Understanding History: 1917 to 2023

(Council on Foreign Relations)

1917 to 1973

From 1917 to 1947, Palestinian territories were under the administration of the U.K., and during that time, the U.K. expressed support for Palestine to be “a national home for the Jewish people.” After decades of Arab-Jewish violence and terrorism, the U.K. turned the future of Palestinian territories over to the U.N. To bring independence and peace, the U.N. proposed Resolution 181, or the Partition Plan, to internationalize Jerusalem and split Palestinian territories into a Palestinian Arab state and a Jewish state.

In 1948, one of the states declared independence as the nation of Israel. Palestine then became two small territories within Israel: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

During the same year, the first Arab-Israeli war began, with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq invading Israel. The battle continued until 1949 when the countries signed armistice agreements and ceded defeat to Israel. Throughout the war, over 700,000 Palestinian refugees fled, spurring the U.N. to adopt Resolution 194, which gave refugees the right to return home.

In June of 1967, Israel fought a six-day war with neighboring Arab countries and claimed the West Bank and Gaza, along with east Jerusalem and sectors of Egypt and Syria. The U.N. responded in November of 1967 with Resolution 242, calling for Israel’s withdrawal from recently acquired lands on the grounds of recognizing all state boundaries.

However, Israel did not cede from its acquired territory in Syria and Egypt, and the countries fought the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Amplified by Cold War tensions, the U.S. supported Israel, while the Soviet Union supported Egypt and Syria. The U.N. ended the fighting with Resolution 338, which asserted Resolution 242.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during the Oslo Accords with former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat on Sept. 13, 1993. (Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat at the White House 1993-09-13 / Vince Musi, the White House / Wikimedia Commons / public domain)

1973 to 2000

From 1978 to 1979, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty requiring Israel to withdraw from Egypt, committing both countries to discussing the arrangement of the Gaza Strip.

Eight years later, in 1987, the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, occurred when an Israel driver struck four Palestinians. Over six years, around 200 Israeli and 1,300 Palestinian civilians and soldiers were killed as the militaristic Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the national front of Palestine founded in 1964, facilitated violence.

During this period of warfare, Hamas was founded as a Palestinian military group committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of Palestinian territory in place of Israel.

Covert negotiations in Norway in 1993 between PLO negotiator Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin permitted Palestine authority in Gaza and the West Bank, required Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, allowed Israeli control of large sectors of land with its settlements, and created the Oslo Accords, which ended the first Intifada.

The Gaza-Jericho Agreement implemented the Oslo Accords in 1994, clearly outlining Palestine's jurisdiction and authority structure. Months later, Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan for international diplomacy and territorial settlement, making it the second Arab-Israeli peace treaty.

The Oslo II Accords were signed in 1995, outlining the administration, electoral, and economic arrangements.

Later, in 1997, the U.S. recognized Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as terrorist organizations. The U.S. government defines terrorism as an act dangerous to human life, infrastructure, and property and is intended to intimidate, coerce, or affect a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.
Separation wall between Israel and Palestine. (West Bank wall / David Lisbona / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED)

2000 to 2005

The years 2000 and onward saw a significant rise in violence, deaths, and widespread protests as Hamas dismissed the Oslo Accords, citizens on both sides became restless, and the world experienced increased internet accessibility.

In the summer of 2000, former U.S. President Bill Clinton attempted to host peace talks with Israeli and Palestinian authorities at the Camp David Summit. Still, they failed to come to an agreement, and the second Intifada occurred in September 2000.

Palestinians maintain the second Intifada was caused by Israeli politicians visiting the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, a day prior.

However, Israeli leaders claim Palestine authority was planning a violent outbreak since as early as July.

Palestinian suicide bombings on Israeli civilian and military centers countered by Israel's military engagement in the Gaza Strip and West Bank characterized the second Intifada. When Hamas suicide bombed a hotel in Netanya, Israel, during the Jewish celebration of Passover, killing 30 and injuring 140, the Israeli government approved a three-year plan to build a security barricade along the West Bank, preventing Palestinian terrorists from breaching civilian areas.

