The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and many
Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the
Arab League
The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
towards the
Palestinians
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
in the context of the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
, which, in turn, has been attributed to the simultaneous rise of
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and
Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century, though the two movements did not directly clash until the 1920s. Since the late 20th century, however, direct hostilities of the Arab–Israeli conflict across the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
have mostly been attributed to a changing political atmosphere dominated primarily by the
Iran–Israel proxy conflict.
Part of the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians arose from the conflicting claims by the Zionist and Arab nationalist movements to the land that constituted British-ruled
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
. To the Zionist movement, Palestine was seen as the
ancestral homeland of the Jewish people; while to the
pan-Arab movement, Palestine was seen as
historically belonging to the Arab Palestinian people and thereby also constituting
Muslim land in the
pan-Islamic context. By 1920, the opposing national aspirations of these two movements triggered the outbreak of a
Jewish–Arab sectarian conflict within the British Mandate's territory, eventually escalating into the
1947–1948 Palestinian civil war following the unveiling of the
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which sought to divide the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state. In May 1948, one day after the
Israeli Declaration of Independence
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...
, the Arab League militarily intervened in the civil war by invading the by-then former British Mandate territory to support the Arab Palestinians, sparking the
First Arab–Israeli War.
Large-scale hostilities mostly ended with ceasefire agreements after the 1973
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
.
Peace agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, resulting in Israeli withdrawal
from the Sinai Peninsula and the abolition of the
military governance system in the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, in favor of
Israeli Civil Administration and consequent unilateral annexation of the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
and
East Jerusalem.
The nature of the conflict has shifted over the years from the large-scale, regional Arab–Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which peaked during the
1982 Lebanon War when Israel intervened in the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
to oust the
Palestinian Liberation Organization from
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. With the decline of the 1987–1993
First Intifada
The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
, the interim
Oslo Accords led to the creation of the
Palestinian National Authority in 1994, within the context of the
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
Intermittent discussions are held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a peace process. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which ...
. The same year, Israel and
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
reached a peace accord.
In 2002, the Arab League offered recognition of Israel by Arab countries as part of the resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the
Arab Peace Initiative.
The initiative, which has been reconfirmed since, calls for normalizing relations between the Arab League and Israel, in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the
occupied territories (including East Jerusalem) and a "just settlement" of the
Palestinian refugee problem based on
UN Resolution 194. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a ceasefire had been largely maintained between Israel and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, while limited warfare continued in Lebanon against
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian
proxy militias. Despite the peace agreements with
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and Jordan, the interim peace accords with the Palestinian Authority and the generally existing ceasefire, until the mid-2010s the Arab League and Israel had remained at odds with each other over many issues.
The
Syrian civil war reshuffled the situation near Israel's northern border, putting the ruling Syrian government,
Hezbollah and the
Syrian opposition at odds with each other and complicating their relations with Israel upon the emerging warfare with Iran. The conflict, since 2023
a war, between Israel and
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
-ruled Gaza is also attributed to the
Iran–Israel proxy conflict. By 2017, Israel and several Arab
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
states led by
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
formed a
semi-official coalition to confront Iran. This move and the
Israeli normalization with Gulf states was marked by some as the fading of the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Background
National movements
The roots of the modern Arab–Israeli conflict lie in the tensions between
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses Palestinian self-determination, self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Pales ...
; the latter having risen in response to
Zionism
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
towards the end of the 19th century. Territory regarded by the
Jewish people as their
historical homeland is also considered by many Arabs as historically and presently belonging to the
Arab Palestinians, which has increased since
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
had been under the control of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
for nearly 400 years, until its partitioning in the aftermath of the
Great Arab Revolt during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. During the closing years of their empire, the Ottomans began to espouse their Turkish ethnic identity, asserting the primacy of Turks within the empire, leading to discrimination against the Arabs. The promise of liberation from the Ottomans led many Jews and Arabs to support the allied powers during World War I, leading to the emergence of widespread Arab nationalism. Both Arab nationalism and Zionism had their formulative beginning in Europe. The Zionist Congress was established in Basel in 1897, while the "Arab Club" was established in Paris in 1906.
