Chronology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This was a secret convention made during World War I between these countries and Russia that created a pathway for dismantling the Ottoman Empire and splitting the Middle East into a number of French- and British-administered areas. After WWI, "The victorious Allies transformed the Middle East into its current form, with its European-designed names, flags, and borders." ¹

Britain defeats the Ottoman Turkish forces and occupies the Palestine region. The Balfour Declaration is issued in the form of a letter from the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Rothschild. It is delivered to Chaim Weizmann, a Zionist activist, expressing British support for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine:

His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of the object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious' rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. ²

This is seen by Jewish nationalists as the cornerstone of a future Jewish homeland on both sides of the Jordan River, but increases the concerns of the Arab population in the Palestine region.

The US president, Woodrow Wilson, proposes a commission to resolve a dispute between Britain and France over the administration of Syria. Britain and France agree, but send no delgates to the commission, so it becomes solely a US project. King and Crane traveled to Palestine, Syria Lebanon, and Anatolia in the summer of 1919 to meet with local representatives. Their findings, filed with the U.S. delegation at Paris, were subsequently ignored by the peace negotiators. ³

Motivated by anti-Semitic activities in Europe, such as the pogroms in Ukraine (in which 100,000 Jews were killed) 90,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in Palestine. Some of these immigrants were absorbed into Jewish communities established on lands purchased legally by Zionist agencies from absentee landlords. In some cases, a large acquisition of lands, from absentee landlords, led to the replacement of the fellahin tenant farmers with European Jewish settlers, causing Palestinian Arabs to feel dispossessed. Jewish immigration to Palestine was especially significant after the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany, following which the Jewish population in Palestine doubled. The Arab population in Palestine opposed the increase of the Jewish population because the new immigrants refused to lease or sell land to Palestinians, or hire them. During the 1920s relations between the Jewish and Arab populations deteriorated and the hostility between the two groups intensified.

The League of Nations divides the territories formerly under Ottoman rule into new entities, called mandates. The mandates would be administered by the British and French until the inhabitants were believed by League members to be ready for independence and self-government. France will control Syria and Lebanon; Britain will control Iraq, "and a new entity called Palestine, [is] also placed under British control." ⁴

As the Nazis assumed power in Germany, German Jews sought to find a safe haven from persecution, triggering a massive refugee crisis. "Between 1933 and 1936, more Jews emigrated from Germany to Palestine than to anywhere else in the world. Around 154,300 Jews (including 34,700 from Germany) had entered Palestine legally and thousands more illegally, increasing the percentage of Jews in the Palestinian population from nearly 17 percent in 1931 to almost 30 percent in 1935." ⁵

In 1936, Palestinian resistance to foreign rule and to foreign colonization broke out into a major rebellion that lasted virtually until the outbreak of the Second World War. Over the next three years, more than 5,000 Arabs were killed according to some sources, mostly by British forces attempting to stop the revolt. Several hundred Jews were killed by Arabs.

In an attempt to address the ongoing conflict, The British-organized Peel Commission issues a report recommending dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

Abandoning its idea of a two-state solution, Britain reverses its support of the Peel Commission. In the White Paper of 1939, the British government calls for the establishment of a Jewish national home in an independent Palestinian state within 10 years, rejecting the Peel Commission's idea of partitioning Palestine. It also limits Jewish immigration to 75,000 for five years and rules that further immigration will then be determined by the Arab majority (section II). Jews are restricted from buying Arab land in all but 5% of the Mandate.

Under Nazi rule, millions of European Jews are murdered in concentration camps. Following the end of the Holocaust, the need for a Jewish state seems more important to both Jews and European governments.

The Irgun, a Jewish underground armed group under the command of future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, announces the resumption of operations against British forces in Palestine. On July 22 they bomb the King David Hotel, the British military and administrative headquarters in Jerusalem. Ninety are killed.

The newly-formed United Nations (UN) divides Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, intending to provide both populations with land and resources.

With the end of British oversight, Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion declares the independence of the state of Israel in that part of partitioned Palestine given to the Jews. This causes the armies of Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan to invade Palestine. The becomes known as the First Arab-Israeli War, while Israelis call it the Israeli War of Independence. Despite the fact that the partition was originally intended to provide lands for both Jews and Palestinians, Jordan claims lands intended for Palestinians and Israel claims more land than intended. Some 750,000 Palestinians are forced to flee their homes and become refugees.

