Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Explained

Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in late 2023, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East continues to dominate the world’s attention. But it’s impossible to understand the headlines without knowing the history.

The “Holy Land”—a moniker that Israelis and Palestinians share for their beloved region—has been mired in conflict for more than a century. When the long-decaying Ottoman Empire collapsed after World War I, both Jews and Palestinian Arabs expected a state where they could finally be in charge of their own fate. But why was a piece of land the size of Massachusetts promised to two peoples? Explore the history behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its key moments and figures, and the prospects and obstacles for peace.

Origins of the conflict

Balfour Declaration

Hussein-McMahon correspondence

Zionism

Peel Commission

United Nations Resolution 181

decline of the Ottoman Empire

mandate

The prospects for peace have been shaped by devastating wars. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War—an existential one that the Israelis call the War of Independence and the Palestinians call the Nakba (“Catastrophe”)—created the borders we know today as Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The Six-Day War (1967) later brought the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under Israeli military occupation. Tired of bloodshed after fighting in the Lebanese Civil War and the first intifada in the 1980s, Israelis and Palestinians formally recognized one another in the Oslo I Accord in 1993 and set out a pathway to lasting peace. Still, in the 21st century peace remains elusive.

Oslo Accords

Camp David Accords

Israel-Hamas War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

Six-Day War

Lebanese Civil War

intifada

Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005

Why didn’t the Oslo peace process work? One reason is that the Oslo Accords left open some of the most pressing issues, including the fate of the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Jerusalem, the fate of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the status of millions of stateless refugees, and the borders of a viable Palestinian Authority. In recent years the conflict has become particularly hot over the Temple Mount and the fate of Palestinian neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah. The disarmament of Hamas and international support for Palestinian statehood also emerged as major issues as mediators worked to bring the Israel-Hamas War to an end.

Core issues

1

Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Whose capital is it?

For decades Jerusalem’s status has been among the most contentious issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The city is home to hundreds of thousands of people who belong to either nationality, Israeli or Palestinian, and both Israelis and Palestinians want the historic city to serve as their

2

Israeli settlements

Israeli settlement, any of the communities of Israeli Jews built after 1967 in the territories occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War—the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. Most, but not all, were authorized and supported by the Israeli government. Since 2005

3

Temple Mount

Temple Mount, site of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Romans on the 9th/10th of Av in 70 ce (see Tisha b’Av). It consists of a raised platform that, since the 7th century, has been home to the Islamic holy sites of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The lower section of

4

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), subsidiary agency created by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1949 to provide relief, health, and education services for Palestinians who lost both their homes and their means of livelihood during the

5

Palestinian Authority

Palestinian Authority (PA), governing body of the Palestinian autonomous regions in the West Bank. Established in 1994 as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the PA also has de jure governing authority over the entirety of the

6

Sheikh Jarrah

Sheikh Jarrah, neighborhood in Jerusalem located north of the Old City. Since coming under de facto Israeli control during the Six-Day War in 1967, the neighborhood has been the center of a high-profile dispute over land ownership. The controversy heightened in 2009 when Palestinian families were

7

Hamas

Hamas, militant Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that is dedicated to the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine. Founded in 1987, Hamas opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the

8

Palestinian statehood

Palestinian statehood refers to the claim of a sovereign nation-state for the Palestinian people and the effort toward its international recognition. More than 150 countries recognize Palestinian statehood under the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the Palestinian autonomous regions in the

Watch and learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Black September at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games

Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz

• Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
  Black September at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games

  
• Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
  The History of the Dome of the Rock

  

Key players in peace and conflict

Benjamin Netanyahu

Yahya Sinwar

Yitzhak Rabin

Yasser Arafat

Anwar Sadat

Mahmoud Abbas

Hussein Al Sheikh

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)

Marwan Barghouti

Hamas

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Mossad

Fatah

Hezbollah