In the late 19th century European and Middle Eastern Jewish communities began to increasingly immigrate to Palestine and purchase land from the local Ottoman landlords. The population of the late 19th century in Palestine reached 600,000 – mostly Muslim Arabs, but also significant minorities of Jews, Christians, Druze and some
Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...
and
Baháʼís. At that time, Jerusalem did not extend beyond the walled area and had a population of only a few tens of thousands. Collective farms, known as
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
im, were established, as was the first entirely Jewish city in modern times,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
.
During 1915–16, as World War I was underway, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, secretly corresponded with
Husayn ibn 'Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina. McMahon convinced Husayn to lead an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war. McMahon promised that if the Arabs supported Britain in the war, the British government would support establishing an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. The Arab revolt, led by
T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Husayn's son Faysal, was successful in defeating the Ottomans, and Britain took control over much of this area.
Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine
First mandate years and the Franco-Syrian war
In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British forces (including the
Jewish Legion). The British government issued the
Balfour Declaration, which stated that the government viewed favorably "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" but "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine". The Declaration was issued as a result of the belief of key members of the government, including Prime Minister
David Lloyd George, that Jewish support was essential to winning the war; however, the declaration caused great disquiet in the Arab world. After the war, the area came under British rule as the
British Mandate of Palestine. The area mandated to the British in 1923 included what is today Israel, the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. Transjordan eventually was carved into a separate British protectorate – the Emirate of Transjordan, which gained an autonomous status in 1928 and achieved complete independence in 1946 with the approval by the United Nations of the end of the British Mandate.
A major crisis among the Arab nationalists took place with the failed establishment of the
Arab Kingdom of Syria in 1920. With the disastrous outcome of the
Franco-Syrian War
The Franco-Syrian War took place during 1920 between France and the Hashemite rulers of the newly established Arab Kingdom of Syria. During a series of engagements, which climaxed in the Battle of Maysalun, French forces defeated the forces of th ...
, the self-proclaimed Hashemite kingdom with its capital in Damascus was defeated and the Hashemite ruler took refuge in Mandatory Iraq. The crisis saw the first confrontation of nationalist Arab and Jewish forces, taking place in the
Battle of Tel Hai in March 1920, but more importantly the collapse of the pan-Arabist kingdom led to the establishment of the local Palestinian version of Arab nationalism, with the return of
Amin al-Husseini from Damascus to Jerusalem in late 1920.
At this point in time
Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine continued, while to some opinions a similar, but less documented, immigration also took place in the Arab sector, bringing workers from Syria and other neighbouring areas. Palestinian Arabs saw this rapid influx of Jewish immigrants as a threat to their homeland and their identity as a people. Moreover, Jewish policies of purchasing land and prohibiting the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned industries and farms greatly angered the Palestinian Arab communities. Demonstrations were held as early as 1920, protesting what the Arabs felt were unfair preferences for the Jewish immigrants set forth by the British mandate that governed Palestine at the time. This resentment led to outbreaks of violence later that year, as the al-Husseini incited
riots
A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
broke out in Jerusalem.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
's
1922 White Paper tried to reassure the Arab population, denying that the creation of a Jewish state was the intention of the Balfour Declaration.
1929 events
In 1929, after a demonstration by
Vladimir Jabotinsky's political group
Betar
The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...
at the
Western Wall, riots started in Jerusalem and expanded throughout Mandatory Palestine; Arabs murdered 67 Jews in the city of
Hebron
Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
, in what became known as the
Hebron massacre. During the week of the 1929 riots, at least 116 Arabs and 133 Jews were killed and 339 wounded.
1930s and 1940s
By 1931, 17 percent of the population of Mandatory Palestine were Jews, an increase of six percent since 1922. Jewish immigration peaked soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany, causing the Jewish population in British Palestine to double.
In the mid-1930s
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam arrived from Syria and established the
Black Hand, an anti-Zionist and anti-British militant organization. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants, and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. The cells were equipped with bombs and firearms, which they used to kill Jewish settlers in the area, as well as engaging in a campaign of vandalism of Jewish settler plantations.
By 1936, escalating tensions led to the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...
.
