Smoke billows over Khan Younis, Gaza, on Wednesday. AFP/Getty Images
Over the past few months, tensions in the Middle East have been rising. The war in Gaza has been escalating and expanding to other neighboring nations like Syria and Lebanon. We are now asking ourselves how we got to this moment? The conflict between Israel and Hamas is an extremely complicated and bloody history. Many people on both sides in Israel and Palestine have died as a result of brutal fighting between both governments and party affiliated groups. To explain the history of the conflict, we must go to the beginning of how it started. For the readers of this article, we stress the importance of being open-minded towards the subject in question and the current political environment we are currently in. This article is not intended to take sides. This article is intended to tell the history of the conflict and the innocent people caught up in it, between two parties in a competing battle of dominance in the region, in the end many people who have been caught up in this conflict are just normal people that are trying to live a normal life but live in fear and war.
Pre-Israeli Independence (1918-1948)
David Ben-Gurion publicly pronounces the Declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv. (Wikimedia Commons/Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
We focus our attention on the Ottoman Empire, once a major power in the middle east and in parts of the Balkans. By the beginning of the 19th century the Empire was in decline, even losing most of their territories in Africa and in the Balkans. When the Ottoman Empire joined the First World War on the side of The Central Powers in 1914, it was at its most venerable state of collapse. The Ottoman Empire officially surrendered on October 30, 1918, to the Armistice of Mudros after Port Mudros of the Aegean Island of Lemnos.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France carved the territories of the old Empire and incorporated them into their own empires. Before the surrender of the Ottomans, The French and British governments agreed to split the territories under their sphere of influence. This secret agreement was the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 which split the Middle east into two.
Britannica map of Skye-Picot Agreement
This agreement would evidentially form the basis of the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 that drew the map of the modern middle east that is still in exitance today. The European diplomates drew the borders with little knowledge of social and cultural groups in the region. With the religious divide between Sunni and Shia groups. The region that is of focus is Southern Levant or Palestine. This region fell under the British military after 1920 to 1948 when the British Mandate of Palestine was established by the Treaty of Sevre and the League of Nations. Demographically in 1920 the population consisted of Arabic speaking Muslims, Christian’s, a smaller group of Arabic or Ladino speaking Jews who ancestor long lived in the region. and a group of new arrivals of European Zionists, Jewish Nationalism.
The word Zionism comes from the word Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for the mountain top in Jerusalem). It was first popularized by the first a publication of the book Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) by playwright and activist Theodore Herzl. Theodore was born on May 2,1860 in Budapest, Hungary that was in the Austrian Empire, and moved to Vienna as a young man. At first, he did not consider possible the creation of a Jewish state, he saw antisemitism as a social problem and that assimilation could help integrate the Jewish community into the mainstream society of Europe. That would change in 1894 when a French army captain by the name of Henry Dreyfus, who was Jewish, was accused of treason for selling military secrets to the Germans. He was imprisoned and tried by a forged document. This became known as the Dreyfus Affair and convinced Theodore Herzl that antisemitism was not an individual issue but a national issue. He advocated for the creation for a Jewish state and that the Jewish people were one people instead of individual. The creation of a Jewish homeland became a driving force in the Zionist ideology.
