The Israel-Palestine conflict explained for dummies

Israel and Palestine are at war. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel has ordered retaliation of the attack by militant group Hamas, that has killed around 900 Israelis and injured more than 2,600.

Hamas, which says that it is fighting for its freedom, has also said that it will execute one hostage each time Israel drops an air missile without warning on its civilian houses and broadcast the execution.

The two are in the middle of a full-blown war with the entire Middle East thrown into turmoil.

Their fight for the land of Palestine has its roots in history, and it is because of the events of the past that the two neighboring states have so much enmity between them.

How it all began

• Jews have historically considered territories around Jerusalem, a historic city in Palestine, as their holy land. They refer to the ancient scriptures and say that the land was promised to them by God for their ancestor Abraham and his descendents.
• However, Palestine was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The Ottomans followed Islam.
• Jerusalem was ruled by the Ottomans until they lost it to the British during the first World War in 1917. That was exactly the time when the Jews started to realise their dream of a Jewish state in Palestine.

The British government fulfilled the long-standing dream of Jews to get a separate state of theirs in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration.

The Balfour Declaration, 1917

• The Balfour Declaration proposed, in Palestine, the establishment of a Jewish home for Jews.
• For Jews, this was seen as a cornerstone for a Jewish homeland on both sides of the Jordan river, but for Arabs, concerns grew over occupation of their lands.
• The letter, which was written by Britain’s then foreign secretary Arthur Balfour to Lionel Wakter Rothshield, was a 67-word letter, but it had a big impact on the relation between Arabs and Jews.

Jews move to Palestine, 1920-1946

• During this period, around 3,76,415 Jews migrated to Palestine, as per British records.
• From 1923, the British themselves facilitated immigration of Jews, in large numbers, to Palestine. This included many Jewish people who were fleeing Eurupe due to the rising Nazism.
• The Palestinians were alarmed by the changing demographics and it gave rise to a period of tremendous revolt from the Arabs.

The revolt of 1930s

• The Arabs launched a stiff resistance against Jewish settlements in their state. 
• The Arab National Committee called for a boycott of Jewish products to protest British colonialism and growing Jewish immigration.
• The British didn’t budge, and instead, took help from the Jewish settlers there to form the 'Special Night Squad' to take on the Palestinians.
• By the end of 1940, neary 5,000 Palestinians were killed, 15,000-20,000 were left wounded and 5,600 in prison.

UN Resolution 1947

• After the end of World War II, Great Britain suffered tremendously and began to pull out of their colonies. This is also the time when Britan was exiting India.
• Thereby, soon after the creation of the United Nations, a resolution was adopted which was to divide Palestine and create a separate state for Jews, called Israel; and another for Arabs.
• The UN proposed a plan that granted 55% of Palestine to Jews (who were less in number) and 42% to Arabs.
• The Arab Palestinians rejected it completely because the resolution allotted nearly 56% of the land to Jews, including the most fertile region.
• At that time, Palestinians made up around 67% of the population and controlled 94% of Palestine.

The Jewish takeover of Israel

• Even though Palestine rejected the UN proposal and the plan was never implemented on ground, Jews made up their mind to take over Palestine somehow or the other.
• The Jewish military began attacking the towns and villages of Palestinians right after May 14, 1948, when the British mandate expired.
• On May 14, 1948, Jews announced the creation of Israel.
• The violence continued till 1949 and by then, 7,50,000 Palestinians had been driven out of their homes.
• 15,000 Palestinians had died in this battle, in what Arabs call 'Nakba', or the first catastrophe. 
• Jews successfully captured 78% of Palestine and the rest 22% was divided between what is now called the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
• Around 1,50,000 Palestinians stayed in the newly created state of Israel and lived under a tightly controlled military occupation for 20 years before they were granted Israeli citizenship.
• Egypt took over the Gaza strip, and in 1950, Jordan began its administrative rule over the West Bank.

Six-Day war in 1967

• In 1967, Israel took over the rest of the historic Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day war against a coalition of Arab armies.
• A two-tier system was created, with Jewish settlers being granted all the rights and privileges of being Israeli citizens whereas Palestinians living under a military occupation that discriminated against them and barred any form of political or civic expression.

Hamas is created

• The Hamas group, which stands for the Islamic Resistance movement, came into existence after the first uprising against Israel in 1987.
• It was founded in Gaza by an Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, and his aide Abdul Aziz al Rantissi.
• The movement started as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, to pursue an armed struggle against Israel with the aim of liberating the historic Palestine.
• In 2017, the group’s leader Khaled Masshal said, “We shall not waive an inch of the Palestinian home soil no matter what the recent pressures are and no matter how long the occupation.”

Why did Hamas say they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023

According to Hamas, the latest attack was in retaliation to years of oppression by the Israeli regime on Palestinians.

Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi told Al Jazeera that the international community must pay heed to the atrocities of Israel on Palestinians, “We want the international community to stop atrocities in Gaza against Palestinian people, our holy sites like Al Aqsa Mosque. All these things are the reason behind this battle.”

The Hamas group called for several Islamic movements to join its jihad against Israel and said that this was just the beginning.

Israel, on the other hand, has cut off electricity, water and food to Gaza, in addition to air strikes and attacks against Hamas.