In response to Arab pressure, the British Mandate authorities greatly reduced the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine (see
White Paper of 1939 and the ). These restrictions remained in place until the end of the mandate, a period which coincided with the Nazi
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
and the flight of
Jewish refugees
This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews.
Timeline
The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees.
Assyrian captivity
...
from Europe. As a consequence, most Jewish entrants to Mandatory Palestine were considered illegal (see
Aliyah Bet), causing further tensions in the region. Following several failed attempts to solve the problem diplomatically, the British asked the newly formed United Nations for help. On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly appointed a committee, the
UNSCOP
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly of the United Nations, General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 o ...
, composed of representatives from eleven states. To make the committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented. After five weeks of in-country study, the Committee reported to the General Assembly on 3 September 1947. The Report contained a majority and a minority plan. The majority proposed a ''Plan of Partition with Economic Union''. The minority proposed ''The Independent State of Palestine''. With only slight modifications, the ''Plan of Partition with Economic Union'' was the one the adoption and implementation of which was recommended in
resolution 181(II) of 29 November 1947. The Resolution was adopted by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. All six Arab states who were UN-members voted against it. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides.
Civil war in Mandatory Palestine

In the weeks prior to the end of the mandate the
Haganah launched a number of
offensives in which they gained control over all the territory allocated by the UN to the Jewish State, creating a large number of refugees and capturing the towns of
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
,
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
,
Safad,
Beisan and, in effect,
Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
.
Early in 1948 the United Kingdom announced its firm intention to terminate its mandate in Palestine on 14 May. In response, US President
Harry S. Truman made a statement on 25 March
proposing UN trusteeship rather than partition, stating that
History
1948 Arab–Israeli War
On 14 May 1948, the day on which the British Mandate over Palestine expired, the
Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum and approved a proclamation that declared
the establishment
In sociology and in political science, the term the establishment describes the dominant social group, the elite who control a polity, an organization, or an institution. In the Praxis (process), praxis of wealth and Power (social and politica ...
of a
Jewish state
In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people.
Overview
Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewi ...
in
Eretz Israel, to be known as the
State of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. The declaration was made by
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
, the Executive Head of the
World Zionist Organization.
There was no mention of the borders of the new state other than that it was in Eretz Israel. An official
cablegram from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the UN Secretary-General on 15 May 1948 stated publicly that Arab Governments found "themselves compelled to intervene for the sole purpose of restoring peace and security and establishing law and order in Palestine" (Clause 10(e)). Further in Clause 10(e):
That day, the armies of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Lebanon,
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, Jordan and
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
invaded what had just ceased to be the British Mandate, marking the beginning of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War. The nascent
Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition. By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the
Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
(controlled by Jordan), and the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
(controlled by Egypt). Before and during this conflict, 713,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their original lands to become
Palestinian refugees, in part due to
a promise from Arab leaders that they would be able to return when the war had been won, and also in part due to attacks on Palestinian villages and towns by Israeli forces and Jewish militant groups. During the war, official Israeli documents subsequently uncovered by
Benny Morris and
Benjamin Kedar have revealed that Israel conducted a biological warfare campaign codenamed "Cast Thy Bread" to covertly poison Palestinian wells to prevent villagers from returning. Many Palestinians fled from the areas that are now Israel as a response to massacres of Arab towns by militant Jewish organizations like the
Irgun and the
Lehi (group) (See
Deir Yassin massacre). The War came to an end with the signing of the
1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and each of its Arab neighbours.
The status of Jewish citizens in Arab states worsened during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. Anti-Jewish riots erupted throughout the Arab World in December 1947, and Jewish communities were hit particularly hard in
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
and British-controlled
Aden
Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
, with hundreds of dead and injured. In
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
, Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. Egypt expelled most of its foreign community, including Jews, after the Suez War in 1956, while Algeria denied its French citizens, including Jews, of citizenship upon its independence in 1962. Over the course of twenty years, some
850,000 Jews from Arab countries immigrated to Israel and other countries.
