The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing dispute over competing claims to the Holy Land, which includes disputes over borders, Jerusalem, security, and Palestinian refugees. The conflict dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the birth of major nationalist movements among the Jews and among the Arabs, both geared towards attaining sovereignty for their people in the Middle East. The United Nations adopted Resolution 181 in 1947, which sought to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was created, sparking the first Arab-Israeli War. The war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into 3 parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.
The conflict has been marked by mutual distrust and significant disagreements over basic issues, as well as reciprocal skepticism about the other sides commitment to upholding obligations in an eventual bilateral agreement. Since 2006, the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between Fatah, the traditionally dominant party, and its later electoral challenger, Hamas, a militant Islamist group that gained control of the Gaza Strip. Attempts to remedy this have been repeated and continuing.
The conflict has continually flared into conflict, including multistate wars, armed uprisings (intifadas), and terrorist acts. A major turning point was the 1967 Six-Day War, which culminated in Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. In its aftermath, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from occupied lands to secure and recognize borders in exchange for peace.
The main issues that Israel and the Palestinians cannot agree on include the status of Palestinian refugees, the fate of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, the sharing of Jerusalem, and security. The outlook for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is bleak, with divisions between the two sides.