Israel and the Arab states agree to a cessastion of the war. Israel gains about 50% more territory than was originally allotted to it by the UN Partition Plan.

The UN establishes UNRWA, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Between 1949 and 1960, more than 1.25 million Jews — including 250,000 Holocaust survivors — immigrate to Israel. The Israeli state begins to feeel the pressure for more land due to this large influx.

Israel is subject to a wave of infiltrations by Palestinian guerillas, the Fedayeen. In 1951, 118 Israelis, including 48 civilians, are killed by such infiltrators. According to Israeli army records, more than one infiltrator is killed every day this year, for a total of over 430 this year. Arabs are also being attacked by the Israelis, and the overall situation deteriorated. Israel begins Retribution Operations as punishment and prevention measures. These incursions and retaliatory attacks will continue until the Suez Crisis in 1956.

A Lieutenant Colonel in the Egyptian Army, Gamal Abdul Nasser, leads a coup d'etat in Egypt — known as the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 — which overthrows King Farouk and the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. Nasser strongly supports the Fedayeen and their activities.

Israel begins to increase the frequency, size, and brutality of its retaliatory attacks on Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. These include direct attacks on civilians, as with the Israeli attack on Khan Younis on August 31 and September 1, 1955 and the the mortaring of the central market in Gaza City on April 5, 1956. ⁶

In July, Egyptian President Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, threatening British and French interests in oil supplies and western trade. Their interests converging, Israel, Britain and France plan an attack on Egypt. Israel is seeking free navigation through international waters, an end to terrorist attacks, and to strike pre-emptively before Egypt can deploy its recently-acquired Soviet arms. Britain and France hope to seize control of the Suez Canal.

On October 29, Israel begins an assault on Egyptian military positions, capturing the whole of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. On October 31, France and Britain join the fray, and hostilities end on November 5. The US is caught completely by surprise and voices strong opposition to the joint attack. The US pressures Israel to withdraw from Egyptian territory, and UN forces are stationed along the Egyptian-Israeli border to prevent an Egyptian blockade and deter cross-border infiltrations. ⁷

In one of the most brutal manifestations of Moshe Dayan's ongoing plan to exact a high price for any Fedayeen attacks, On November 3, 1956, Israeli forces enter the Palestinian town of Khan Yunis and the nearby refugee camp of the same name in the Gaza Strip during the Suez Crisis. There, according to the UNWRA report, which put together what it considered a credible list, some 275 unarmed noncombatants were executed, along with another 111 in Rafah.

In March, Israel withdraws its forces from the Sinai Peninsula, ending the Suez Crisis.

The Cairo-born Yasser Arafat forms Fatah to conduct guerrilla warfare operations against Israel.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded in Cairo by the Arab League. Ahmad Shuqeiri is its first leader, although the organization is de facto controlled by the Egyptian government. The PLO states their goal as the destruction of the State of Israel through armed struggle and its replacement with an "independent Palestinian state" between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The PLO quickly becomes the nexus for much of the Palestinian nationalist activity, which is increasingly directed at achieving independence of political action from the Arab regimes, in addition to the basic aim of liberating Palestine and securing the return of the approximately 700,000 Palestinians who had been made refugees in 1948. ⁸

Nasser asks the UN to withdraw the forces which had been stationed on the frontier with Israel since the Suez war of 1956, and orders UN observers to leave the Sinai. When this is done he closes the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. This effectively blocks Israel's access to shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. ⁹ Nasser wants a war with Israel, but, fearing US intervention, does not want to appear to be the aggressor. Jordan and Syria make military agreements with Egypt.

Cairo Radio announces, "The Arab people is firmly resolved to wipe Israel off the map and to restore the honor of the Arabs of Palestine.

Nasser, in a speech to Egyptian trade unionists, says, "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel." ¹⁰

Responding to Nasser's declaration that he would destroy the Israeli state, Egypt's military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula and naval blockade, Israel launches a defensive strike on the Egyptian Air Force on June 5. The attack quickly turns into a regional war, in which Israel defeats the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and their supporters. Israel captures the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The number of war casualties is estimated between 15,000 and 25,000.

