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The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
A series of letters by the British promising that, in return for supporting the Ottoman Empire, after WW1 land that was owned by Turkey would return to Arab nations who lived on that land. -
Sykes-Picot Agreement
After WW1 the land that belonged to the Ottoman Empire was divided between the France and Britain to control. -
Balfour Declaration
The McMahon-Hussein agreement directly contradicted this Balfour Declaration. This is because Britain committed to supporting the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. -
UN Partition Plan
After a 2 month long debate, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181. This plan provided the withdrawal of British armed forces and allocated 45% of the land to Palestinian's and the other 55% to Israel. -
Establishment of the state of Israel
In 1948, the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria invaded and as Israel fought back, they gained large amounts of territory. Israel then claimed that as its new boarders. As a consequence of this, over 720 000 Palestinian Arabs were displaced. -
Control
After the 1948 war, Gaza came under Egyptian control and the West Bank under Jordanian control. -
6 day War
Israel fought a war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria. As a result, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. As well as East Jerusalem and The West Bank from Jordan and the Golden Heights from Syria. A further 500 000 Palestinians were displaced. -
First Intifada
From 1987 - 1991, a Palestinian uprising happened and is known as the first Intifada. This was a protest against Israeli extrajudicial killings, detentions and many innocent peoples home demolitions. Many children and adults died during this time and images of teenagers throwing stones at tanks were released. This won world wide sympathy for the Palestinian cause. -
Oslo Peace Process
Between 1993 - 2001, the Oslo accord was a turning point for the Arab-Israeli relations. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation recognised the State of Israel and Israel recognised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as a representative for the Palestinian people. -
Second Intifada
This started when Israeli's opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, visited the Temple Mount. This was seen as a highly provocative move to the Palestinians and it was estimated that about 3000 Palestinians and around 1000 Israelis died.
2000 - 2005 -
Separation Barrier
Ever since 2002, Israel has been constructing a 700km long wall around the West Bank, which is about 8m tall. Although it is claimed that it is being built for security purposes, 10% of the West Bank happens to fall on the Israeli side of the wall. -
Israeli Settlements
Since the occupation began in 1967, Israeli's have been establishing settlements in both Gaza and the West Bank. In 2005, Israel withdrew all settlements from the Gaza Strip, although it is still considered to exist under Israeli occupation. -
Gaza Blockade
After Hamas took power in Gaza in 2006, Israel has maintained full military blockade of Gaza since 2007. This means they have complete control of Gaza' airspace and waterways. As a consequence, it has stopped both people and goods entering or leaving the territory, which has destroyed the Gazan economy. -
Gaza War
From 2008 - 2009, Gaza was involved in a 3 week armed conflict between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel. Apparently, Israel's goal was to stop rockets firing into Israel and weapon smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Through all the violence, this resulted in about 1400 Palestinian people killed and only about 13 Israeli people killed. -
Israel/Gaza Conflict
The stated aim of this 7 week conflict was to stop rocket fire from Gaza to Israel. Because of this, over 2200 Palestinian people died and Israel with as little as 66 deaths. The UN estimates that more than 7000 houses were completely destroyed, along with another 89000 houses damaged.