The Arab-Israeli conflict has been the focus of worldwide media and diplomatic attention for decades. The conflict is complex and cannot be properly understood without knowing the history and geography of the area.
Although there has been conflict in this region since the 19th and 20th centuries, major steps towards peace were taken in the late ‘60s, especially following the Six-Day War in 1967. UN Security Council Resolution 242 laid the foundation for subsequent peace efforts in the Middle East, although its ambiguous language and varying interpretations have made its implementation complex. Resolution 242 became the cornerstone of later peace processes in the Middle East, including the Camp David Accords (1978), the Oslo Accords (1993), and other negotiations.
Below is a timeline of some of the important events from 1967 to the present that will help explain the complicated history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as the peace process that continues today.
—
1967: The Six-Day War
The term “settlements” refers to Israeli communities built on land that was captured in the Six Day War. In 1967, the Israeli government approved the building of settlements in the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, and West Bank. The first settlements were intended to act as security outposts and to prevent attacks on major population centers. Settlements were also built on the sites of Jewish villages that had been destroyed by Arab forces during the 1948 War. Settlement construction was very limited for the first decade after the Six Day War, as Israel anticipated withdrawing in exchange for peace. Over time, settlement construction increased due to natural growth, ideological motivations (religious and nationalist), and the affordability of housing. The future of the settlements is one of the final status issues that Israel and the Palestinian Authority will need to negotiate as part of a comprehensive peace agreement.
1967–1970: The War of Attrition
During the 1967 War, Israel gained land from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. While Israel maintained that Jerusalem would remain a unified city, with all religions having access to their holy sites, it stated that it was open to returning other territories in exchange for peace and recognition of its right to exist. Egypt began small-scale attacks against Israeli positions along the Suez Canal which continued until Anwar Sadat came to power in 1970. During this same period, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) attacked Israeli military personnel and civilians from bases in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. The PLO also carried out airplane hijackings and terrorist attacks outside of Israel. In 1970, after an attempt by the PLO to overthrow Jordan’s King Hussein, the Jordanian army attacked PLO forces in what became known as “Black September.” Fighting continued until June of 1971, when Jordan succeeded in evicting the PLO from the country. The PLO moved its base of operations to Lebanon.
1973: Yom Kippur War
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. After initial Arab military successes and significant Israeli casualties, Israel managed to push back the attack. For many Israelis, the 1973 war was traumatic and reinforced the strategic importance of the buffer zones gained in 1967. Syrian troops were stopped ten miles from the Israeli town of Tiberias; many Israelis felt that the heartland of Israel was under threat if not for the time it took the invading forces to move through the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai. There were no territorial changes after the war.
1978–1979: Camp David Accords
Egypt and Israel Sign a Peace Agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1913-1992) and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat (1918-1981) signed agreements during the Camp David Peace Accords in September 1978. These United States Sponsored talks, under the leadership of President Jimmy Carter, paved the way to the peace treaty signed the following spring. In 1979, as a result of intense diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Israel, and the United States, Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize and enter into a peace treaty with Israel. In exchange for peace, Israel returned to Egypt all of the Sinai that had been captured during the 1967 war and removed Jewish families from the homes they had established there. This treaty became a model for Israel’s “land for peace” policy.
1982: First Lebanon War
In 1982, PLO units in southern Lebanon increasingly attacked communities in northern Israel. In response, Israel launched an operation, “Peace for Galilee,” against PLO units stationed in Lebanon. This conflict is known as the 1982 Lebanon War or the First Lebanon War. Israeli troops advanced as far as Beirut and succeeded in expelling the PLO leadership from Lebanon to Tunisia. This costly struggle drew Israel into the increasingly complicated Lebanese civil war and generated domestic and international opposition to its involvement in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in June 1985. Until 2000, Israel maintained a military presence in a section of southern Lebanon that served as a buffer zone and prevented widespread terrorist incursions into Israel from the north. Renewed terrorist attacks from southern Lebanon led to the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
1987: First Intifada
In 1987, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank engaged in an uprising, or intifada, against Israeli control of these territories. Palestinians attacked Israelis with improvised weapons and firearms supplied by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which organized much of the uprising. Israel tried to contain the violence, which was directed at soldiers and civilians, primarily in the territories. In 1988, expressing their nationalist aspirations, the Palestinians declared independence. The Intifada continued until the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.
