Israel and Palestine: 70 Years of Conflict

Santiago Jimenez — August 11, 2026

October 7th, 2023 marked a turning point for global politics. A historically important conflict, known primarily for its more recent violence, made international headlines as approximately 1,200 Israelis died at the hands of Hamas, a Palestinian militant group. In retaliation, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has ordered continuous strikes on the Palestinian people that some estimates have found to have killed or injured more than ten percent of the Gaza Strip’s pre-war residents. Israel has also seen a large scale loss of life and displacement since 2023.

As the modern conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to claim lives and serve as a divisive political issue around the world, it is important to understand the conflict in its totality. To do so, we must look not just at the events of the past three years, but also at the near-century of animosity between Israel and Palestine that led up to October 7th.

The Past

It is unsurprising that Israel and Palestine have found themselves at war, as there exists a myriad of conflict catalysts between the two nations. Their shared tension spans not just territorial disagreement, but a history of cultural clash, political provocateurism, and continuous international intervention in their warfare.

Zionism: Motivators and Influences

Central to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is Zionism, an ideology which grew from ancient cultural and religious values, as well as a perceived necessity to protect Jewish people from persecution. The most core belief of Zionism is that the current geographic area known as Israel ought to be a Jewish state. This is justified by the claim that the area is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. While the perceived necessity of a Jewish state only became internationally recognized after the Holocaust, the concept was not first created at the termination of Britain’s mandate over Palestine on May 14, 1948. Rather, Israeli statehood has long been a central demand of the Zionist movement, which was born a half century earlier.

The core tenets of Zionism were originally established by political organizer Theodor Herzl (born 1860), who was subject to Europe’s antisemitic climate throughout his own life. Growing up in the Austrian Empire (now Hungary), he attended a private institute of science for secondary education, which he ultimately left due to rising antisemitism within its own walls. This initial exposure to antisemitism wouldn’t be his first, but it would be—alongside experiences in his later life, like viewing the public degradation of Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer wrongly put on trial for espionage due to his Jewish identity—a motivator for him to write his defining pamphlet The Jewish State. Herzl would eventually organize the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, where the Zionist movement would continue to gain international traction.

Large scale violence against Jewish communities shifted the political campaign to a broader platform. While the antisemetic riots of Odessa in 1821 formed the idea of a pogrom—an organized act of mass violence against Jewish populations—it was later, more violent pogroms that justified the Zionist demand for a Jewish homeland. Examples include the Russian Empire’s 1881-1884 wave of violence against Jews, Nazi Germany’s “November pogrom,” and—most famously—the Holocaust.

While protection from violence may have been the primary catalyst for Israeli statehood, the existence of Israel as a Jewish state also stems from cultural and religious beliefs. Historical connections to modern day Israel draw on biblical references to a “Kingdom of Israel,” existing approximately nine-hundred years before the common era. While a Kingdom of Israel with a capital in Jerusalem and King David as its ruler does hold historical weight, contemporary historians question the Kingdom’s relevance. It is often disputed whether Jerusalem and Judah were large, spiraling empires or whether they were more rural chiefdoms.

Regardless, the Jewish faith remains a major foundation of Zionism and continues to guide Zionists’ steadfast belief in the existence of an Israeli state. While the Zionist movement would ultimately lead to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the re-colonization of the land by the Jewish people caused them to intersect with another group that was already occupying the area and had their own ideological claims to the land, beginning a tumultuous cycle of violence and disagreements.

Political Timeline

UN Partition Plan

In 1947, as set forward by United Nations Resolution 181, the United Nations proposed partitioning Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem placed under international administration.

Israeli Independence and the First Arab-Israeli War

Following the proposed partitioning of Mandatory Palestine, fighting broke out between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish forces. On May 14, 1948, Israel formally declared itself a state, and surrounding Arab states entered the conflict, making it a formal international war. In 1949, fighting ceased through a series of armistice agreements, leaving Israel in control of more territory than had been allocated to the proposed Jewish state under the original UN plan. Jordan controlled the West Bank, while Egypt administered the Gaza Strip.

The Six Day War

Fighting continued for a significant stretch of time, until in 1967, a war that is still of international significance occurred—the Six Day War. Egyptian military tensions with Israel were at an all-time high, alongside a broader regional crisis involving Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Israel. Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt, beginning a six-day conflict in which it defeated Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian forces. This resulted in Israeli seizure of the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Palestine After 1967

The period following the Six Day War could be thought of as an era “without Palestinian statehood.” After 1967, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza came under Israeli military occupation. While the Palestinian identity endured, statehood and governance became a less realistic aspiration under Israeli rule. Still, Palestinian activists continued to advocate for change.

The PLO and the Oslo Accords

Such change was increasingly pursued through the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a political organization founded in 1964 that eventually became the dominant international representative of the Palestinian national movement. Decades later, Israel and the PLO entered direct negotiations. Signed in Washington D.C. were the Oslo Accords, which established mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, and created a framework for limited Palestinian self-government in portions of the West Bank and Gaza. Notably, the agreement did not immediately promise a Palestinian state. Rather, it established a transitional period of five years, during which a Palestinian Authority would assume governing responsibilities while negotiations continued over permanent issues such as borders, refugees, and Jerusalem.

The original 1993 Oslo Accord left many of these final questions unresolved. For that reason, a second Oslo Accord was established in 1995, specifying varying levels of control across the West Bank through Areas A, B, and C. The Oslo Accords sought to administer a transition over five years. That five-year window ended without a permanent agreement, and much of the administrative framework created through Oslo remains relevant today.

