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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.
Anti-Israel activists called for a shift from protests to militancy and violent revolution at protests against the presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump in Atlanta on Thursday.
“We say f**k the police, we will burn it down and take what is ours in the streets. And that isn’t an empty threat, its a promise,” said a woman speaking to around a hundred activists in a protest organized by Palestine Action US. “The days of protests are behind us, and to be peaceful in the belly of the beast that commits unlimited genocide on the global south is a disgrace. It is time we follow the lead of militants of oppressed nations. It is time to change our orientation from one of protest to resistance.”
Advertisement for the “stop the debate” protest explained that both Biden and Trump were part of a system that needed to be upended, calling the choice between Democrat and Republican a “false choice. In a video published by Palestine Action US, the speaker calling for the beheading of the “two-headed beast.”
“Intifada, Intifada. Long live the intifada,” chanted activists. “Globalize the intifada.”Opting for a ‘tactical retreat’
Escalate network said on X on Friday that the protesters had opted for a “tactical retreat” when confronted by police. The group claimed that a speaker cited the philosophy of deceased terrorist Basel Al-Araj, and told other protesters “we fight when we are ready, not when the enemy is ready.”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation also held protests outside the CNN Atlanta studio where the debate was held. PSL’s own presidential candidate, Claudia De la Cruz joined the pro-Palestinian protests.
“As Genocide Joe and arch-racist Donald Trump each clamored to call themselves bigger supporters of Israel and the war machine than their opponent, more and more people reject the two-party system and desire a alternative,” PSL Atlanta said on Instagram on Saturday. “No matter who takes the presidency in November, we will not let up until we get a permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation, and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel! We must build a mass movement that will tear down this unjust system!”
Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America and Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine also participated in the PSL protests.
One photograph shared on Saturday on Instagram by the coalition said that the “whole damn system’s got to go.”
Atlanta DSA said on Saturday on social media that neither Trump nor Biden represented the “will of working people.”
The Hamas-run radio station Al-Aqsa Voice is available for download from the Apple application store for iPhones and iPads.
The free application allows listeners to tune into broadcasts of the Gaza-based radio station.
The age rating for the app is +17 because of “Mild/moderate realistic violence.”
Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger, who originally discovered the application, questioned what internal review mechanisms Apple has in place to prevent terrorist organizations from exploiting its platform.Demands for Apple to remove the app
“Apple should immediately remove the app and fix whatever led to this gross oversight,” said Fischberger.
“How many susceptible American youths have tuned into Al-Aqsa radio through the App Store? How many have listened to the station as it aired speeches by [Hamas political leader] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas Gaza leader] Yahya Sinwar? Voice of Al-Aqsa has been one of Hamas’s primary propaganda channels for years.”
Al-Aqsa Voice advertises its Apple application on its website next to an option for an application on Google Play, however the Google version no longer appears to be available.
The Hamas-affiliated radio channel also has accounts on Soundcloud, X, and Facebook, but they haven’t been updated since July, May, and October. The station’s Telegram account also no longer appears available.
An investigation by the Financial Times has claimed that the IDF’s operations in southern Lebanon are part of a plan to create a 5 km. “dead zone” on the border.
The FT combined data from satellites along with research from US universities using “synthetic aperture radar” satellites to detect changes in buildings without being affected by cloud cover.
Following the beginning of the war in October, Hezbollah began firing on Israel, with Israel responding in kind.
The report also stated that that over 95,000 Lebanese have been displaced, as well as 60,000 Israelis.The FT also reported that Israel has killed more Hezbollah commanders in this flare-up than died in the 2006 war.
Hezbollah fighters quoted in the report balked at the idea that they would withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials seemed to hope that a wider war could be stemmed by the creation of a buffer zone and a diplomatic solution.
The IDF denied it was creating a buffer zone. The IDF claimed it was only pushing back Hezbollah in order to prevent persistent attacks on Israeli residents of the North.
Many Lebanese have only been able to return to their villages during funerals, which appear to be one of the few respites from airstrikes.
“Every day, the destruction is getting worse,” Hassan Shayt, mayor of Kfar Kila, told FT.
A new era of war
“The damage is massive,” Hashem Haidar, the head of Lebanon’s Southern Council, said.
“The type of weaponry that’s being used is different from what we saw in 2006. Before, when a house was bombed, the damage would be confined to the house and its immediate surroundings. Now, there are entire neighborhoods that are being affected by one bombing.”
A senior Israeli military official defending their position said, “Every third home in south Lebanon is used by Hizbollah for weapons storage, training, firing positions, and meeting points for a possible cross-border attack.”
Several residents of targeted villages told FT that they believed that Israel was targeting the homes of people who returned to retrieve their belongings. Some of them noted that within two hours of returning to retrieve their belongings, the IDF had struck their house.
However, the FT also reported that soon after an airstrike they witnessed, Hezbollah fighters told them that their fighters had been hiding and storing weapons in abandoned homes.
There were also questions raised about Israel’s tactics for clearing brushland near the border, with several clips of Israeli troops employing unconventional methods, such as the use of trebuchets to launch flaming projectiles across the border and even flaming arrows.
Wow. Fighting Middle Age-mindset terrorists with Middle Age technology.The IDF soldiers built a TREBUCHET to clear foliage/bushes that Hezbollah have been hiding in and firing from.pic.twitter.com/24cURSYdw2
— Kosher (@KosherCockney) June 13, 2024
They also raised issues regarding Israel’s use of white phosphorus in combat. Israel claims that the use of white phosphorus is in line with international law and is strictly used for smokescreens and not fired at combatants.
העדכון החדש של מייפל סטורי נראה מטורף pic.twitter.com/x2cmBJUm9i
— David Yerman (@davidyerman) June 13, 2024
Although local mayors claim that this use has contaminated agricultural land, that may take years to undo, with some estimates of over $1.7 billion in damage.
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