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Six-Day War
Egypt wanted the UN to remove its troops from Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, so that Egyptian troops could close off the Gulf of Aqaba, which was Israels route to the Red Sea. Israel launched air strikes that destroyed most of the airplanes on the ground in Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Israels ground troops then took control of many of their territories. -
Yom Kippur War
Egypt and Syria were determined to win their territory back, so they launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur. As Israel was not prepared for these attacks, they needed military support from the United States. After weeks of fighting, both sides had agreed to cease-fire. -
Peace Talks
The US president, Jimmy Carter, brought together Egypt and Israel after decades of conflict. At first, the peaces talks didn't go over very well, but President Carter ad his staff continued to try and work out an agreement between Egypt and Israel. After 13 days of negotiating, and agreement was finally made among them, and the peace treaty was signed. -
Intifada
Tensions were beginning to build in the West Bank and Gaza where Israel had begun building settlements. Palestinian resentment of Israeli occupation boiled over into a rebellion, in which Palestinian youth battled Israeli troops in street violence. Israel responded to the rebellion with strong military and police resistance, but the rebellion continued until the early 1990s. -
Second Intifada
During the second Intifada, Palestinian youth were joined by Palestinian security forces with guns. Suicide bombers were sent into Israel, but were countered by sending troops backed by tanks. fighter jets, and helicopter gunships. In 2004, Israeli prime minister decided that Israel would withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