Theodore Herzl 1860-1904
While the Zionist movement was gaining momentum, violent clashes between the Arabic and Jewish communities there escalated. Notably, one of the more violent clashes to occur in 1929 was known as the Wailing Wall Riots. These riots occurred as the Arabic people became frustrated over the Zionist land purchases, the British Mandate’s Jewish Home policy, increase of Jewish immigration in the region, and natural factors of a cattle plague and locust. The riots erupted in Jerusalem, spreading to Hebron and Safad with the most violent clashes occurring in Hebron. In total 133 Jews killed, and 339 wounded and 116 Arabs killed and 232 wounded. riots and escalations between the two sides would escalate into the later 1930s into an undeclared civil war. With a major economic crisis erupting in the region and mass immigrations of European Jews after the Rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany
In response to the crisis in the region, the British administrative government issued in 1939 The White Paper. The document stated that Palestine would be a bi-national state inherited by the Jewish and Arab communities. Immigration of Eastern European Jews would be limited for 5 year and would require Arab consent to immigrate in the region. As well as the limitation of purchased lands by Jewish Communities. Hitlers rise however cause many of the Eastern European Jews to immigrate for the protection and safety from the Nazi regime. However, immigration was restricted in the region. Zionist in response organize mass illegal immigration. As the Second World War ended in Allied Victory, questions emerge about the British Mandate of Palestine. Jewish leaders, after atrocities during the Holocaust by the Nazi Regime, called for the independence of a Jewish State.
The British turned to the newly established UN to Solve the issue, the UN approved to partition the region into separate Arabian and Jewish states in 1947. While many Jewish communities celebrated, many of the local Arabs disagreed with the UN resolution which resulted in violence and brutal battles. The British Mandate of Palestine was set to expire in 1948. Before the mandate officially expired, the first prime minister of the newly established state of Israel (David Ben-Gurion), declared the independence and statehood of Israel. This would immediately lead to conflict between Israel and neighboring Arab nations declaring war. This immediately led to war. Israelis would remember this war as 1948 War of Independence, while Palestinians would remember this war as Nakba for “Catastrophe.”
Conflict and War (1948-1978)
Micha Bar Am A portrait of Egyptian President Abdul Nasser leaning against a destroyed Egyptian tank. Sinai, Egypt. 1967. © Micha Bar Am | Magnum Photos
The independence of the state of Israel was immediately met with a retaliation from its Arab neighbors. The war of Independence was one of the many conflicts that would engulf the region. Technically there were 2 wars happening during this period. The first conflict happened between May to June of 1948. Israeli forces during the first war were stopping Arab forces from advancing into Israeli territory. a truce would be enacted by the UN for a cease fire from both sides but would end on July 6th due to Syria and Egypt's unwillingness to extend the truce. The second war from July 6th to 19th resulted in an Israeli victory and expanding the borders of the Israeli State. Gaza would be under control of the Egyptian government while the West Bank was under control of the newly established Jordan Kingdom. Jerusalem would be divided between the old eastern city under control of Jordan and the western part of the city under Israeli control.
Approximately 470,000 Arabs fled to neighboring Arab nations, while only 133,000 remained in the State of Israel. The Israeli government allowed all Jewish citizens from around the world to enter the new nation. The Law of Return allowed any Jew from anywhere in the world to enter the nation and become a citizen. During this period, large migrations of Jews came to Israel, European and non-European Jews from all over the world. As a result of the mass immigration of Jews, the Israeli government came under pressure to provide homes and space for the immigrants. The Israeli government's response to housing new Jewish immigrants was to appoint a custodian or absentee property in 1948.
This allowed the government to categorize the homes of Palestinian Arab absentees who had been abandoned before and after the conflict. Allowing new settlers to take over the homes if it was absentee. Only 1% of Israeli Arabs were to regain their property and land. The Israeli government viewed its neighbors as a threat to its security and independence. Thus, the Israeli saw deterrence as an option to prevent any neighboring aggressor from violating its national sovereignty. In this act of deterrence, the Israeli government orders its armed forces to carry out retaliatory attacks on Arab villages allegedly housing groups responsible for attacks on Israelis or property. During the 1950s, tensions in the region escalated with the eruption of the1952 Egyptian Revolution.
Gamal Abdel Nasser at the Suez Canal, 1956. (CBS via Getty Images)
King Faruq was overthrown in a bloodless coup by military officers led by Gamal Abd al-Nassar. After the coup, Nassar would take full control of the Suez Canal without the permission of the British and French. In response, the British and French gave Nassar an ultimatum to return the Suez Canal; the French and British on the other hand were in contact with the Israeli government in exchange for an agreement that would allow them to take control of the Sini Peninsula and the Gaza Strip once Nassar was removed. When Nassar refused to return the Suez Canal on October 31, 1956, Israeli forces invaded the Gaza Strip and the Sini Peninsula with the help of British and French forces.
