Israel and Palestine

A brief history

Nachiket Patel

10.09.2023

The Religious Divide: Jerusalem

In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is one of the holiest cities along with Mecca and Medina. They believe that Prophet Muhammad went to Jerusalem during Isra and Mi’raj (Night Journey). However, Jerusalem isn’t mentioned in the Qur’an by name once, it is mentioned in other Islamic literature. In Judaism, Jerusalem is the holiest city. And God said: “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah [Jerusalem]; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains [Temple Mount] which I will tell thee of.” — Genesis 22:2. Both sides believe Jerusalem is theirs, and theirs only. Both sides have this major conflict on who Jerusalem belongs to.

The Balfour Declaration and the Holocaust

On November 2, 1917 the Balfour Declaration was passed, allowing the land which is called Palestine to be the national homeland for Jewish people. Britain was a major player in this as a British funded land in the area would further their interests in the Suez canal. In May, 1939 the British altered a document to limit the amount of Jews immigrating to 75,000. They later ended it in 1944. Since the discovery of the horrors Jews went through in the holocaust, the British allocated land to the Jews, Gaza to Egypt, and West Bank to Jordan.

The 1948 Palestine War and 1949 Armistice Agreement

On November 30, 1947 the Palestine War began. A day before the UN voted on a partition plan. This plan essentially had it so that there would be three Arab territories, and one Jewish state (the West Bank had Jerusalem). Israel had accepted the terms, while the Arabs hadn’t. From then to May 14, 1948. On May 15,1948 Britain withdrew from Israel and then the neighboring countries decided to invade Israel to claim territory they claimed was theirs. When the news of this broke, the Palestinians took up arms in favor of the Arabs. The Jewish militias halted the Arab invasion and In October and December of 1948 they pushed into Lebanese territory and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The months close to that date saw Israel annexing the Gaza strip and West Bank.In 1949 an Armistice agreement was met in which the Gaza strip was given to Egypt, and the West Bank to Jordan. Israel kept West Jerusalem, and East Jerusalem was given to Jordan.

A melting pot: 1950–1967

From 1950–1967 violence was ongoing in this region of the Middle East. The army of Jordan carried out assaults on the jews, and Israel raided an Egyptian military outpost in Gaza, leading to the Egyptian government arming the Palestinian Arabs. The Lavon affair was a major reason why there was distrust between the Egyptians and Jews. This was an operation in which Jewish-Egyptian soldiers were tasked with planting bombs in Military outposts. And in 1967 Egypt started building up troops near the border. Then everything boiled over.

The Six-Day War (June 5–10 1967) and the Egypt-Israel Peace treaty

With Egypt building up troops seemingly ready to invade, Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt and Palestine. They launched airstrikes on Egyptian airfields and facilities. As this was going on, Israel launched a ground assault on Palestine and Egypt. By the last day of this conflict, Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula again. Israel had also re-captured the Gaza strip and West Bank, along with taking over Golan heights. On the other side, seven major countries faced Israel. Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. On June 8 and 9 Jordan and Egypt agreed to a ceasefire. In the end, around 21,000 people were killed. The Jews started to settle into the West Bank and Palestine. In 1979 US president Jimmy Carter landed a peace treaty between both sides which returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.

The First Intifada (1987–1993) and the Oslo accords.

The First Intifada consisted of protests and violent riots. During 1987 Hamas(you will see a segment on this later), a Hardline Sunni Islamic sect formed in Palestine. The group had the agenda of freeing Palestine. The kick-off of this Intifada was the crash between a military truck and a car. The car had 4 Palestinian workers. Hamas and other groups in Palestine condemned Israel, claiming that it was intentional. This led to riots and protests during this period. This led to around 200 dead Jews, and 2000 dead Muslims. In this Intifada images were released in which Israeli soldiers were seen firing semi-lethal plastic rounds into crowds and soldiers beating children with clubs. The Oslo accords were the first steps to peace. Israel accepted the PLO(Palestinian Liberation Organization), and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist. This was an interim deal over five years.