1949–1967
As a result of Israel's victory in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, any Arabs caught on the wrong side of the ceasefire line were unable to return to their homes in what became Israel. Likewise, any Jews on the West Bank or in Gaza were exiled from their property and homes to Israel. Today's Palestinian refugees are the descendants of those who left, the responsibility for their exodus being a matter of dispute between the Israeli and the Palestinian side.
Historian
Benny Morris has claimed that the "decisive cause" for the abandonment by Palestinian Arabs of their settlements was predominantly related to, or caused by, actions of the Jewish forces (citing actual physical expulsions, military assaults on settlements, fear of being caught up in fighting, the fall of nearby settlements, and propaganda inciting flight), while abandonment due to orders by the Arab leadership was decisive in only six out of the 392 depopulated Arab settlements analysed by him.
Over 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1952, with approximately 285,000 of them from Arab countries.
[Aliyeh to Israel: Immigration under Conditions of Adversity]
– Shoshana Neumann, Bar-Ilan University, page 10. Asia: Yemen – 45,127 (6.7), Turkey – 34,647 (5), Iraq – 124,225 (18), Iran – 25,971 (3.8), Syria and Lebanon – 3,162 (0.5), Eden – 3,320 (0.5); Africa: Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria – 52,565 (7.7), Libya – 32,130 (4.6) (Keren-Hayesod, 1953). Note: The numbers add up to 286,500 (without Turkey, see also: History of the Jews in Turkey).
In 1956, Egypt closed the
Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the
Gulf of Aqaba, in contravention of the
Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation of the
1949 Armistice Agreements.
[ Sachar, Howard M. (1976). ''A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 455. ] On 26 July 1956, Egypt nationalized the
Suez Canal Company, and closed the canal to Israeli shipping.
Israel responded on 29 October 1956, by invading the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
with British and French military support. During the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
, Israel captured the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into a ceasefire.
Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The
United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization. The UNEF was only deployed on the Egyptian side of the border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory.
Israel completed work on a
national water carrier in 1964, a huge engineering project designed to transfer Israel's allocation of the
Jordan river's waters towards the south of the country in realization of Ben-Gurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the
Negev desert. The Arabs responded by trying to divert the headwaters of the Jordan, leading to growing
conflict between Israel and Syria.
The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was first established in 1964, under a charter including a commitment to "
e liberation of Palestine
hichwill destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence..." (PLO Charter, Article 22, 1968).
On 19 May 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers,
and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.
It again closed the
Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping,
['Egypt Closes Gulf Of Aqaba To Israel Ships: Defiant move by Nasser raises Middle East tension', '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', Tuesday, 23 May 1967; pg. 1; Issue 56948; col A. returning the region to the way it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded.
On 30 May 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized Sinai units, crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on Israel's southern border. On 5 June, Israel launched an attack on Egypt. The
Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed most of the
Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
.
At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank (including
East Jerusalem),
Shebaa farms
The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms (, '; ''Havot Sheba‘a),'' also known as Mount Dov (), is a strip of land on the Lebanese–Syrian border that is currently occupied by Israel. Lebanon claims the Shebaa Farms as its own territory ...
, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.
1967–1973

At the end of August 1967, Arab leaders
met in Khartoum in response to the war, to discuss the Arab position toward Israel. They reached consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with the State of Israel, the so-called "three no's",
which according to Abd al Azim Ramadan, left only one option a war with Israel.
In 1968, American senator
Robert F. Kennedy was
assassinated following a speech at the
Ambassador Hotel in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California. The assassin,
Sirhan Sirhan, was a Palestinian-Jordanian
Arab Christian who cited Kennedy's support for Israel during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
as his motive for the killing; Sirhan was sentenced to life in prison. Some scholars described Kennedy's murder as the first spillover of the Arab–Israeli conflict (and in particular the Israeli–Palestinian conflict) on American soil.
In 1969, Egypt initiated the
War of Attrition, with the goal of exhausting Israel into surrendering the Sinai Peninsula.
The war ended following
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
's death in 1970. Once Sadat took over, he tried to forge positive relations with the US, hoping that they would put pressure on Israel to return the land, by expelling 15,000 Russian advisors from Egypt.
On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt staged a surprise attack on Israel on
Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The Israeli military were caught off guard and unprepared, and took about three days to fully mobilize.