However, the operations did not go well with the United States and the Soviet Union, so under pressure from the United States and the world community, the French and British ended the operations. Israel, on the other hand, had gained control over the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip and was determined to control the region. However, due to pressure from the United States on Israel over the occupation, Israel returned control to the Egyptians in March 1957. What came to be known as the Suez Crisis strained Israeli-Egyptian diplomatic relations for the next decade.
A year after the end of the crisis in 1958, a new Palestinian organization called Fatah was formed. Fatah is an organization formed by young Palestinians who fled to Gaza after the creation of Israel. Several factions would form within Fatah, inspired by Arabism and Arab unity, which advocated the liberation of Palestine after Arab unity. Another organization would emerge called the PLO or the Palestine Liberation Organization. Founded in 1964, it was an organization that represented the Palestinians cause for liberation of Palestine. This organization was also seen as a commitment by other Arab neighbors to the establishment and liberation of Palestine.
War would soon break out again in what became known as the Six-Day War, a conflict between the Israelis and their Arab neighbors, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, over a dispute over the passage of Israeli ships through the Red Sea. The conflict lasted 6 days and resulted in an Israeli victory and occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.
Armed police in the Olympic village in a incident that horrified the world. Photograph: CSU Archv/Everett/ Rex Features/five
In 1972, during the Summer Olympics in West Germany, an armed group of terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes' hostage at gunpoint in the athletes' apartment building. The terrorist group was the Black September organization, an affiliate of the PLO. The group demanded the release of 236 prisoners, including 234 prisoners in Israel and 2 in West Germany. Munich police attempted to allow the hostage-takers to board a helicopter to take them to the Fürstenfeldbruck air base to arrest them. However, all the hostages were killed by the terrorists and the operation was a failure.
The following year, 1973, another conflict would occur between its Arab neighbors in a surprise attack in the Yom Kippur War. The date this war began was October 7, 1973. The same day that Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. This attack was carried out by Egypt and Syria; this invasion was not successful in regaining territory from Israel. Although the Israeli government held the Sinai Peninsula, this would eventually end with the Camp David Accords.
Normalization (1978-2000)
Then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, left, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, right, shake hands watched by President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn on Sept. 13, 1993. The historic meeting came after the Oslo accord was agreed in secret on Aug. 20.
The Camp David Accords of 1978 were initiated by the Carter administration to seek an end to the Israeli-Arab conflict in the region. An agreement was reached by both parties. On September 17, 1978, the peace treaty was signed. The following year, in 1979, the Israeli government completely withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, ending the conflict between the Egyptian government and Israel. The conflict between the two nations would soon end and peace would prevail in the Sinai region. The Camp David Accords were a milestone in the normalization of relations between the two nations and were to be the building blocks for further peace agreements.
However, the question of what would happen in Gaza, the Golan Heights and the West Bank remained unanswered. This was seen by most Arabs as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. Egypt's president during the Camp David Accords, Anwar El-Sadat, who took over the presidency from President Nasser in 1970, was assassinated in 1981 by Islamic fundamentalists angered by the Camp David Accords and recognition of the Israeli government.
IDF Tanks In Beirut During 1982 Lebanon War (by: David Rubinger)
In 1982, Israel intervened in the Lebanese civil war to destroy PLO positions and leadership in southern Lebanon. Lebanon was in a complex and brutal civil war from 1975 to 1990, which resulted in many factors that are still present today. This was the creation of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. This was triggered by an attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador by the Abu Nibal group, a militia organization that broke away from Fatah. Israeli jets bombed West Beirut, prompting the PLO to retaliate by bombing northern Israel. Israeli forces began their invasion and moved toward the outskirts of Beirut.
