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Mounting violence leads to the first Arab-Israeli war in early 1948, when the British withdraw from the region. Jewish forces held their ground and declare Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948.
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Jordan launches an offensive in Jerusalem on June 5. Israeli defenses retaliate and capture all of East Jerusalem and the West Bank within three days. Israel then focuses on the Syrian offensive, pushing Syria's troops from the Golan Heights by June 10
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Egyptian and Israeli leaders meet at Camp David with President Carter in 1978 to discuss a treaty in which Egypt would regain full control of the Sinai Peninsula. The treaty is signed on March 26, 1979, lending hope to a future of peace in the region
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Yasser Arafat seeks sole leadership of the Palestinian people and proves a prudent diplomat. Arafat declares Palestinian statehood in November 1988 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
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Hamas launches several suicide bombing attacks, including one at a Tel Aviv disco that kills 23 people and another at a Jerusalem pizzeria that kills 15. Within the first year of the uprising, nearly eight hundred are dead as a result of the fighting.