1993: Oslo Accords
The Declaration of Principles (DOP), in the peace process that has come to be known as Oslo I, is a set of agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993. The DOP was an interim agreement that envisioned a permanent resolution in five years, which would address remaining core issues, including: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, and relations and cooperation with neighboring countries. Along with the DOP, Israel and the PLO exchanged Letters of Mutual Recognition. For the first time, the PLO formally recognized Israel, renounced terrorism, and publicly expressed acceptance of peaceful coexistence with Israel. For its part, Israel formally recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.
1994: Peace with Jordan
As with the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, the United States led a difficult but successful diplomatic process to help Jordan and Israel achieve peace. In 1994, Jordan became the second Arab nation to recognize Israel. Trade, business relations, tourism, cultural exchanges, water management and scientific cooperation between the two nations have increased since the agreement was signed, although at a slower pace than hoped for initially.
2000: Second Intifada
In September 2000, a few months before he became Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, the original site of the First and Second Jewish temples which has also come to be revered by Muslims. Many Palestinians claimed that Sharon’s visit was provocative and began to riot. Many Israelis claimed that Sharon’s visit was a pretext for violence, since the visit had been coordinated in advance with Palestinian officials. Palestinians rioted and threw rocks from the Temple Mount onto Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. During the Second Intifada, Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis with numerous suicide bombers, killing almost 900 civilians and wounding thousands of others at restaurants, nightclubs, on buses, and other civilian places. In response, Israel carried out operations in the territories; there were around 1,100 Palestinian civilian casualties of this intifada. There is no definitive event marking the end of the Second Intifada. Many people suggest late 2004 or early 2005. Others argue it never stopped.
2006: Second Lebanon War
Hezbollah, a radical Shi’a Islamist organization, is based in Lebanon and heavily supported by Iran and Syria. Like Hamas, Hezbollah is committed to destroying Israel. On July 11, 2006, Hezbollah crossed the Lebanon-Israel border and attacked an Israeli army unit, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two more who were subsequently murdered. At the same time, it began launching rockets into Israeli cities and towns. In response, Israel launched air strikes on suspected Hezbollah military targets and mounted a ground offensive.
This conflict is known as the 2006 Lebanon War or the Second Lebanon War. Hezbollah used a human shield strategy by embedding its fighters and rocket launchers in civilian neighborhoods and homes, resulting in the loss of civilian lives and property damage when Israel retaliated. Israel strategically damaged Lebanese transportation infrastructure to prevent Hezbollah from resupplying and redeploying. Hostilities officially ended with UN Ceasefire Resolution 1701 passed on August 11, 2006.
2007: The Battle of Gaza
Ongoing tensions between Hamas and the PLO’s Fatah party culminated in June 2007 when Hamas militants attacked and assassinated Fatah members throughout Gaza. According to Palestinian estimates, 600 Palestinians were killed in the Palestinian civil battle, also known as the Hamas-Fatah conflict. In response, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, dissolved the Hamas government. Since that time there have been effectively two Palestinian governments, with Hamas controlling Gaza and the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank. Attempts at a unity government have been short-lived and raise heightened concerns in Israel because of Hamas’ call for Israel’s destruction.
2008: Operation Cast Lead
For three weeks, between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, Israel targeted Hamas strongholds in Gaza to stop ongoing rocket attacks on civilian towns in southern Israel and to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and stop weapons smuggling. Hundreds of Hamas operatives were killed, as were many civilians, due to Hamas’ launching of attacks from urban areas. Gaza’s buildings and economy were heavily damaged.