This led other Arab states to send troops to reinforce the Egyptians and Syrians. In addition, these Arab countries agreed to enforce an oil embargo on industrial nations including the U.S., Japan and Western European Countries. These OPEC countries increased the price of oil fourfold, and used it as a political weapon to gain support against Israel. The
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
accommodated
indirect confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. When Israel had turned the tide of war, the USSR threatened military intervention. The United States, wary of
nuclear war
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...
, secured a ceasefire on 25 October.
1974–2000
Egypt
Following the
Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed a
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an treaty, agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually country, countries or governments, which formally ends a declaration of war, state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an ag ...
in March 1979. Under its terms, the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip remained under Israeli control, to be included in a future
Palestinian state
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...
. The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the
Straits of Tiran and the
Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways.
Jordan
In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a
peace agreement, which stipulated mutual cooperation, an end of hostilities, the fixing of the Israel-Jordan border, and a resolution of other issues. The conflict between them had cost roughly 18.3 billion dollars. Its signing is also closely linked with the efforts to create peace between Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO) representing the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It was signed at the southern border crossing of Arabah on 26 October 1994 and made Jordan only the second Arab country (after Egypt) to sign a peace accord with Israel.
Iraq
Israel and Iraq have been implacable foes since 1948. Iraq sent its troops to participate in the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, and later backed Egypt and Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed newly built Iraqi nuclear facilities in
Operation Opera.
During the
Gulf War
, combatant2 =
, commander1 =
, commander2 =
, strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems
, page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
in 1991, Iraq
fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel, in the hopes of uniting the Arab world against the coalition which sought to liberate
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
. At the behest of the United States, Israel did not respond to this attack in order to prevent a greater outbreak of war.
Lebanon
In 1970, following an extended
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, King Hussein expelled the
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
from Jordan. September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the autonomy of Palestinian organisations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The violence resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinians. Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with the expulsion of the PLO and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon.
The PLO resettled in Lebanon, where it began to extend a de facto autonomous rule and from which it staged raids into Israel. PLO was one of the major factors for sectarian destabilization of Lebanon and the eruption of the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
in 1975. In 1978, Israel launched
Operation Litani, in which it together with the
Free Lebanon Army forced the PLO to retreat north of the Litani river. In 1981 another conflict between Israel and the PLO broke out, which ended with a ceasefire agreement that did not solve the core of the conflict. In June 1982,
Israel invaded Lebanon in alliance with Christian factions of the Lebanese government. Within two months the PLO agreed to withdraw thence.
In March 1983, Israel and Lebanon signed a
normalization agreement. However, Syria pressured President
Amine Gemayel into nullifying the truce in March 1984. By 1985, Israeli forces withdrew to a 15 km wide southern strip of Lebanon, following which the conflict continued on a lower scale, with relatively low casualties on both sides. In 1993 and 1996, Israel launched major operations against the Shiite militia of
Hezbollah, which had become an emergent threat. In May 2000, the newly elected government of
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...
authorized a withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, fulfilling an election promise to do so well ahead of a declared deadline. The hasty withdrawal lead to the immediate collapse of the
South Lebanon Army
The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army (SLA; , ), also known as the Lahad Army () or as the De Facto Forces (DFF), was a Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-dominated militia in Lebanon. It was founded by Lebanese military officer Saad H ...
, and many members either got arrested or fled to Israel.
Palestinians
The 1970s were marked by a large number of major, international terrorist attacks, including the
Lod Airport massacre and the
Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972, and the
Entebbe Hostage Taking in 1976, with over 100 Jewish hostages of different nationalities kidnapped and held in Uganda.
In December 1987, the
First Intifada
The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
began. The First Intifada was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the
Palestinian territories
The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
. The rebellion began in the
Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian actions ranged from civil disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti and barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the Israel Defense Forces brought the Intifada international attention. The Israeli army's heavy handed response to the demonstrations, with live ammunition, beatings and mass arrests, brought international condemnation. The PLO, which until then had never been recognised as the leaders of the Palestinian people by Israel, was invited to peace negotiations the following year, after it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism.
