The war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) erupted 100 days ago following a surprise attack by Hamas fighters in southern Israel in October, which led Israel to launch a military campaign that has so far resulted in the deaths of nearly 24,000 Palestinians. The war between Israel and Hamas is the latest chapter in a conflict that has persisted for seven decades between Israelis and Palestinians, destabilizing the Middle East region. On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, which Israel claims resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the abduction of around 240 hostages. In response, Israel conducted a vigorous aerial and ground assault on the Gaza Strip, stating that its goal is to eliminate Hamas.
## What is the Origin of the Conflict?
The intractable conflict reflects Israeli demands for security in a region they have long considered hostile against the Palestinian aspirations to establish their own state. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states and to impose international governance on Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, which granted them 56% of the land of Palestine. The Arab League rejected this proposal.
On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the modern State of Israel, creating a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution and wishing to establish a national homeland on land they claim historical ties to. However, violence continued to escalate between Jews and Arabs, and forces from five Arab countries attacked Israel the day after its establishment. During the subsequent war, about 700,000 Palestinians, half of the Arab population in British-mandated Palestine, either fled or were expelled from their homes, later ending up in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, as well as Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Palestinians refer to the memory of the establishment of Israel as the Nakba, which led to the collective dispossession of their properties and crushed their dreams of statehood. Israel refuses to acknowledge that it expelled Palestinians.
A truce agreement halted the fighting in 1949, but without a formal peace treaty. Palestinians who remained and their descendants now make up about 20% of Israel's population.
## What Major Wars Have Occurred Since Then?
In 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt and Syria, initiating the Six-Day War. Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and has occupied these territories ever since. An Israeli population census that year estimated the population of Gaza to be 394,000, at least 60% of whom were Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights. Israel pushed both armies back within three weeks. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, leading to the evacuation of thousands of Palestine Liberation Organization fighters, led by Yasser Arafat, by sea after a ten-week siege. Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza. Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and took full control of the territory in 2007. Major escalations in fighting between Palestinian militants and Israel occurred in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In 2006, Hezbollah fighters, supported by Iran, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in the restive border region, prompting Israel to undertake military action, resulting in a six-week war.
Additionally, two Palestinian uprisings (Intifadas) occurred between 1987 and 1993, and between 2000 and 2005, with the second characterized by waves of suicide bombings carried out by Hamas against Israelis, coupled with Israeli air and artillery strikes on Palestinian cities.
Since then, various rounds of hostilities have erupted between Israel and Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel and is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the European Union, and other nations. Hamas claims its armed activities are resistance against Israeli occupation.
## What Peace Efforts Have Been Made?
In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, shook hands as part of the Oslo Accords, which granted Palestinians limited self-governance. In 1994, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan. U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Arafat participated in the 2000 Camp David Summit, but they were unable to reach a final peace agreement.
In 2002, an Arab League plan was offered to Israel to establish normal relations with all Arab states in exchange for a complete withdrawal from territories it occupied in the 1967 war, the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees. However, Hamas detonated a hotel in Israel filled with Holocaust survivors during Passover, overshadowing the plan. Efforts for peace have stalled since 2014, with Palestinians refusing to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration due to his reversal of decades-long U.S. policy in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Qatar and Egypt have played mediating roles in the latest conflict, successfully brokering a seven-day ceasefire during which hostages held by Hamas were exchanged for prisoners held by Israel, and more humanitarian aid was allowed to flow into Gaza.
## Where Do Peace Efforts Stand Now?
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has focused on trying to reach a "grand bargain" in the Middle East, which includes normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The ongoing war has created diplomatic discomfort for Riyadh and other neighboring Arab countries in the Gulf that have established peace agreements with Israel.
## What Are the Main Israeli-Palestinian Issues?
At the heart of the conflict are issues such as the two-state solution, Israeli settlements in occupied territories, the status of Jerusalem, agreed borders, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
The two-state solution refers to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Israel asserts that a future Palestinian state must be demilitarized to avoid threatening its security. Most countries consider the Jewish settlements established on lands occupied by Israel in 1967 to be illegal, a view that Israel rejects, citing deep historical and biblical connections to the land. Ongoing settlement expansion remains one of the most contentious issues between Israel, Palestinians, and the international community.
Regarding Jerusalem, Palestinians want East Jerusalem—which holds sites of religious significance for Muslims, Jews, and Christians—to be the capital of their state. Israel insists that Jerusalem must remain its "eternal and undivided" capital. Israel's claim to East Jerusalem lacks international recognition. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital without defining the extent of its jurisdiction over the contested city and moved the U.S. embassy there in 2018.
As for refugees, around 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom are descendants of those who fled in 1948, currently live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Gaza. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry states that nearly half of the registered refugees remain stateless, with many living in overcrowded camps. Palestinians have long demanded the right for refugees and their millions of descendants to return, while Israel asserts that any resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside its borders.
