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Everything you need to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most well-known conflicts around the world.
Since its beginning shortly after the birth of the State of Israel, the conflict has dominated regional geopolitics for over 70 years. And as the ongoing Israel-Hamas War shows, the conflict’s importance and intensity show no sign of slowing down.
But what is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Where did it start? Who are the key players involved?
Here is everything you need to know.Where is Israel?
Israel is a country in the Middle East, specifically in the Levant region. It is steeped in thousands of years of history and has been the home of numerous civilizations and religious faiths.
Israel is bordered by Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories and is on the coast of both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
While most countries consider its capital to be Tel Aviv, Israel and a few other countries, such as the United States, recognize Jerusalem as the capital.
Where is Palestine?
Palestine is a self-proclaimed country, recognized largely as the Palestinian territories, located in the Middle East, specifically on the west bank of the Jordan River (known colloquially as the West Bank) and in a region along the Mediterranean coast known as the Gaza Strip. It is bordered by Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, with the Gaza Strip being on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Though it proclaims Jerusalem as its capital, its de facto capital is Ramallah in the West Bank.
Where is Gaza?
Gaza, known as the Gaza Strip, is a part of the Palestinian territories and is located along the Mediterranean coast. It borders Israel and Egypt and has three border crossings: the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings with Israel and the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Has Israel recognized Palestine?
Israel has refused to recognize a Palestinian state, though progress had been made following the Oslo Accords.
Currently, Israel officially supports the idea of a two-state solution. Still, it is at odds with the proposed Palestinian borders, as well as the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the possibility of Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israel.
However, Israel does recognize Palestinian control over certain parts of the West Bank.
Does Palestine recognize Israel?
Palestine technically does recognize Israel, with then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat announcing it as such in 1988. This was reaffirmed following the signing of the Oslo Accords. However, the Palestinian leadership continues to have strong opposition to the State of Israel, and many Palestinian factions disagree with the recognition of Israel.
Israel is oftentimes referred to by these bodies as the “Zionist occupation.”
What is the Palestinian Authority?
The Palestinian Authority is the official ruling entity in the Palestinian territories. It is led by President Mahmoud Abbas and is controlled by his Fatah party.
The PA is based in Ramallah and exercises control over the Palestinian-run areas of the West Bank, as well as claiming control over the Gaza Strip.
The government was meant to be an interim body rather than a permanent political entity.
Officially a democracy, the Palestinian Authority is, in practice, an authoritarian entity, not having had elections since 2006, with further attempts at having elections never actually manifesting.
Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005, though his term in office has continued for almost two decades at the time of writing.
The PA has also been accused of violating human rights, censoring a free press, and engaging in widespread corruption.
Currently, the PA is fractured following the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, which saw the terrorist group and party Hamas win control of the parliament. Since then, a schism has erupted between Fatah and Hamas, and attempts at mending this split have been unsuccessful.
What is Hamas?
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist terrorist group that was founded in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin. Its origins lie in a Muslim charity organization, Mujama al-Islamiya, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood organization.
Since its official founding in 1987, Hamas has become infamous for its terrorist activities and its staunch refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, but the Palestinian Authority dissolved the government and replaced it with a Fatah-led one, leading to the schism mentioned above.
Hamas has fought several armed conflicts with Israel since taking over Gaza, with the current ongoing war being sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people in Israel killed and 250 people taken hostage.
Hamas’s leadership is spread out between Gaza and Qatar. Its leader in Gaza is Yahya Sinwar, while the organization’s overall political leader is Ismail Haniyeh.
When did the Israeli-Palestinian conflict begin?
The starting point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the subject of fierce debate since many believe the Palestinian national identity didn’t begin until the middle of the 20th century. In contrast, others believe the Israeli national identity did not technically exist until the establishment of the State of Israel.
What is agreed upon, though, is that Jews and Arabs have conflicted with one another in the region since the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This coincided with the arrival of Jewish Zionist settlers into the future State of Israel to escape antisemitic persecution in Europe. At the time, the land was ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, though by the end of World War I, the British took it over and instituted the British Mandate of Palestine.