In mid-1993, Israeli and Palestinian representatives engaged in peace talks in Oslo, Norway. As a result, in September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the
Oslo Accords, known as the ''Declaration of Principles'' or Oslo I. In
side letters, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced terrorism, violence and its
desire for the destruction of Israel.
The Oslo II agreement was signed in 1995 and detailed the division of the West Bank into
Areas A, B, and C. Area A was land under full Palestinian civilian control, and Palestinians were also responsible for internal security. The Oslo agreements remain important documents in Israeli–Palestinian relations.
2000–2005
The
Al-Aqsa Intifada forced Israel to rethink its relationship and policies towards the Palestinians. Following a
series of suicide bombings and attacks, the Israeli army launched
Operation Defensive Shield in March 2002. It was the largest military operation conducted by Israel since the Six-Day War.
As violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants intensified, Israel expanded its security apparatus around the West Bank by re-taking many parts of land in Area A. Israel established a complicated system of roadblocks and
checkpoints around major Palestinian areas to deter violence and protect Israeli settlements. However, since 2008, the IDF has slowly transferred authority to Palestinian security forces.
Israel's then prime minister
Ariel Sharon began a policy of
disengagement from the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
in 2003. This policy was fully implemented in August 2005.
[Special Update: Disengagement – August 2005]
", Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sharon's announcement to disengage from Gaza came as a tremendous shock to his critics both on the left and on the right. A year previously, he had commented that the fate of the most far-flung settlements in Gaza, Netzararem and Kfar Darom, was regarded in the same light as that of Tel Aviv. The formal announcements to evacuate seventeen Gaza settlements and another four in the West Bank in February 2004 represented the first reversal for the settler movement since 1968, dividing Sharon's party. It was strongly supported by Trade and Industry Minister
Ehud Olmert and
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer.
A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...
, the Minister for Immigration and Absorption, but Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom
Zion Silvan Shalom (; born 4 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including Deputy leaders of Israel#Vice Prime Minister, Vi ...
and Finance Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
strongly condemned it. It was also uncertain at the time whether this was simply the beginning of further evacuation.
Shift to Iranian–Israeli conflict (2006–present)
Israel's conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah
In June 2006,
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
militants infiltrated an army post near the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip and abducted Israeli soldier
Gilad Shalit. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack, while Shalit was wounded after his tank was hit with an
RPG. Three days later Israel launched
Operation Summer Rains to secure the release of Shalit. He was held hostage by Hamas, who barred the
International Red Cross from seeing him, until 18 October 2011, when he was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
In July 2006,
Hezbollah fighters crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel, attacked and killed eight Israeli soldiers, and abducted two others as hostages, setting off the
2006 Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
, which caused much destruction in Lebanon.
[Israel (country)]
''Microsoft Encarta
Microsoft ''Encarta'' is a discontinued Digital data, digital multimedia encyclopedia and search engine published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available online via annual subscription, although ...
Encyclopedia.'', 2007, p. 12
Archived
31 October 2009. A UN-sponsored ceasefire went into effect on 14 August 2006, officially ending the conflict.
", CNN The conflict killed over a thousand Lebanese and over 150 Israelis,
[Human Rights Watch (August 2006)]
"Fatal Strikes: Israel's Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon"
. Retrieved 5 April 2007. severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure, and displaced approximately one million Lebanese
[Lebanon Higher Relief Council (2007)]
"Lebanon Under Siege"
Retrieved 5 March 2007. and 300,000–500,000 Israelis, although most were able to return to their homes.
[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (12 July 2006)]
. Retrieved 5 March 2007. After the ceasefire, some parts of
Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to
Israeli unexploded cluster bomblets.
In the
Battle of Gaza in June 2007, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a violent civil war with rival Fatah. In the aftermath, Israel placed restrictions on its border with Gaza and ended economic cooperation with the Palestinian leadership based there. Israel and Egypt have imposed a
blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007. Israel maintains the blockade is necessary to limit
Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and to prevent Hamas from smuggling advanced rockets and weapons capable of hitting its cities.