This barricade stopped Palestinian civilian and commercial activity as its path went through towns and cut parts of the West Bank off from Jerusalem. Israel’s military defense and barrier proved successful and halted several terrorist attempts, leading to the end of the second Intifada in 2005. Throughout the five years, over 4,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed.

In 2005, Israel began evacuating their civilians and military personnel from the Gaza Strip, though they still controlled the border, coastline, and airspace. In response to the disengagement, Hamas and other smaller militant groups fired into Israel from Gaza.
From a pro-Israeli rally in Oslo, Norway, by the organization “Med Israel For Fred”. (Med Israel For Fred 2006-08-07 / Kjetil Ree / Wikimedia / CC-BY-SA 2.0)

2005 to 2014

Throughout the conflict thus far, Fatah had been the dominant political group in the PLO. However, Hamas defeated them in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections with 74 out of 132 seats, resulting in talks between the groups for joint governance, which quickly failed, and Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The U.S. and the European Union (EU) halted financial aid to Palestinian territory as they recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization. The region is still separately ruled: Hamas dominates Gaza, and Fatah primarily runs the West Bank.

In 2006, a few months after the elections, Hamas personnel took an Israeli soldier hostage. The soldier, Gilad Shalit, was on Israeli soil near the Gaza Strip and was held captive until 2012.

In November 2008, Hamas started a month-long war with Israel when they fired nearly 800 rockets into civilian territory in Sderot. Israel responded by attacking the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of civilians and military personnel on both sides were killed, garnering international pressure for a cease-fire. In January 2009, the U.N. adopted Resolution 1860, calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and international assistance to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

In 2012, the U.N. formally recognized Palestine as an observer state, with the right to speak at assembly meetings but not to vote on resolutions. Renewed desire for permanent peace negotiations began in 2013 with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Ultimately, negotiations collapsed over Israeli settlements, prisoners, and Palestinian attempts to use their observer state status to join international organizations.

After a series of small attacks on civilians by militant groups in both Israel and Palestine in and around 2014, Israel mounted a full offensive on the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian forces fired into large Israeli cities. Known as Operation Protective Edge, the 50-day battle killed around 2,000 Gazans and 71 Israeli civilians and military. The U.S. brokered the ceasefire in consultation with Egypt and other neighboring countries.
Palestinians paint “Save Gaza” on a section of a destroyed building in May, 2023. (Activestills)

2014 to 2023

In December 2017, former U.S. President Donald Trump revised a long-standing policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This resulted in violent protests in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and even Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Jordan. International criticism also comes from numerous Arab and European nations.

Two years later, in 2019, the Trump administration was the first to recognize Israel’s power over Golan Heights, an area annexed from Syria in 1981. During this time, the Trump administration and Israeli diplomats created a peace proposal, “Peace to Prosperity,” that outlined territory, economics, and aid to both Israel and Palestine.

Palestinian authorities rejected the plan immediately as it was crafted without their input. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had deigns on areas of the West Bank that “Peace to Prosperity” would’ve allowed them to annex.

For the first time in over 25 years, peace talks between Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Israel in 2020 normalized diplomatic relations between them via the Abraham Accords, halting Israel’s plan to attain the West Bank.

In 2021, the Israeli government began evicting Palestinian civilians from east Jerusalem, resulting in Hamas involvement. Over 200 Palestinians in Gaza and 10 Israelis died before the Biden administration brokered a truce and restarted U.S. aid and diplomacy with Palestine while continuing support for Israel.

A resurgence of Palestinian rioters throwing stones and explosives at Israeli soldiers in 2022 created another rise in Hamas offensives in Israeli cities, offset by the Israeli military’s counter operations. Several hundred civilians and military died on both ends.

Scot Scoop News

Scot Scoop News

Scot Scoop News