The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing territorial dispute over the Holy Land, a Middle Eastern region with great religious and historical significance to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The conflict dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, and in 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan, 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 its roots in competing claims to the Holy Land and includes disputes over borders, Jerusalem, security, and Palestinian refugees. The main issues that Israel and the Palestinians cannot agree on include the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the fate of Palestinian refugees. The conflict has been characterized 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. 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.
The conflict has been marked by violence, with both Israelis and Palestinians suffering casualties. The conflict has seen major flare-ups, including the 2014 war, which led to more than 2,100 Palestinians being reported killed in Gaza and 73 Israelis being reported dead, 67 of them military. In 2022, Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and its armed wing, destroying or damaging some 1,700 Palestinian homes and displacing hundreds of civilians. The Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups committed apparent war crimes during the three days of fighting. The conflict has continued to escalate in 2023, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip seeing the most conflict-related deaths for both Israelis and Palestinians since 2015.
