ISRAEL: The clash between Israel and Hamas, initiated by a surprise attack on Saturday, is the latest episode in a long history of warfare and tensions spanning over seven decades between Israelis and Palestinians that has drawn in outside powers and destabilised the wider Middle East.
Origins of the conflict
The conflict revolves around Israel’s security concerns in a region it perceives as hostile, in contrast to the Palestinian desire for a state of their own.
On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, one of Israel’s founding fathers, declared the modern State of Israel, providing a haven of safety for Jews escaping persecution and looking for a national home on land to which they claim deep ties over generations.
The Palestinian perspective on Israel’s establishment views it as the “Nakba,” signifying a catastrophic event that led to their displacement and dashed hopes of statehood.
In the subsequent conflict, around 700,000 Palestinians, constituting half of the Arab population in British-ruled Palestine, either fled or were forced from their residences. Many sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Israel, a staunch U.S. ally, disputes the claim that it expelled Palestinians from their homes, citing the fact that it was attacked by five Arab nations the day after it was established. While armistice agreements temporarily ceased hostilities in 1949, there was no official peace.
Palestinians who chose to remain in the region during the conflict now form the Arab Israeli community, comprising approximately 20% of Israel’s population.
Major wars have been fought since then
In 1967, Israel initiated a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and Syria, marking the start of the Six-Day War. Israel has maintained control over the West Bank, Arab East Jerusalem (captured from Jordan), and the Golan Heights from Syria since that time.
In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched an attack on Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights, initiating the Yom Kippur War. Israel successfully repelled both armies within three weeks.
In 1982, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon, which led to the evacuation of thousands of Palestinian fighters, including those under Yasser Arafat’s leadership, through a maritime operation after a 10-week siege.
In 2006, another conflict erupted in Lebanon when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers, prompting Israeli retaliation.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, which it had seized from Egypt in 1967. However, Gaza witnessed significant escalations in violence in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021, which included Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket attacks, and sometimes also cross-border incursions from both sides.
In addition to conflicts, there were two Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, one occurring from 1987 to 1993 and another from 2000 to 2005. The second intifada included a series of Hamas suicide bombings targeting Israelis.
Efforts to achieve peace
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, effectively ending three decades of hostilities.
In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat extended a handshake in agreement on the Oslo Accords, which outlined provisions for limited Palestinian self-governance.
In 1994, Israel established a peace treaty with Jordan.
The Camp David summit in 2000, which involved President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Arafat, ended without reaching a final peace agreement.
In 2002, an Arab initiative proposed that Israel could have normal relations with all Arab nations if it fully withdrew from the territories acquired in the 1967 Middle East war, facilitated the creation of a Palestinian state, and addressed the issue of Palestinian refugees in a just manner.
Efforts to achieve peace have remained at an impasse since 2014, when talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington failed.
Later, Palestinians refrained from engaging with the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump due to its departure from decades of U.S. policy by not endorsing the two-state solution, which envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territory Israel captured in 1967.
Current status of peace efforts
The Biden administration’s primary focus in the Middle East is to work towards a comprehensive agreement, often referred to as a “grand bargain,” which involves the normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest shrines.
The recent conflict is diplomatically awkward for both Riyadh and other Arab nations, including Gulf Arab states neighbouring Saudi Arabia, that have previously entered into peace agreements with Israel.
Main Israeli-Palestine issues
The fundamental issues at the core of the dispute include a two-state solution, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and the matter of refugees.
Two-State Solution: This involves an agreement aimed at establishing a separate state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.
Hamas refutes the two-state solution and is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Israel, on the other hand, insists that a Palestinian state should be demilitarised to ensure it doesn’t pose a threat.
Settlements: The construction of Jewish settlements on land occupied by Israel in 1967 is considered illegal by most countries. Israel, however, disputes this view and argues that it has historical and Biblical connections to the land. The expansion of these settlements remains a highly contentious issue involving Israel, the Palestinians, and the global community.
Jerusalem: Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, which contains significant religious sites for Muslims, Jews, and Christians, to serve as the capital of their state.
In contrast, Israel maintains that Jerusalem should remain its “indivisible and eternal” capital. The international community does not recognise Israel’s claim to the eastern portion of Jerusalem. But in 2018, President Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital without specifying its jurisdiction within the disputed city and relocated the U.S. embassy there.
Refugees: Presently, there are approximately 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, primarily descendants of those who fled in 1948.
They are dispersed across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Gaza. A significant portion of these registered refugees remain stateless, and many live in densely populated camps, according to the Palestinian foreign ministry.
For years, Palestinians have insisted that millions of their descendants, as well as refugees, should be allowed to return. Israel, on the other hand, says that any resettlement of Palestinian refugees should take place outside its borders.