As a result of Israel's overwhelming victory, it captured the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank including East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. This new territory tripled the size of the nation. Israel has formally annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, vowing never to relinquish those territories. But Syria vows never to make peace unless Israel withdraws from Golan. And the PLO declares Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. ¹²

Since 1967, each Israeli government has invested significant resources in establishing and expanding the settlements in the occupied territories both in terms of the area of land they occupy and in terms of population. It is recognised that Israeli settlements not only diminish Palestinian life but are a drain on natural resources in the area, particularly water. ¹¹

During the Six-Day War, as Israeli troops take up positions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, an estimated 250,000 Palestinians leave those areas. Many of these are people who had been removed from their homes in Israel in 1948. These individuals are considered by the international community to be displaced persons, not refugees. ¹³

On 22 November the UN Security Council adopts Resolution 242, establishing the principle of exchanging territories occupied in the Six Day War for peace with Israel. This becomes known as the "land for peace" formula, which has been the starting point for further negotiations.

The Sinai peninsula will be returned to Egypt fifteen years later, in 1982, as a result of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. The UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice both describe the West Bank and Western Golan Heights as "occupied territory" under international law, and the Supreme Court of Israel describes them as held "in belligerent occupation." However Israel's government calls the West Bank "disputed" rather than "occupied" and argues that since Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2005, it does not militarily occupy the Gaza strip, a statement rejected by the UN Human Rights Council and Human Rights Watch because Israel continues to maintain control of its airspace, waters, and borders.

Yasser Arafat, head of the Fatah party, is appointed chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, replacing Ahmad Shukeiri, after Fatah became the dominant force in the PLO.

This conflict consists of continuous, static, local fighting along the ceasefire borders of the Six Day War, focused around the Suez Canal. It is given its name by Egyptian Presidet Nasser, who states, on June 23rd 1969: "I cannot take over Sinai, but I can break the spirit of Israel by attrition."" Egypt has superiority in strength, and Nasser, relying on weapons supplied by the Soviet Union to deter Israel from a massive reciprocal attack, hopes Israel will ultimately withdraw from the Suez Canal.

In March 1969 the Egyptians open heavy artillery fire on Israeli targets by the Canal. The Israeli Air Force begins attacking Egyptian settlements along the Canal in July 1969, causing heavy damage and the flight of approximately 750,000 Egyptian citizens. The Soviet Union ships masses of weapons and operating technicians to Egypt in late January 1970, including rockets, anti-aircraft warfare and a radar installation. In addition, intercepting aircrafts are delivered to Egypt along with 15,000 Soviet military men, among them pilots.

The first encounter between Israeli aircrafts and the Russian MiGs takes place in April 1970. In July, following Egypt’s acceptance of the Rogers Plan, Israeli pilots shoot down five MiGs. Following these incidents, Moscow applies pressure on Egypt to agree to a ceasefire. ¹⁴

At the XX Olympiad in Munich, Germany, Palestinian commandos break into the quarters of the Israeli team at the Olympic Village, kill two members of the team and take nine others hostage. The Palestinians are members of the Black September movement, a splinter faction that broke away from the PLO. Black September demands the release of more than 200 Palestinian guerillas held in Israeli jails, along with the release of Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, held in a German prison. ¹⁵

Within 24 hours, the nine hostages are murdered, and five of the terrorists as well as a German policeman are killed.

In a surprise attack on the Jewish day of atonement, Egypt retakes the Suez canal and a narrow zone on the other side. Syria reconquers the Golan Heights. Iraq, and other Arab nations joined in and/or supported the Arab war effort. Following massive US and Soviet resupplying of the sides, Israel succeeds in pushing back the Syrians and threatening Damascus. In Sinai, the IDF crosses the Suez Canal and cuts off the Egyptian Third Army. Many Israeli prisoners of war are tortured and killed by Egypt and Syria while in captivity.