In the city of Beirut, the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. Israeli forces under Ariel Sharon and Phalangist forces, a pro-Christian Lebanese militia, entered the refugee camps on September 16 after the assassination of Lebanese President Basher Gemayel. The purpose was to clear the camps of 2,000 PLO troops. The result was a massacre of Palestinian and Shiite Lebanese refugees that lasted until September 19. At least 800 people died in the raid. Many Israelis, after hearing reports of the incident, were outraged by the government and protested the war. Prime Minister Begin would resign under the pressure of war and hyperinflation in 1983. Israel would occupy southern Lebanon along the Litani River.
The PLO left Lebanon, but a new paramilitary organization would form to take its place, Hezbollah. established in 1982, the organization would challenge Israeli dominance in the region and would escalate into bloody confrontations, leading to increased casualties on both sides. This group became an immensely powerful organization that challenged the Israeli military in southern Lebanon.
First Intifada of 1987 saw a Palestinian Uprising against Israeli authority. The word intifada means "shaking off" and was originally intended to be a non-violent protest against Israeli authority. Although it was mostly small and unorganized, it developed into a mass uprising against Israeli authority. Civilians attacked Israeli soldiers with rocks and Molotov cocktails, and Fatah, which had merged with the PLO, distributed firearms, and grenades for use against Israeli troops. From what came out of the first intifada was a new organization dedicated to the liberation of Palestinian territory, this new organization is Hamas.
Six-year Intifada was saturated with civil Disobedience, well-organized strikes, and communal cooperatives [File:AP]
The First Intifada would end in 1993 under the public agreement between Israel and the PLO to sue for peace under the Oslo Accords. First, talks between the United States, Israel, and the PLO. Under this agreement, the PLO would renounce all its terrorist affiliations and recognize the state of Israel. Both sides agreed to a Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza. The agreement was officially signed in Egypt in 1995, allowing the Palestinians to have a governing body in the West Bank and Gaza, with Israel having control in parts of the West Bank.
The people involved were Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, and PLO leader Yasir Arafat. What was seen as a monumental achievement in the process of normalization between the two groups was not seen the same way from the nationalist perspective. Both Israeli and Palestinian nationalists were critical of the Oslo Accords, even Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. So much so that in 1995 Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amire, an Israeli who opposed the Oslo Accords.
In July 2000, prime minister Ehud Barak would withdraw all forces from southern Lebanon due to increasing casualties in the region caused by Hezbollah forces. At the same time, President Clinton invited Barak and Arafat to Camp David to discuss a final agreement to end Israeli-Palestinian hostilities. However, the meeting collapsed without agreement on the issue of Gaza and the West Bank. It is unclear how the talks between the two sides broke down, but there was disagreement over the issue of borders. Things would escalate further when Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon would visit the Temple Mount. Following the visit, violence would erupt in the streets and on the Temple Mount between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces. This would lead to the Second Intifada and would be one of the most violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.
Escalation (2001-2024)
Photo taken during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on 28 December 2008 [Rahim Khatib/Apaimages]
The second intifada was the most violent between Palestinians and Israelis, resulting in the deaths of 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis between 2000 and 2005. Due to domestic terrorism and political upheaval during the Second Intifada. Israel would be involved in the Second Lebanon War after the killing of 2 Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah forces and cross-border air strikes. The war would end without any victory. The Palestinian legislature also faced turmoil and infighting between Fatah and Hamas. As a result of the infighting, Hamas would take control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. As a result, Israeli citizens were evacuated from the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip was reinforced by Israeli security forces. As a result of the unpopular Second Lebanon War and the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu would be re-elected prime minister in 2009.
Today the conflict has caused destruction and division between friends and families. This conflict has affected many in America and on many college campuses. The future remains uncertain, but what is clear is that more violent and death will continue if the two parties continue the path of escalation. But someday, in the far distant future when the sounds of drums will stop. Will there be eventual peace?
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