Britain by then Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in an attempt to gain Jewish support for the war effort. This presented a difficulty as, in 1916, the British had surreptitiously agreed with the French that, following the war, the Arab territories would be separated and Palestine would come under British rule.
Furthermore, the British had promised Sharief Hussain, the king of Mecca, in 1915 that if he led an Arab uprising against the Ottomans, he would govern over the entire region, including Palestine. Hussain really fulfilled this promise. The statement was fiercely opposed by the Arabs in Palestine, who believed that the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the area would result in their oppression.
Mandatory Palestine
Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the World War I, the British established a colony in Palestine with the understanding that they would stay in charge of the region until the Palestinians were prepared to assume self-government. Because it was in accordance with the League of Nations mandate, this area was known as Mandatory Palestine. Prior to this, a great number of Jews from Europe moved to Palestine in the hopes of establishing their homeland after being driven out for generations.
In the meantime, hundreds of thousands more Jews moved to Palestine during the 1920s and 1930s. Tensions between the Arabs and the expanding Jewish groups were rising during this period. The Palestinian Arabs began to see themselves more and more as a nation, which led to their 1936 uprising against the British. The British put an end to this uprising with the aid of Jewish militias.
However, the British released a white paper following the uprising that restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine and demanded the creation of a combined Jewish-Arab state there in ten years. Jewish organizations moved many Jews who were fleeing the Holocaust in Europe during World War II into Palestine illegally due to immigration restrictions. As hostilities increased, the British assigned the issue to the recently formed United Nations.
The UN decided to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Palestinian governments in 1947, with Jerusalem becoming an international city. The Jewish leaders accepted the plan, whereas, the Arabs opposed it.
Formation of the State of Israel
Israel was proclaimed an independent nation in May 1948 after British left due to their inability to resolve the issue. David Ben Gurion became the Prime Minister. It was meant to serve as both a sovereign homeland and a safe refuge for Jews escaping persecution. Months of fighting had escalated between Arab and Jewish militias, and five Arab nations – Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt – launched an attack on Israel the day it became a state, sparking the start of the Arab-Israeli War. The “Catastrophe,” or Al Nakba, as Palestinians refer to it, saw hundreds of thousands of them forced to flee their homes. 1949 saw the announcement of a cease-fire, which included the transfer of the West Bank to Jordan and the incorporation of the Gaza Strip into Egypt. However, Israel gained more territory after winning the war than they would have under the UN plan. Jordan oversaw East Jerusalem.
More than 700,000 Palestinians left the area and took up asylum in surrounding Arab nations. Since they lost their nationality, the Palestinians refer to this war as the Nakba, or tragedy. When Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, tensions flared up once more. Suez Crisis resulted from this. With assistance from the British and French, Israel assaulted the Sinai Peninsula and recaptured the canal.
Further Wars
Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War that broke out in 1967. Israel also took control of East Jerusalem. Most of the Palestinian refugees and their offspring reside in Gaza, the West Bank, and the surrounding countries of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Israel argues that allowing them or their descendants to go back to their native lands would overrun the nation and jeopardize its continued existence as a Jewish state.
In 1973, bombings against Israel by Syria and Egypt precipitated the Yom Kippur War. A UN decision brought an end to the conflict after two weeks. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and drove the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) out of the country. The PLO was established in 1964 with the goal of using armed force to achieve the “liberation of Palestine.” Israel was establishing Jewish communities in what was recognized as Palestinian territory at this time, notably East Jerusalem.
First Palestinian Intifada
Palestinians revolted against Israel’s control of Gaza and the West Bank in 1987. This event, known as the First Palestinian Intifada (an Arabic term meaning “shaking off”), resulted in hundreds of deaths. The Oslo Peace Accords, which were signed in 1993 and again in 1995 by PLO leader Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, put an end to the Intifada. Following this, the Palestinian Authority was established and began to rule over a number of Israeli territory.
Second Palestinian Intifada
In 1997, the Israeli army left portions of the West Bank. Nevertheless, the Second Palestinian Intifada began in 2000 because the Accords were unable to bring about long-term peace in the area. Israeli politician Ariel Sharon’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque served as the catalyst for the bloodshed. Years were spent with years of widespread unrest and violence. Israel intended to remove all of its troops and Jewish colonies from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005, when a ceasefire was eventually declared.
First Lebanon War
The period of the First Lebanon War was June 6, 1982, until June 5, 1985. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) invaded Southern Lebanon with the intention of eliminating the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that was based there. The invasion was intended to halt attacks on Israel by the PLO, which operated out of its stronghold in southern Lebanon. Israel emerged from the conflict with a tactical win, but the war was ultimately a strategic disaster. After the PLO was driven out of Lebanon, Syria—Israel’s adversary—grew more powerful and dominated the country until 2005.
Second Lebanon War
Israel and Hezbollah began fighting in Lebanon, the Golan Heights, and northern Israel in July 2006. A truce mediated by the UN brought it to an end after a few months. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and political organization that is Shia Islamist in Lebanon.
Hamas Wars
In 2006, the elections in Palestine were won by the militant Sunni Islamist group Hamas. After hostilities that began in 2006, Hamas emerged victorious in 2007 over Fatah, the political organization that ruled the PLO. There have been major confrontations between Israel and Hamas (which many regard as a terrorist organization) in 2008, 2012, and 2014.
Current Scenario
Gaza is ruled by Hamas. Israel and Egypt maintain strict control over Gaza’s borders. Israel continues to occupy the West Bank. Gaza, the West Bank, East Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are home to the majority of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Israel and the Palestinian population residing in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are at odds. Israel claims that permitting Palestinians to go back to their homes would pose a serious threat to its continued existence as a Jewish state. The only Jewish state in the world is Israel. Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital in its entirety. East Jerusalem is the capital of a future Palestinian state, according to the Palestinians. More than 135 UN members recognize Palestine as a state, despite Israel’s denial.
Conclusion
The Israel-Palestine conflict remains a deeply entrenched and complex issue, with ongoing disputes over borders, refugees, security and the status of Jerusalem. Efforts to find a lasting solution continue, but a comprehensive resolution has yet to be achieved.