On 6 September 2007, in
Operation Orchard, Israel bombed an eastern Syrian complex which was allegedly a nuclear reactor being built with assistance from
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. Israel had
also bombed Syria in 2003.
In April 2008, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
told a
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
i newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008 by a spokesman for Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
was discussed. President Assad said "there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office."
Speaking in Jerusalem on 26 August 2008, then United States Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice criticized Israel's increased settlement construction in the West Bank as detrimental to the peace process. Rice's comments came amid reports that Israeli construction in the disputed territory had increased by a factor of 1.8 over 2007 levels.
A
fragile six-month truce between Hamas and Israel expired on 19 December 2008; attempts at extending the truce failed amid accusations of breaches from both sides. Following the expiration, Israel launched a raid on a tunnel suspected of being used to kidnap Israeli soldiers, which killed several Hamas fighters. Following this, Hamas resumed
rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli cities, most notably firing over 60 rockets on 24 December. On 27 December 2008, Israel launched
Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Numerous human rights organizations accused Israel and Hamas of committing
war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
s.
In 2009 Israel placed a 10-month settlement freeze on the West Bank. Then United States Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
praised the freeze as an "unprecedented" gesture that could "help revive Middle East talks."
A raid was carried out by
Israeli naval forces on six ships of the ''
Gaza Freedom Flotilla'' in May 2010
after the ships refused to dock at
Port Ashdod. On the
MV ''Mavi Marmara'', activists clashed with the Israeli boarding party. During the fighting, nine activists were killed by Israeli special forces. Widespread international condemnation of and reaction to the raid followed, Israel–Turkey relations were strained, and Israel subsequently eased its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Several dozen other passengers and seven Israeli soldiers were injured,
with some of the commandos suffering from gunshot wounds.
Following
the 2010–2011 round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, 13 Palestinian militant movements led by
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
initiated a
terror campaign designed to derail and disrupt the negotiations. Attacks on Israelis increased after August 2010, when
4 Israeli civilians were killed by Hamas militants.
Palestinian militants also increased the frequency of
rocket attacks aimed at Israelis. On 2 August 2010, Hamas militants
launched seven Katyusha rockets at
Eilat
Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...
and
Aqaba
Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
, killing one Jordanian civilian and wounding 4 others.

Intermittent fighting continued since then, including 680 rocket attacks on Israel in 2011.
On 14 November 2012, Israel killed
Ahmed Jabari, a leader of Hamas's military wing, launching
Operation Pillar of Cloud.
Hamas and Israel agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire on 21 November.
The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said that 158 Palestinians were killed during the operation, of which: 102 were civilians, 55 were militants and one was a policeman; 30 were children and 13 were women.
B'Tselem stated that according to its initial findings, which covered only the period between 14 and 19 November 102 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip, 40 of them civilians. According to Israeli figures, 120 combatants and 57 civilians were killed.
International outcry ensued, with many criticizing Israel for what much of the international community perceived as a disproportionately violent response. However, the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Netherlands expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself, and/or condemned the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.
Following an escalation of rocket attacks by Hamas, Israel started an
operation in the Gaza Strip on 8 July 2014. In May 2021, another
round of fighting took place in Gaza, lasting eleven days.
During Syrian Civil War
Israel's military role in the
Syrian Civil War has been limited to missile strikes, which until 2017 were not officially acknowledged. While the Israeli
official position is neutrality in the conflict, Israel is opposed to Iran's presence in Syria. Israel has
provided humanitarian aid to Syrian war victims, an effort that was drastically geared up since June 2016 when the ''
Operation Good Neighbour'' was launched by the
Israeli military. There are many different national interests playing a role in the war. One of them is Iran, which Israel is concerned could gain too much regional influence. Iranian proxies such as
Hezbollah are suspected of
carrying out attacks against Israeli positions on the borders to Syria and
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, and Israel is suspected of
carrying out air strikes against convoys transporting weapons to such organisations.
On 9 December 2017, US president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
announced the
United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, prompting
condemnation by other world leaders as well as the
2018 Gaza border protests. The new
United States Embassy opened in Jerusalem on 14 May 2018.
