By: Aisha Mustafa ‘25 – published in Fall 2024 Issue 1
As of September 2024, the conflict
between Israel and Palestine has been continuously worsening. It’s important to understand the origin of the conflict prior to discussing the current events. The conflict began a very long time ago, specifically in 1948 when Israel was first established as a state within Palestine. According to Britannica, the goal of this was to separate Palestine into Arab and Jewish parts, but this led to the first conflict between the two parties. Israel survived and even expanded its territory. Many Palestinian Arabs were displaced into neighboring countries or Gaza which was under the control of Egypt at the time. In 1967, a war lasted from June 5 to June 10, during which Israel defeated Jordan, Syria, and Egypt and occupied several territories including Gaza and the West Bank.
In 1987, the first intifada took place in an attempt to stop Israeli’s occupation consisting of protests, strikes, and violent confrontations. According to the Israel Hayom, this uprising heavily damaged Israel’s economy. A political group known as Hamas arose and refused to accept Israel’s power let alone recognize Israel as a state. Another political group called the Palestine Liberation Organization arose, was led by Yasser Arafat and only became recognized as the representative of Palestine after the 6 day war in 1967. In 1993, the PLO and Israel signed the Oslo Accord, aimed towards peace between the two states. The Palestinian Authority was established, giving Palestine some control of Gaza and the West Bank, specifically internal control such as education and administration. According to Britannica, the PA had de jure control over the Gaza Strip but could not exercise de facto control. Regardless of this development, Hamas continued to rebel and in 2000, the second intifada took place. Efforts for peace collapsed when Ariel Sharon, former prime minister of Israel, came to Al-Aqsa mosque with over 1,000 soldiers and police on September 28. Violence from this event continued until February 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza and Hamas gained popularity. In 2007, Hamas took over Gaza causing power struggles between Hamas and the PA. Eventually Hamas took over any control the PA had over Gaza and the PA moved to control the West Bank. Israel still had control over Gaza’s external affairs and imposed a blockage with the intent of weakening Hamas. This led to widespread poverty in Gaza and hardship for the citizens.
In 2008-2009, the First Gaza War began. This was ended with yet another fragile peace agreement to cease fire. In 2012 and 2014, wars arose again between the two parties, which killed over 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis and caused civilians on both sides to suffer. Both parties were accused of war crimes and in 2021, tensions flared again due to disputes in Jerusalem. Hamas launched rockets and Israel responded with airstrikes resulting in over 250 Palestinians killed and 13 Israelis killed. International efforts led to a cease fire agreement yet in October 2023, Hamas launched surprise attacks on Israel. Israel declared war and fought back leading to today’s conflict.
As of today, international efforts for peace continue as the conflict goes on. Recent events include Israel’s conflict with Lebanon originating from the attacks of October 7 and continued violence from both parties. Calls for peace from all around the world continue in an attempt to minimize suffering.