The Intifadas

With a history of back-and-forth disagreement and no independent Palestinian state, many Palestinians began to pursue their cause through protest and conflict. This fighting, which ultimately came to be known as the intifadas, shaped the modern political climate of Israel and Palestine. The First Intifada, which lasted from 1987 to 1993, began after an Israeli military truck crashed into a vehicle in Gaza, killing four Palestinians. The crash became the immediate trigger for demonstrations rooted in broader opposition to Israeli occupation. Protests spread across Gaza and the West Bank, beginning with strikes, tax boycotts, and demonstrations. Eventually, parts of the movement evolved into violent confrontations in which rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown at Israeli forces.

A second intifada came next. In September 2000, Israeli political leader Ariel Sharon visited Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the holiest location in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. Palestinians widely viewed the visit as highly provocative in an era where sovereignty over Jerusalem remained intensely contested. Demonstrations following the visit turned violent, marking the beginning of the Second Intifada. This uprising was significantly more violent than the first, including Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis alongside large-scale Israeli military operations in Palestinian cities.

Gaza Disengagement and Hamas Rule

After years of violence during the Second Intifada, Israel unilaterally withdrew its settlers and permanent ground forces from inside the Gaza Strip in 2005. Israel continued to control Gaza’s airspace, coastline, and most border access, while Egypt controlled its border crossing with Gaza.

In 2006, the militant and political organization Hamas defeated Fatah in Palestinian legislative elections. Hamas formed a government while Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas remained president of the Palestinian Authority. Conflict between the two factions escalated until 2007, when Hamas forcibly took control of Gaza and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority retained control over portions of the West Bank. Following Hamas’ takeover, Israel and Egypt imposed a restrictive blockade on Gaza, limiting the movement of people and goods.

Repeated Gaza-Israel Conflict

As time went forward, so did conflict between Gaza and Israel. Between 2008 and 2021, several major escalations took place, including Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense, Operation Protective Edge, and the 11-Day War. These conflicts involved repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air and ground campaigns inside Gaza, resulting in deaths among militants and civilians on both sides. The Great March of Return, beginning in 2018, was somewhat different—it consisted primarily of mass Palestinian demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel border, rather than a conventional war.

October 7th

The cycle has not ceased in recent years. The event most widely known in the media concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict, and in conversation surrounding it, is October 7th, 2023. As previously mentioned, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched a surprise attack across southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Israel immediately responded with airstrikes before beginning a ground offensive in Gaza later that month. The attack and Israel’s response began the Gaza war that would dominate the following years of the conflict.

The Present

The War in Gaza

Israel and Hamas dramatically escalated their fighting after October 2023, when Israel launched a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. A ceasefire beginning in January 2025 collapsed within months, and Israel renewed major air and ground operations. In October 2025, however, Israel and Hamas entered another ceasefire agreement. That agreement remains fragile; as of July 2026, its later phases remained incomplete and both sides continued to report violations.

Humanitarian Consequences

As a part of its campaign, Israel carried out an intensive bombing and ground campaign across Gaza. The consequences have been substantial. As of June 2026, a United Nations satellite assessment found that approximately 82% of structures in Gaza had sustained damage. More than 70,000 Palestinians, including both civilians and fighters, have been reported killed over the course of the war. Restrictions on food, fuel, medical supplies, and other goods have also contributed to a prolonged humanitarian crisis involving displacement, food insecurity, and damaged health and sanitation systems.

In December 2024, Amnesty International concluded that Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted genocide against Palestinians. Israel has rejected genocide allegations.

The West Bank

In the West Bank, conflict has also intensified. Israeli forces have conducted repeated raids and military operations while movement restrictions, checkpoints, demolitions, and Israeli settler violence have continued to affect Palestinian communities. In 2026 alone, the United Nations has documented hundreds of settler attacks and the displacement of thousands of Palestinians. Israeli forces also continue search-and-arrest operations throughout the territory.

Shifting Public Opinion

Across the board, modern perception of the Israel-Palestine conflict is taking a turn. For decades, Gallup polling showed Americans sympathizing more with Israelis than Palestinians. In 2026 Gallup polling, however, 41% of Americans said they sympathized more with Palestinians, while 36% sympathized more with Israelis—the first time Palestinians held the advantage in Gallup’s annual measure since it began in 2001.

The Future

Regional Escalation

Though in conflict it’s important to hope for peace, the near future appears more bleak than utopic. The Gaza war has increasingly expanded beyond Israel and Palestine, contributing to direct or proxy conflict involving actors across Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. Heightened regional involvement brings with it the possibility of higher-stakes warfare and makes a lasting Israeli-Palestinian settlement increasingly difficult to separate from the politics of the broader Middle East.

Prospects for Peace

Even with the current ceasefire, the political questions at the center of the conflict remain unresolved. Hamas has not fully disarmed, plans for transitional governance in Gaza remain incomplete, and both Israel and Hamas continue to accuse one another of ceasefire violations. Peace agreements have repeatedly struggled to resolve the issues underlying the conflict, indicating its cyclical nature.

In the coming weeks, months, and years, it becomes critical to stay alert, because Israel and Palestine trade strategic moves, and power dynamics can shift in days—as indicated by events like the intifadas and October 7th. When presenting Israel and Palestine, then, it is necessary to understand that the actors are imperfect, and that analysis needs to examine how we got where we are. That specific context is ultimately what makes understanding the future of the conflict possible.