Israeli normalization with Gulf states and Sudan
The
Arab–Israeli alliance emerged by November 2017, upon warming ties between Israel and the Gulf States and received broad media attention in light of the
February 2019 Warsaw Conference. The coordination took place in light of the mutual regional security interests of Israel and Sunni
Arab States led by
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
and their standoff against Iranian interests across the Middle East – the
Iran–Israel proxy conflict and the
Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict. The Arab states participating in the coordination group are the core of the
Gulf Cooperation Council
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...
. Those include
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
and
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
.
In 2018,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
led a delegation to Oman and met with
Sultan Qaboos and other senior Omani officials.
In February 2020, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
and the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan,
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman al-Burhan (; born 11 July 1960) is a Sudanese army general who has been the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Sudan, leader of Sudan since 2019. Following the Sudanese revolution, Sudanese Revolution in Ap ...
, met in Uganda, where they both agreed to normalize the ties between the two countries. Later that month, Israeli planes were allowed to fly over
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
. This was followed by the
Abraham Accords which were agreed to by Israel and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
(UAE) on 13 August 2020, and
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
shortly thereafter. The treaty was intended to settle
relations between the two countries. Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for the
annexation of the Jordan Valley.
During the 2023 Hamas–Israel War, the
Arab League
The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
countries refrained from officially interfering in the conflict initiated by the Iranian proxy Hamas. According to Foreign Affairs, the Hamas War has fractured the Arab World, and Hamas failed to raise support across the Middle East, except among Iranian-affiliated organizations and regimes. While Arab leaders at the Cairo summit on 21 October 2023 condemned Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Egypt said it had hoped participants would call for peace and resume efforts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian quest for statehood and there was no joint summit statement.
Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom, said in a 9 January 2024 BBC interview that Saudi Arabia was interested in peace and normalized relations with Israel following the war, on the condition of the creation of a Palestinian State.
Notable wars and violent events
Cost of conflict
A report by the
Strategic Foresight Group estimated the
opportunity cost
In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost of a choice is the value of the best alternative forgone where, given limited resources, a choice needs to be made between several mutually exclusive alternatives. Assuming the best choice is made, ...
of conflict for the Middle East from 1991 to 2010 at $12
trillion. The report's opportunity cost calculates the peace
GDP of countries in the Middle East by comparing the current GDP to the potential GDP in times of peace. Israel's share is almost $1 trillion, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia having approximately $2.2 and $4.5 trillion, respectively. For example, had there been peace and cooperation between Israel and Arab League nations since 1991, the average Israeli citizen would be earning over $44,000 instead of $23,000 in 2010.
In terms of the human cost, it is estimated that the conflict has taken 92,000 lives (74,000 military and 18,000 civilian from 1945 to 1995).
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
*
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, comp. (1996). ''Lightning Out of Israel:
he Six-Day War in the Middle East The Arab–Israeli Conflict''. Commemorative Ed. Western Printing and Lithographing Company for the Associated Press. ASIN B000BGT89M.
*
Bard, Mitchell (1999). ''Middle East Conflict''. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. .
*
Barzilai, Gad (1996). ''Wars, Internal Conflicts and Political Order: A Jewish Democracy in the Middle East''. Albany: State University of New York Press.
*Brown, Wesley H. & Peter F. Penner (ed.): ''Christian Perspectives on the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict''. Neufeld Verlag, Schwarzenfeld 2008. .
*
Carter, Jimmy (2006). ''
Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid''. New York: Simon & Schuster. .
*Casper, Lionel L. (2003). ''Rape of Palestine and the Struggle for Jerusalem''. New York & Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House. .
*
Citron, Sabina (2006). ''The Indictment: The Arab–Israeli Conflict in Historical Perspective''. New York & Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House. .
*
*
Dershowitz, Alan (2004). ''The Case for Israel''. New York: John Wiley & Sons. .
*
Falk, Avner (2004). ''Fratricide in the Holy Land: A Psychoanalytic View of the Arab–Israeli Conflict.'' Madison: U of Wisconsin P.
*
*
*
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arab-Israeli Conflict
20th century in Asia
21st century in Asia
Conflicts in the Middle East
Ethnic conflicts
Religion-based wars
20th-century conflicts
21st-century conflicts