The Second Intifada (2000–2005)

The Second Intifada was centered around the failure of the 2000 camp david summit. After this the Oslo accords were essentially thrown away. Targeted killings, the firing of guns, tank attacks, and aerial attacks were common tactics used by the Israelis. The Palestinians engaged in Suicide Bombings, rocket attacks, and stone throwing. Many consider the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit in 2005 to be the ending of the Second Intifada. Around 1000 Isralies died, and 3350 Palestinians died.

2006 conflicts and Hezbollah

In the 2006 Gaza-Israel conflict, Palestine was firing rockets at Israel and Israel retaliated by invading them. According to the Israeli government, 757 rockets were fired. On the first day, Israel knocked out the only power plant in the Gaza Strip. Israel was deemed the victor of the conflict. Before this however, was the 2006 Lebanon war. On July 12, terrorist group Hezbollah invaded and started a raid in Israel, as well as firing rockets at border towns. Hezbollah is a Shia muslim group dedicated to destroying Israel and freeing the West Bank and Gaza. The UN developed a ceasefire to end the conflict soon after. Both sides claim victory in this conflict, there is no clear cut victor.

The 2008–2009 and 2014 Gaza Wars

The 2008–2009 Gaza War lasted three weeks. Israel justified their invasion by claiming that Palestinian rockets were fired into Israel, as well as weapon smuggling into Palestine. This was a preemptive strike which led to around 1500 deaths (Mostly Palestinian). After this war there was a massive humanitarian crisis in Palestine as basic human necessities weren’t present in the strip. Both the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and Hamas declared ceasefires. The 2014 war was kicked-off by the capture and killing of three Israeli students by a Hamas backed organization. This was one of the deadliest conflicts between both sides. The rockets and missiles sent out from both sides led to thousands of casualties. There were alleged humanitarian violations against both sides. Israel was accused of bombing schools and attacking journalists, while Hamas was accused of using human shields and killing protesters. Once again, both sides claimed victory.

2021 Israel-Palestine Crisis

The 2021 crisis was caused by the Israeli supreme court evicting four Palestinian families from their home. From there protests were sparked, and police carrying riot shields were deployed. Hamas fired rockets into Israel once again, and Israel retaliated once again. Some Palestinians threw rocks, This caused the Israeli police to use tear gas, and utilize stun-grenades. All this happened at the religious site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Around 3000 people died. Just like previous conflicts, both sides claimed victory.

Hamas

Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is a free Palestine group. It is widely considered as the dominant force in Palestinian politics. They rejected the two-state solution offered by the UN. The Human rights watch has accused Hamas of committing serious war crimes against Israel as well as crimes against humanity. Hamas has denied the Holocaust multiple times. According to Esther Webman, anti-semitism isn’t found in the organization. In the Intifada period, Hamas used children as fighters and it is widely known that they used child labor to build tunnels throughout Palestine. A British newspaper had alleged that the Hamas tortured people they captured for information or for simply being Jewish.

The 2023 Gaza-Israel conflict

On October 7, 2023 Hamas launched rockets, and an invasion on Israel. As this is an ongoing event many details can be left up to speculation, but it seems like this was a coordinated attack by Hezbollah and Hamas. Swiftly upon the invasion, P.M. Netanyahu had declared war on Hamas. Israel had responded to the attacks by launching rockets of their own, and implementing a blockade. On October 9th Israel had retaken all the land in the Gaza Strip. Some consider this to be the start of the third Intifada. In the early morning hours of October 7th, Hamas carried out an attack on the Re’im music festival, killing around 260 people. Over 100 Israeli citizens were taken hostage by Hamas, including women and children. In the United States, protests were carried out by both sides. Republicans and Former President Trump, blasted President Biden, blaming him for the attack. The Mossad is widely criticized for the intelligence failure behind the attacks.