2011: Operation Pillar of Defense
Over the course of 2011, 680 rockets, mortars, and Grad missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing 6 Israelis. In March 2011, Israel first deployed the Iron Dome missile defense system to protect Israeli civilians from these rocket attacks. In mid-March 2012, Hamas escalated missile attacks. In November 2012, when Hamas launched over 100 rockets into Israel during a 24-hour period, Israel responded with Operation Pillar of Defense. This eight-day Israeli Defense Force (IDF) operation in Gaza aimed to stop missile attacks from Gaza and destroy rocket launch pads, weapon depots, and Hamas facilities. Ahmed Jabari, military chief of Hamas, involved in suicide bombings against Israeli citizens and implicated in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, was killed in an airstrike.
2014: Operation Protective Edge
From the day of the abductions on June 12th through July 5th, there were 117 rockets launched from Gaza into Israel and approximately 80 Israeli air strikes on Gaza. In addition, the IDF arrested 51 Hamas operatives who had been released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. The IDF warned that a military offensive would begin shortly if missile attacks did not cease. After Hamas increased rocket attacks, 100 rockets in three days, the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge, aimed at stopping missile and mortar attacks on Israel, halting the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, and destroying a sophisticated network of tunnels leading into Israel.
During the conflict, Hamas used these tunnels to plan and attempt terror attacks on Israeli communities. Missiles in Gaza were often launched from densely populated civilian areas, and hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed, though the precise number of civilian deaths is unclear. Seventy Israelis were killed, including 64 soldiers. Without the Iron Dome missile defense system, thousands of Israelis would have been killed by rockets. Both Palestinians and Israelis were displaced during the conflict. On August 26, there was a ceasefire.
2021:Israel–Palestine Crisis
Fighting erupted on May 10, 2021 when Hamas, rulers of Gaza, fired long-range rockets towards Jerusalem. For 11 days, Hamas and other terrorist groups fired over 4,300 rockets from civilian areas in Gaza towards Israeli cities, averaging 400 rockets per day. A number of factors inflamed tensions in advance of May 10: the Palestinian Authority’s cancellation of long-awaited elections in the West Bank and Gaza, clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and around Jerusalem, and an anticipated Supreme Court ruling on Jewish and Palestinian property rights in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem – with possible evictions of Palestinians. In response to the rocket attacks, Israel carried out about 1,500 airstrikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad members and infrastructure targets.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that over 250 Palestinians were killed, including 65 children. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, nor does it report who was killed by Israeli airstrikes or from the 680 Hamas rockets that fell short and landed in Gaza. Estimates of the number of combatants killed range from 80 (Hamas) to 200 (Israel). Thirteen people in Israel, including 2 children, were killed, and hundreds were injured. Thousands of Gazan Palestinians were displaced and injured, and the airstrikes caused significant damage to infrastructure. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas negotiated by Egypt, Jordan, and France came into effect on May 21, 2021.
October 7th Hamas-Israeli War
On October 7, 2023, on the Jewish Sabbath, the high holiday of Simchat Torah, and the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel with a barrage of 2,200 rockets from the Gaza Strip. The rocket attack served as cover for an unprecedented invasion in which roughly 1,000 Hamas gunmen infiltrated the southern border of Israel by land, air, and sea. Upon entering Israeli communities near the Gaza border, the gunmen proceeded to murder and abduct Israeli civilians and soldiers, as well as some foreign nationals. There was also extensive evidence of torture and sexual crimes. Within 8 hours, Hamas had killed more than 600 people, mostly teens and young adults, who had been attending a music festival near the border with Gaza. An estimated 200 people, including women, children, and the elderly, were abducted and brought back to the Gaza Strip.
On October 8, Israel formally declared a state of war against Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered counterattacks on Hamas military targets in Gaza. U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called an “appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists.” On October 9, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement expressing “steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.” As of October 11, the conflict is ongoing.
—
To read our timeline in full, click here.
