Israel was created in 1948, following a UN decision to divide the then British-controlled territory into Palestinian and Israeli entities. The Israeli entity became the democratic state of Israel, whilst the Palestinian soon fell under mainly Jordanian auspices. Neighboring Arab countries fought the creation of Israel, and further interstate conflicts occurred in the decades that followed, with Israel fighting Egypt over the status of the Suez canal, and Syria, Jordan, and Egypt over various territories. Through these armed conflicts, Israel annexed the territories of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and parts of southern Lebanon. These armed conflicts and the occupation of Gaza gave rise to a number of intrastate conflicts, with Israel confronting groups such as Hamas, Fatah, PLO, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In 2014 the conflict between the Israeli government and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) over Palestinian territories escalated to full-scale war. The conflict concerns the long-fought over the creation of a Palestinian state, with Hamas and other Islamist militant groups (such as the PIJ and PRC) operating from Gaza. From 2019-2021, the conflict has become dominated by challenges by the Hamas and PIJ against the Israeli government. The escalating conflict has left more than 500,000 Gazans internally displaced. Moreover, infrastructure including hospitals, mosques, UN shelters, university buildings, and the only power plant in the Gaza Strip was heavily damaged during the course of last year. Israel’s strict blockade of the Gaza Strip, in place since 2007, has left 80 percent of its population dependent on humanitarian assistance and at least 60 percent are food insecure.
In December 2017, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, causing outrage and protests among Palestinians. Protests took place in Gaza in 2018 in which rockets from Gaza were fired to Israel, and Israeli troops killed over 170 Palestinian protestors.
In October 2020, Palestinian families in East Jerusalem were ruled to be evicted from their homes after an Israeli court decision to give the land to Jewish families. Weeks of protests and demonstrations followed in which eventually significant violence broke out. Airstrikes in 2021 between Hamas and Israel, instigated by an Israeli police raid of the al-Aqsa mosque, marked one of the most violent retaliation since 2014 in which over 200 people were killed and thousands were injured.
In October 2023, Hamas launched an attack of unprecedented scale against Israel, launching thousands of rockets and sending fighters into numerous Israeli cities. The attack caught Israel by surprise, with over 900 killed, most of them civilians. Over a hundred Israelis were taken as hostages, including children and the elderly, in one of the worst attacks of Israel in its history. Over 260 people were massacred at a music festival in the desert near the border with Gaza, and there was clear evidence of Hamas fighters indiscriminately targeting civilians. In response, Israel declared war and began intense airstrikes on Gaza, killing many Palestinians including civilians. Gaza’s already fragile infrastructure was damaged even further, with medical facilities put under immense strain. The government announced a complete siege of the territory, saying they would cut off food, water and electricity to the entire Gaza strip, threatening innocent people living in the area. This was the largest escalation of the conflict in decades, and one of the deadliest.
Peace attempts:
Extensive efforts from the international community have been made over the years to facilitate peace agreements between Israel and Palestinian representatives, especially under the auspices of the US. The conflict over Palestine became inactive in 2013, as a consequence of the parties’ relative adherence to the ceasefire that was agreed upon in late 2012, but further negotiations did not progress far and collapsed completely in 2014.
Prospects of a two-State solution to Israel’s conflict in Gaza have recently become dimmer, especially after Israel’s 2015 re-election of the right-wing Likud party. The UN has warned of the potentially explosive consequences for the entire region and has urged the international community to boost efforts at bringing both Israeli and Palestinian delegations back to the negotiating table. In April 2015, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process met with various political entities, government representatives, civil society, and business community leaders in Gaza as part of a reconstruction effort, and to commit to strengthening the “unity of Palestine”. The Palestinian Unity Government was dissolved with sparring between Hamas groups and government representatives the latest in a long line of heated exchanges between Palestinian leadership. In May 2015 the Vatican officially recognized the State of Palestine, marking a significant symbolic and diplomatic action.
One positive step in the peace process was an agreement in mid- 2015 over the Israeli government’s withholding of over $470 million in Palestinian tax revenues – both sides reached an agreement on the release of the revenues, a move in line with the Paris Protocol of the Oslo Accords. Despite this progress, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire and aid workers, such as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), are working to alleviate an extensive Palestinian refugee crisis. Nevertheless, in 2018, the Trump Administration canceled US funding for UNRWA.
In July 2018, Israel passed a law declaring Israel a principally Jewish state with Hebrew as the official language. In November 2019, the former Trump Administration changed the US position in this conflict by announcing it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a violation of international law.
Under the 2020 Abraham Accords, Bahrain and the UAE officially nromalzied relations with Israel, which was condemned by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas.
In May 2021, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire following the violent uprising including bombardments and air strikes in Jerusalem. The ceasefire occurred too late, ultimately causing the deaths of over 200 people and the displacement of over 72,000 Palestinians. Clear violations of international law and failed protection of basic human rights in this conflict have continued to occur and even worsen in recent years. All negotiations for a two-state solution have failed, and the future of peacebuilding between Israel and Palestine remains uncertain and bleak.