Over the coming decades, the two demographics would grow increasingly in conflict as tensions grew, with the Arabs staging multiple revolts in the mandate. In 1947, a plan was proposed by the British to partition Israel into Jewish and Arab states. The Jews agreed, but the Arabs did not.
A year later, Israel declared independence, and war was declared. Surrounded on all sides by enemy nations, Israel proved victorious, and many Arabs ended up fleeing their homes – an event Palestinians refer to today as the Nakba.
Tensions exploded in the late 1980s as Palestinians launched the First Intifada, an uprising aimed at lashing out at what they perceived as an oppressive Israeli occupation. The intifada ended with the signing of the Oslo Accords, which many hoped would lead to a lasting peace. However, fierce opposition by hardliners among both Israelis and Palestinians prevented this, particularly with the assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the election of a new right-wing Israeli government.
In 2000, the Second Intifada started up, lasting several years and seeing multiple casualties. It ultimately ended following the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, though it continues to have control over Gaza’s borders and airspace.
While the most visible part of the conflict now takes place in Gaza, there is still considerable tension among Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, where terrorist attacks and bouts of violence still occur.
Are Israel and Palestine fighting over Gaza?
The ongoing Israel-Hamas War is fought largely in the Gaza Strip, but it is not a fight “over” Gaza. Only a small minority of Israeli lawmakers are calling for the full annexation of Gaza. Rather, the ongoing war is over the eradication of Hamas and the freeing of the hostages held in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday put him at odds with the IDF regarding how many haredi the military can absorb in a short amount of time.
Netanyahu said that while he was in favor of increasing haredi integration into the IDF, in practicality, the military needed more time to establish haredi-tailored programs and environments for this to be successful.
The prime minister’s remark comes days after top IDF officials presented a series of highly specific, customized programs for the ultra-Orthodox that are either already open or are “ready to go” as soon as the haredi respond to their military summons. This directly contradicts the prime minister’s words during the briefing.
Netanyahu spoke to the committee in a closed and classified hearing, but portions of what he said were, nevertheless, publicized, including his comments regarding haredi integration into the IDF.
When asked about the issue, Netanyahu said, “We would prefer that anyone who is not studying [in a yeshiva] share the burden [of military service.] But right now, there is a gap between what the army says it can absorb and what it can absorb, so the absorption capacity of the IDF needs to be increased.”
He added that there were intentions to create new frameworks that would allow the haredi to maintain their way of life as well as to respond to operational needs, such as establishing an ultra-Orthodox base along the border with Jordan that would be responsible for defense there.
How to fulfill the IDF’s need for more soldiers
Besides that example, Netanyahu said that the army’s need for more soldiers could be filled by extending the service of mandatory service soldiers as well as calling up a variety of reservists from among the population living in border communities who never responded to their call-ups or were given exemptions.
In contrast to Netanyahu’s statements, seeming to indicate that the IDF cannot absorb a significant increase of haredi men, the military has said repeatedly, dating back to August, that it has been ready to receive an additional 3,000 haredi per year, on top of the approximately 1,800 per year it has already been absorbing.
The announcement in August and the sending of summons to 3,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community came after months of extensive work and the investment of significant resources to prepare both personnel and bases for a new, major influx.
One new option for service that the IDF has already added for the haredi to make their service more attractive is serving in technical and logistical capacities at hardened aircraft shelters at an air force base section where only men will serve.
Another new option is called the Yoav Track in logistics command centers, which includes fulfilling a wide variety of technical and logistic roles throughout the military, and not just in the Israel Air Force.
Also, though Netanyahu said that the IDF should look into forming a new haredi brigade, the military had already announced last week that on December 26, it would open one, distinct from Netzach Yehuda.
Netzach Yehuda had been the brigade that most of the haredi wanted to join to date. However, it has turned off many of the ultra-orthodox because it has a reputation for being more religious Zionist in nature than haredi.
Additionally, there is a recently established unit of haredi serving at the Ofer detention center, and that program is expected to grow.
Further, a Lt.-Col. with a hassidic Chabad background, who has joined the army. He will be focused on haredi affairs and making sure new inductees are comfortable and are having their needs addressed.
