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 became dominated by challenges by 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 food insecure.
In December 2017, 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 into 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 retaliations 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 in Israel’s 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 tens of thousands of Palestinians, including large numbers of civilians. Gaza’s already fragile infrastructure was devastated, with medical facilities overwhelmed or destroyed. The government announced a complete siege of the territory, cutting off food, water, fuel, and electricity to the entire Gaza Strip—punishing civilians collectively and triggering a humanitarian collapse.
By 2024 and 2025, international observers and UN agencies documented systematic war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank. These included the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, targeting of hospitals, schools, and refugee camps, use of starvation as a weapon of war, and mass forced displacement of over two million Palestinians. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the UN Human Rights Council reported the deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, medics, and aid convoys. Satellite imagery and on-the-ground documentation showed entire neighborhoods in Gaza razed, with tens of thousands of people buried under rubble. The UN and international jurists have increasingly described Israel’s campaign as a genocide, citing intent to destroy Gaza’s population and the collapse of all essential civilian infrastructure. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel, supported by several nations, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention. In September 2025, an independent three-member commission of inquiry established by the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that Gaza Strip is subject to a genocide by Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention, finding evidence of mass civilian killings, forced displacement, deprivation of life-sustaining essentials, and statements by senior Israeli officials indicating intent to destroy a group. The commission urged all states to act to halt the genocide and to hold responsible parties accountable, noting that continued inaction would amount to complicity.
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 U.S. auspices. The conflict over Palestine became inactive in 2013 following adherence to a temporary ceasefire, but further negotiations collapsed in 2014. Prospects for a two-state solution have become increasingly dim, especially after the re-election of right-wing governments in Israel that expanded settlements across the West Bank.
The UN has repeatedly warned of explosive consequences for the region and urged renewed peace talks. The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, along with Egypt and Qatar, has continued mediation efforts, primarily to negotiate temporary ceasefires and humanitarian corridors in Gaza. In 2020, the Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states but excluded Palestinians, further deepening their political isolation.
Following the 2023–2025 war, international calls for accountability and justice have intensified. The ICJ and International Criminal Court (ICC) are both investigating potential war crimes and genocide in Gaza. Global protests and diplomatic initiatives have demanded an arms embargo, permanent ceasefire, and reconstruction plan for Gaza under international supervision. Despite these efforts, Israel’s occupation and settlement expansion continue, and Palestinians remain under siege and displacement.
In June 2024, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2735, endorsing a framework for a cease-fire and hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the United Nations, Egypt, and Qatar. Building on that framework, in January 2025, Hamas and Gaza Strip-based militants agreed to a six-week cease-fire with Israel, which included the release of hostages by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Under the deal, Israel committed to gradually withdraw from major populated areas in the Gaza Strip and permit increased humanitarian aid, while Hamas pledged to halt major rocket attacks. In August 2025, Hamas accepted another temporary 60-day cease-fire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which included further releases of hostages and prisoners, partial Israeli troop withdrawals, and expanded humanitarian access, though Israel’s formal acceptance was still pending and the truce remained fragile. Two months later, in October 2025, Israel and Hamas ratified a new cease-fire deal involving the release of all remaining hostages and prisoners, and an Israeli pull-back from Gaza. As of late 2025, the humanitarian crisis that grew over 2025 in Gaza persists.
