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Zionism
In the late 19th century, the idea of Zionism emerged. Zionism is a political ideology based on the belief that Jews should have their own Jewish state in the land of Israel. This is what started the Israel / Palestinian conflict. -
The McMahon‐Hussein Correspondence
The McMahon‐Hussein Correspondence was a promise that the British made stating that if they fought with the British against the Otooman Empire in WW1, the land that Turkey owned would be returned to the Arab nationals who lived in that land. -
The Sykes-Picot agreement
This agreement meant that after WW1, the land that the Ottoman Empire owned would be divided between the French and British to control. -
Balfour Declaration
The McMahon-Hussein Agreement directly contradicted the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain had stated that it is committed to supporting the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. This meant that the Palestinians along with the other Arab nationals were not going to get the land that they were promised and instead the Jews would get that land. -
United Nations partition plan - Resolution 181
In the year 1947, the United Nations approved Resolution 181, a partition plan that was going to divide the land into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The outcome was that the Palestinians (who made up 67% of the total population) were given only 45% of the land and the Israelis (who made up 33% of the total population) were given 55% of the land. This would contribute to the conflict as the decision was unfair as the Palestinians who had a bigger population were given less land. -
Establishment of the state of Israel
During the early 20th century, the Zionist movement gained increasing support from European Jews which ultimately lead to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. -
Six-Day War
In the middle of 1967, Israel fought a war against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. At the end of it, Israel claimed the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (which they gave back in 1979) from Egypt, Jordan's East Jerusalem and the West Bank and Syria's Golan Heights. This caused a further 500,000 Palestinians to be displaced. -
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Military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
From 1967 to the present day, the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been under military occupation. Ever since the occupation started in 1967, Israelis have been stealing the Palestinians land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and using that stolen land to build settlements, meaning that the Palestinians are losing their land and thus losing their homes which leads to an increase of homelessness. -
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First Intifada
In 1987, the Palestinian mass uprising, known as the intifada, began. It began when Palestinians were protesting against Israeli extrajudicial killings, detentions and house demolitions. In the first 13 months, 332 Palestinians were killed. This was the first time that Palestinians fought back. -
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Oslo peace process (Oslo accords)
In 1994, the Oslo accord created the Palestinian Authority, whose job would be limited self-governance over parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Oslo peace process went for 7 years but would ultimately fail and Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally in 1995. -
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Second Intifada
In September 2000, the Second Intifada began when Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, decided to go to the Temple Mount, which was seen as a highly proactive move by Palestinians. Around 3,000 Palestinians died and approximately 1,000 Israelis lost their lives. -
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Separation Barrier
Israel has been building a 700km Separation Barrier around the West Bank since 2002. The wall restricts travel of Palestinians to and from work in the West Bank and in Israel. This makes it difficult for Palestinians to go to work and earn money to support their families. -
Withdrawal of settlements form Gaza Strip
In 2005 Israel withdrew all settlements from the Gaza Strip but Israel:
- maintains full authority over the right to enter and exit
- has total control over Gaza airspace
- controls the supply of essential products and services (electricity, fuel, water)
- controls the population registry of Gaza inhabitants
- collects the taxes owed to the Gaza authorities
This goes to show that the Gaza Strip is still under occupation as the people there still have no freedom. -
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Gaza blockade
Since 2007, Israel has sustained a full military blockade of Gaza after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2006. Involving complete control over Gaza's airspace and waterways, preventing people and goods from entering or leaving the area. This is immobilizing the Gazan economy. -
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Gaza War
This was a three‐week armed conflict between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel. Israel's objective was to stop rocket attacks into Israel and to stop weapon smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops used air strikes and ground invasions and Hamas used rocket attacks. -
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Israel-Gaza conflict
Israel's objective was to stop rocket fires into Israel.This conflict involved Israeli bombardment, Palestinian rocket attacks and ground fighting. Over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, 66 Israeli soldiers were killed and 6 Israeli civilians also died. An estimated 7,000 homes were destroyed and 89,000 homes were damaged.
