IsraelHamas: the history of the conflict

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On Saturday (October 7), the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, with hundreds of fighters infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip.

At least 1,300 Israelis have been killed and dozens of soldiers and civilians, including women and children, are being held hostage in Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinians have also been killed in numerous airstrikes by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ actions. Israel imposed a complete blockade of the territory, preventing the import of food, fuel and other essential supplies.

Israel is also massing its forces along the Gaza border and the Palestinians are preparing for a ground operation that could further increase the death toll.

But what history led to the current conflicts?

What was Israel like before 1948 and what was the Balfour Declaration?

The United Kingdom took control of the region of Palestine after the First World War. Until then it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, which was defeated in the conflict.

The region was inhabited by a Jewish minority and an Arab majority, as well as other smaller ethnic groups.

Tensions between Jews and Muslims increased when the international community ordered the British to create a “national home” for the Jewish people in Palestine.

The decision was a consequence of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 a promise made by then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour (18481930) to the Jewish community in the United Kingdom.

The declaration led to the British Mandate for Palestine, which was confirmed by the newly formed League of Nations (the precursor to the United Nations) in 1922.

For Jews, Palestine was their ancestral homeland. But Palestinian Arabs also claimed the region and rejected the change.

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Fighters from the Jewish organization Haganah, shortly before the start of the ArabIsraeli War in 1948.

Between the 1920s and 1940s, the number of Jews arriving in the region increased. Many of them fled persecution in Europe, particularly the Nazi Holocaust in World War II.

And violence between Jews and Muslims also increased and against the British mandate.

In 1947, the United Nations decided to divide Palestine into two separate states, one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem then became an international city.

The plan was accepted by the Jewish leaders. But the Arabs rejected it and the idea was never implemented.

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Arab Legion soldiers shoot at fighters from the Hagana, the Israel Defense Forces, in March 1948.

How and why was the State of Israel founded?

Unable to solve the problem, the British withdrew in 1948 and Jewish leaders declared the creation of the State of Israel.

The new country was intended to serve as a safe destination for persecuted Jews and to provide national territory for the Jewish people.

Fighting between Arab and Jewish militias intensified for months and a day after Israel declared the creation of its state, five Arab countries attacked the area.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced to abandon their homes in the episode known as AlNakba (the “catastrophe”).

A ceasefire ended fighting the following year, with Israel controlling most of the territory.

Jordan occupied the region west of the Jordan River (the West Bank) and Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the west and Jordanian forces in the east.

However, since a peace treaty was never signed, wars and fighting continued in the following decades.

During the SixDay War in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Golan Heights in Syria, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and neighboring countries Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Israel did not allow them or their descendants to return to their homeland. The country claims that his return would burden the country and endanger its existence as a Jewish state.

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Israeli military commanders entered East Jerusalem during the 1967 SixDay War

To this day, Israel occupies the West Bank and claims the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that recognizes the city as the capital of Israel.

Over the past 50 years, Israel has built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 Jews now live.

The UN Security Council and the governments of several countries, including the United Kingdom, consider these settlements a violation of international law. Israel rejects the accusation.

What is the Gaza Strip?

Gaza is a narrow strip of land stretching between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea, with a small border with Egypt to the south.

After the 194849 war, the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt for 19 years.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in the SixDay War in 1967 and remained there until 2005. Jewish settlements were built during this time.

Israel withdrew its troops and settlements in 2005 but retained control of the region’s airspace, shared border and coastline. The United Nations continues to consider the territory occupied by Israel.

What are the main differences between Israelis and Palestinians?

There are several issues that cause discord between the two sides. Some of them are:

• What should happen to Palestinian refugees?
• Whether Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank should remain or be removed
• Whether both sides should share the city of Jerusalem
• And perhaps most complicated whether a Palestinian state should be created alongside Israel

What efforts were made to resolve the differences?

Between the 1990s and 2010s, Israelis and Palestinians held peace talks that were punctuated by outbreaks of violence.

At first it seemed possible to reach a negotiated peace.

A series of secret talks in Norway led to the Oslo Peace Process, forever symbolized by a ceremony on the White House lawn in 1993 presided over by then US President Bill Clinton.

In a historic moment, the Palestinians recognized the State of Israel, which also recognized its historic enemy, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.

An independent entity, the Palestinian Authority, was subsequently established. But differences soon arose.

Thenopposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called Oslo a deadly threat to Israel.

The Israelis accelerated the process of settling Jews in the occupied Palestinian territories. The newly formed Palestinian militant group Hamas sent suicide bombers to kill people in Israel and destroy the possibility of agreement.

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Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (19221995), US President Bill Clinton and PLO President Yasser Arafat (19942004) during the Oslo Accords in 1993. Peace seemed a possible goal.

The atmosphere in Israel became difficult, culminating in the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist Jew on November 4, 1995.

In the 2000s, attempts were made to revive the peace process. In 2003, world powers drafted a plan to create two states, but it was never implemented.

Peace efforts were finally halted in 2014 when talks between Israelis and Palestinians in the American capital Washington collapsed.

The most recent peace plan was developed by the United States during the presidency of Donald Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called it the “deal of the century,” but the Palestinians rejected it because they considered it partial, and it never materialized.

Why are Israel and Gaza now at war?

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The Gaza Strip is ruled by the militant Islamist group Hamas, whose goal is the destruction of the state of Israel. The group is considered terrorist by the United Kingdom and several other world powers.

Since then, Gaza militants have waged several wars against Israel. Along with Egypt, Israel maintained a partial blockade of the territory to isolate Hamas and prevent attacks, particularly indiscriminate rocket fire, on Israeli cities.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say Israel’s restrictions and airstrikes on densely populated areas are a form of collective punishment.

This year is the deadliest year on record for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. They also complain about restrictions and military actions in these regions in response to deadly attacks on Israelis.

These tensions may have been a reason for Hamas’ recent attack. But the militants may also be trying to boost their popularity among ordinary Palestinians.

Their actions include holding hostages to pressure Israel to release some of the approximately 4,500 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Who supports Israel in the current conflict? And who doesn’t support it?

The European Union, the United States and other Western nations have condemned Hamas’ attacks on Israel.

The United States is Israel’s most important ally. Over the years, the Americans have provided more than $260 billion (about R$1.3 billion) in military and economic aid to the Jewish state and promised to send more equipment and ammunition.

The United States also announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier, jets and other ships to the eastern Mediterranean.

Russia and China refused to condemn Hamas and said they were in contact with both sides of the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed American policies for the lack of peace in the Middle East.

Iran, a power in the region, is a major backer of Hamas and another regional enemy of Israel, the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

Iran’s role in the recent attacks has already been called into question after reports that the country gave the green light to Hamas’ actions just days before the execution. But Tehran denied any involvement in the incident.