The attacks end in a cease-fire imposed by the influence of the super-powers which showed that, while the US would not allow Israel to be defeated, neither it nor the USSR would allow Egypt to be defeated, and that they [the USA and USSR] did not wish to allow the war to escalate in a way which would draw them in. ¹⁶

The Kiryat Shmona massacre occurs in April, when the PFLP–GC militia crosses the border into Israel from Lebanon, enters an apartment building and kills all 18 residents. Half are children.

In May, The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacks a van killing two Israeli Arab women, enters an apartment and kills a family, and takes over a local school in Ma'alot. They hold 115 students and teachers hostage. 25 Israelis are killed at the school, including 22 children, and 68 are wounded.

At a summit meeting of the Arab League, the leaders of twenty Arab states acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to a separate homeland, but without specifying that its territory is restricted to the West Bank. More importantly, the PLO is for the first time officially recognized by all the Arab states as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." ¹⁷

The UN grants the PLO "Permanent Observer" status. Observers have the right to speak at UN General Assembly meetings, but not to vote on resolutions. Yasser Arafat addresses the UN General Assembly. The PLO is considered a "non-member observer entity" until 2012, when their status is changed to that of a "non-member observer state."

In the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and with a conservative government in place, Jewish settlers begin illegally moving into the Arab West Bank. This heightens the conflict between the two groups.

UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 is adopted on 10 November 1975. It states that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." The resolution reaffirms a decades-old UN resolution that "any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous." It also expresses alarm at "the manifestations of racial discrimination still in evidence in some areas in the world, some of which are imposed by certain Governments by means of legislative, administrative or other measures."

Israel confiscates hundreds of square miles of land from Palestinian citizens. Mass protests are held in response, but are brutally put down.

In March, Israel conducts Operation "Litani," in alliance with the mostly Christian South Lebanon Army. This is a limited invasion of Lebanon attempting to push Palestinian militant groups away from the Israel border. The seven-day offensive results in 100,000 to 285,000 refugees created and between 300 and 1,200 Lebanese and Palestinian militants and civilians killed.

Five days after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the UN Security Council adopts Resolution 425, which calls on Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon and establishes a UN Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon.

In September, Israel and Egypt sign the Camp David Accords.

In June, in retaliation for the attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Israel invades Lebanon in an attack on the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

The UN holds an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The Palestine Liberation Front hijacks the Achille Lauro, redirecting the cruise ship to Syria and holding its passengers and crew hostage, demanding the release of 50 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish American celebrating his 36^th wedding anniversary on the ship, is shot in the forehead and chest while sitting in his wheelchair.

The First Intifada is launched in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It is a sustained series of protests, violent riots, general strikes, and civil disobedience by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The aim is to end Israel’s occupation of those territories and create an independent Palestinian state.

After the Intifade begins, Hamas is created from the Gaza wing of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Until the advent of Hamas, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood was actually supported by Israeli authorities and had not committed violent attacks. But Hamas quickly begins attacks on Israeli military targets, and eventually Israeli civilians.

By the end of the First Intifada, over 1,000 Palestinians are killed by the Israeli Army, and 164 Israelis are murdered.

The PLO accepts UN Resolutions 242 and 338, recognizing the State of Israel.

An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers.

The UN General Assembly approves Resolution 43/177, acknowledging the Palestinian Declaration of Independence and replacing the designating"Palestine" rather than "PLO" in the U.N.'s system.

As the US-led coalition fights to remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, Hussein attempts to draw Israel into the war and fires 39 Scud missiles into Israel. To avoid disrupting the ongoing coalition efforts, Israel does not retaliate.

In the aftermath of the Gulf War, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians attend a peace conference jointly sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union on. This is the first time that Israel has entered into direct, face-to-face negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinians. The conference ends without a breakthrough.

In December, the UN General Assembly passes resolution 46/86, which revokes Resolution 3379 (see 1975 above). The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs admits that "One of Israel's conditions for the participation of a UN observer in the Madrid Peace Conference was the revocation of the infamous resolution 3379 equaling Zionism with racism."

By the start of the Second Intifada (1990), there will be 37 suicide bomb attacks in Israel. Most of them will be carried out by members of Hamas, along with a small number carried out by members of Islamic Jihad.

Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yasser Arafat, President of the PLO, sign a treaty brokered by US President Bill Clinton.The PLO agrees to recognize Israel, remounce violence, and repeal parts of the PLO Charter that Israel finds objectionable. Israel agrees to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and accept the PLO as a negotiating partner. The document is formally known as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government for the Palestinians.

The accords also call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and affirm a Palestinian right of self-government within those areas through the creation of a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority. Palestinian rule is to last for a five-year interim period. During that time, "permanent status negotiations" are to begin in order to reach a final agreement. Major issues such as Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, and security and borders are to be decided at these 'later negotiations. Israel is to grant interim self-government to the Palestinians in phases.

In February, an American immigrant to Israel and a member of the Jewish Defense League opens fire in the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, killing 29 and wounding over 125 unarmed Palestinians. Riots break out across the West Bank and continue for two days. More than 20 more Palestinians and nearly 10 Israelis are killed in the unrest following the initial murders. In the months after, Hamas carries out two terror attacks, saying that they are a response to the massacre in Hebron. The massacre affects the ongoing peace process (see "Oslo Peace Accords," 1993).

In May, Israeli forces withdraw from Jericho and Gaza City in compliance with the Oslo accords..

In July, Yasser Arafat returns from exile to head the Palestinian National Authority.

In December, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize..

From January to August, in a series of suicide bomb attacks, Islamic Jihad and Hamas kill 40 and wound over 185 Israeli non-combatants.

In November, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated in Tel Aviv by a Jewish extremist. Shimon Peres assumes the position of acting Prime Minister. Many blame the leaders of the Israeli political right for emboldening right-wing ultra-nationalists to commit acts of violence that culminated in the assassination of the Prime Minister.

In February and March, a series of suicide attacks in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Ashkelon kill more than 60 Israelis. These attacks significantly influence the Israeli elections in May.

In April, the Israeli Defense Forces conduct Operation "Grapes ofWrath," an air raid campaign attempting to "dismantle" Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. This includes over 1,100 air raids and over 25,000 explosive shells fried from ground-based weapons. The IDF also bombs a UN compound in Qana. 639 Hezbollah cross-border rocket attacks target northern Israel. On April 18, due to a "technical error," Israeli artillery kills 106 civilians and Israeli warplanes killed nine other civilians in the city of Nabatiyeh while they were sleeping. These and other attacks lead to the displacement of over 400,000 civilians in southern Lebanon. On April 27 both sides agree to a ceasefire banning attacks on civilians. Most historians consider the Operation a failure, both militarily and politically, because Israel had previously agreed (within the Oslo accords) to allow Hezbollah to maintain a presence in Lebanon.

In May, the leader of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, is elected Prime Minister of Israel. While the assassination of Rabin, and although , due to the series of suicide bombings carried out in Israel, and due to the failed military operation "Grapes of Wrath" conducted in Lebanon that caused many casualties among Lebanese civilians, a significant change occurred in the position of the Israeli voters which resulted eventually in 50.5% percent of voters supporting Netanyahu on election day. A significant number of Israeli Arabs boycotted the elections amidst rising Lebanese casualties, which became an advantage for Netanyahu as the vast majority of Arabs would have supported Peres but declined to vote. In addition, the intensive campaign conducted by Netanyahu versus the failed campaign of Shimon Peres, as well as the support Netanyahu got at the last moment from the Chabad movement, were all in Netanyahu's favor.

In January, the IDF and the Palestinian Authority (PA) sign an agreement calling for an IDF withdrawal from 80% of Hebron, and the beginning of IDF withdrawal from rural areas in the West Bank (except for settlements and military locations). Israel and the PA agree to begin negotiations on the permanent status agreement. Their aim is to have these completed by the middle of 1999.

In October, Netanyahu and Arafat, hosted in Maryland by US President Clinton, sign the Wye River Memorandum. They agree on further steps to implement the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (see 1995) and the redeployment of IDF troops in Hebron (see 1997).

In May, in compliance with UN Resolution 425 (see 1978), the Israeli Army withdraws from southern Lebanon. Syria and Lebanon protest that the withdrawal is incomplete, but the UN certifies a full Israeli withdrawal.

In July, another summit is held at Camp David, between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. Their aim is to reach a "final status" agreement, but the summit concludes without such an agreement.