Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Key Events & Timeline

Timeline and Key Events of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

• 1882-1903: The First Aliyah saw a wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine.
• 1896: Theodor Herzl published "The Jewish State," a Zionist manifesto.
• 1897: The First Zionist Congress was held in Basel, leading to the establishment of the Zionist World Organization.
• 1917/18: British troops conquered Palestine during World War I.
• 1916: The Hussein-McMahon Correspondence involved a British High Commissioner in Egypt pledging support to the Sharif of Mecca for an independent, united Arab kingdom, including Palestine.
• 1916: The Sykes-Picot Agreement between British and French diplomats divided West Asia into British and French zones of influence, with Palestine intended for international administration, an idea that was never implemented.
• 1917: The Balfour Declaration expressed British support for the Zionist movement's goal of establishing a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
• 1920/1922: At the San Remo Conference in 1920, Great Britain received the mandate for Palestine, confirmed in 1922 by the League of Nations. The League of Nations declared the Balfour Declaration an integral part of the mandate agreement.
• Until 1945: The British Mandate period saw increasing Jewish-Palestinian conflicts due to the rise of Zionism and increased Jewish immigration, raising the Jewish population in Palestine to about 30% by 1945.
• May 1947: The UNSCOP (United Nations Special Committee on Palestine) was established by the UN to find a solution to the ongoing conflict in Palestine.
• Jewish representatives participated in the UN committee, while the Arab side boycotted it, excluding the Arab population in the British Mandate area from the decision-making process.
• September 1, 1947: Release of the UNSCOP report recommended ending the British Mandate and partitioning the existing Mandate territory.
• November 29, 1947: The UN General Assembly followed the UNSCOP recommendation and approved the partition of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
• The city of Jerusalem was to be placed under international administration.
• 1947 (Partition Plan): The partition plan was based on existing settlement patterns.
• Predominantly Arab-populated areas were to be assigned to the future Arab-Palestinian state.
• May 14, 1948: The last British troops departed from Palestine.
• David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv, establishing the State of Israel.
• The USA and the Soviet Union immediately extended diplomatic recognition to Israel, while the Arab world rejected the partition plan and the proclamation.
• May 15, 1948 (al-Nakba): Start of the first Arab-Israeli War, with attacks by Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
• 1949: Armistice agreements established temporary borders known as the "Green Line".
• 1956: The Suez Crisis involved a military confrontation between Israel, Great Britain, France, and Egypt.

Six-Day War ("El Naksa") – June 1967

• Spring 1967: Growing regional tensions stemming from PLO guerrilla actions, Israeli retaliatory strikes, and disputes over an Israeli irrigation project.
• June 5, 1967: The Six-Day War began with a surprise attack by Israel on Egyptian airfields, giving Israel air superiority.
• June 6-10, 1967: Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula, causing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee.
• As a result, Israel controlled the entire former Mandate area of Palestine and more than one million Palestinians lived under Israeli military administration.

Yom Kippur War (October War) – 1973

• October 6, 1973: Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during Yom Kippur and Ramadan, achieving initial successes at a high cost.
• 1979: A peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was brokered by the United States.
• Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt by 1982.
• The PLO and other Arab states rejected the treaty.
• 1987–1993: The First Intifada arose from growing Palestinian frustration in the 1980s due to continued Israeli occupation and settlement construction.
• Protests included tax strikes, boycotts of Israeli goods, and demonstrations.
• The "War of Stones" saw Palestinians throwing stones at soldiers and tanks.
• The period was marked by limited large-scale terrorist attacks, but not entirely non-violent.
• The signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 ended the First Intifada.

1993 Oslo Peace Process

• September 13, 1993: The Oslo I Accord was signed in Washington, D.C.
• The PLO recognized Israel as a state.
• Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.
• The Palestinian Authority was established.
• Fundamental issues, such as the status of Jerusalem and the right of return for refugees, remained unresolved.
• 1995: The Oslo II Accord expanded Palestinian self-government.
• The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995 by a Jewish-religious extremist harmed the peace process.
• 1996: The right-wing Likud coalition won the election under Benjamin Netanyahu.
• 2000: The Camp David Summit between Israel and the PLO failed.
• 2000-2005: The Second Intifada brought a renewed wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
• 2005: Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip.
• 2006: The Second Lebanon War was fought against Hezbollah.
• 2014: Operation "Protective Edge" took place in the Gaza Strip.
• 2020: The Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Key Terms

• Imperialism: A state's pursuit of power and influence over other countries (politically, economically, culturally).
• Middle East: A geographical term for the countries of West Asia and Israel, formerly part of the Ottoman Empire.
• Zionism: A political movement for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, which arose in the 19th century as a reaction to anti-Semitism.
• David versus Goliath: A symbol for the victory of the weaker over the stronger, taken from biblical history.
• PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization): Founded in 1964, it is aimed at an independent Palestinian state.
• Fatah: The largest party within the PLO, founded in 1959 by Yasser Arafat, striving for an independent Palestinian state.
• Al-Nakba: Meaning "catastrophe," it refers to the expulsion of the Palestinians after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
• Yom Kippur: The highest Jewish holiday, a day of atonement and fasting.
• UN (United Nations): An international organization founded in 1945 to secure world peace and protect human rights.
• National Socialism: A political movement in Germany under Hitler, characterized by racism, anti-Semitism, and dictatorship (Third Reich).
• Holocaust: The systematic murder of about six million European Jews by the National Socialists.
• Anti-Semitism: Hostility, prejudice, and discrimination against Jews.
• League of Nations: An international organization for securing peace after the First World War, later replaced by the UN.