Despite a detailed presentation last week about all of these new service mediums as being already established for haredim, a spokesperson for Netanyahu doubled down on the claim that the IDF was still lacking in its capacity to absorb a major influx of haredi soldiers.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
British rocker Paul Weller, Scottish band Primal Scream, and Irish rappers Kneecap will headline a ‘Gig For Gaza’ charity show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Dec. 13.
Weller, the former frontman for 1970s punk pioneers The Jam, is curating the show, with all proceeds going to organizations Medical Aid For Palestinians and Gaza Forever, which purportedly provide essential aid – including food, medical supplies, and emergency shelter – for Gazans who have been forced to flee their homes due to the Israel-Hamas War.
“This is an opportunity to enjoy a night of powerful music and make a tangible difference in the lives of people facing unimaginable hardship,” a press release for the show said. The concert will also feature guest speakers and short films.
Weller of Primal Scream performed with Palestinian flag
During a recent tour of the US, Weller, a longtime advocate for leftwing causes, performed with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amplifier. Speaking onstage from Glasgow, Scotland, last month, Weller said, “I would like to dedicate that last song to all the tens of thousands of women, children, babies, men, civilians in Palestine and Gaza. I would ask you one question. It’s really simple. There is no grey area. Are you for genocide, or are you against it? It’s a f–-king yes or no question…”
Over the summer, Primal Scream, which formed in the 1980s, gave their support for a jersey design for a Palestinian refugee football team based on their classic record ‘Screamadelica.’
In March, Kneecap withdrew from performing at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, after it was revealed that the US Army was a “super sponsor” of the event as well as defense contractor RTX Corporation.
“It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies,” the group explained of their decision via Instagram. “This will have a significant financial impact on Kneecap… but it isn’t an iota of hardship when compared with the suffering being inflicted on the people of Gaza.
None of the artists appearing nor promo material for the concert mentioned the 101 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, nor the October 7 massacre that killed over 1,200 Israelis and sparked the current war aimed at toppling Hamas.
David Brinn contributed to this report.
Support for a two-state solution in the Middle East among Arab Americans and Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza is on the rise, according to two recent surveys.
The more recent survey from YouGov and Arab News was published on Tuesday. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) published the other in September.
A survey of Arab Americans leading up to the US presidential elections found that half of those polled (50%) believed in seeking a two-state solution.
The poll touched upon the future of the conflict and possible resolutions to see its conclusion. Half of Arab-Americans polled believed in seeking a two-state solution with shared governance over Jerusalem. 34% believe that there should be one state where Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights, and 9% stated that they were unsure.A separate poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in September found that support for the concept of the two-state solution among Palestinians continues to rise and has the support of 39% of those polled.
According to PSR, three months prior, support for two states stood at around 32%. Figures were taken from Gaza and the West Bank, at 39% and 38%, respectively.
However, when asked about a separate Palestinian state not linked to the “two-state solution” and when state borders are identified as those of 1967, support rises to 59%, PSR found.
Half of the respondents prefer the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, while 19% prefer a confederation between the two states of Palestine and Israel. Only 10% prefer establishing a single state with equality between Israelis and Palestinians.
When asked about solving the conflict and reaching statehood, nearly half of Palestinian respondents (48%) said they would choose “armed struggle” as a way to achieve it (50% in the West Bank, 36% in Gaza).
However, a third said they preferred negotiations to end the conflict, and 15% said they would like to see popular peaceful resistance.
International calls for two-states
Recent US administrations and other global actors have called for the end to the ongoing war and to reach a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Biden administration has attempted to broker a hostage and ceasefire deal as a first step. In remarks made ahead of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in September, US President Joe Biden reiterated his support for a two-state solution.
“As we look ahead, we must also address the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where the world — where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own,” Biden said.
The survey conducted by Arab News and YouGov was conducted using a sample of 500 Arab Americans across the United States from September 26 to October 1, 2024. The survey data have a margin of error of +/- 5.93%.
The poll conducted by PSR comprised a sample size of 1,200 people, of whom 790 were interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and 410 in Gaza. The margin of error stood at +/-3.5%.
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