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At least 500 people have been killed in Israel and Palestine is what is being seen as one of the deadliest escalations of the conflict between Israel and Hamas – the Palestinian Islamist militant group in control of the Gaza Strip. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the group and turn them to “dust”. The Palestinian State, without naming Hamas, had released a statement underscoring that it had “repeatedly warned” against the consequences of blocking the political horizon and failing to enable Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate right towards liberation.
For over a century, Israel has been a hotbed of conflicts and the latest attacks have a long history of wars rooted in complex historical, political, religious, and territorial disputes between Israelis and Arab forces in and out of Palestine. Over 100 years ago, when Britain gained control of the Palestine region after defeating the Ottoman Empire in WWI, there was a situation of an Arab majority and a Jewish minority. A demand rose from the international community to give the Jewish people a national home on the land they said was their ancestral home. But Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed such a move.
Over the years that followed, the number of Jews fleeing to the Middle Eastern region increased as they escaped persecution in Europe during the Holocaust. The tussle between the two sides kept growing till 1948 when the British – unable to solve it – left the land for the Jewish leaders to declare the creation of the state of Israel. That was the beginning of a civil war that never ceased to end.
Here’s a timeline of wars in Israel:
1948: Arab-Israeli War
This was the first-ever war that occurred in the region immediately after the formation of independent Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians were forced out of their homes and described it as Al Nakba or ‘The Catastrophe’. Neighboring Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon also faced the brunt of the war that went on for more than a year. Between February and July 1949,Israel and its neighbouring Arab states reached a temporary agreement and fixed a frontier. It came to be known as the War Of Independence in Israel.
1956: Suez Crisis
Tensions mounted again in 1956 with the rise of Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a staunch Arab nationalist who had a hostile stance towards Israel. Also known as the Suez War, this conflict primarily involved Israel, the United Kingdom, and France who struck a deal against Egypt. Israel wanted to gain control of the Sinai Peninsula and end Palestinian fidayeen attacks from Egyptian territory. In a span of five days, the Israeli army invaded the Sinai Peninsula and captured Gaza, Rafah and Al-Arish. However, the conflict ended two months later due to international pressure and the intervention of the UN, and Israel withdrew from Sinai.
1967: Six-Day War
In 1967, Israel fought a brief but decisive war with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, known as the Six-Day War. This war was mainly dominated by Syria which intensified its bombardment of Israeli villages in the Golan Heights. Israel’s counterattacks shot down Syrian fighter jets and also destroyed Egypt’s air force which had launched an assault on Nasser’s orders. The war ended with Israel’s victory and it captured the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, and drove back Syrian forces from the Golan Heights.
1973: Yom Kippur War
Also known as the October War or Ramadan War, this conflict began sporadically and developed into a full-blown war when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Israel initially faced difficulties with the aggressive Arab forces but eventually repelled them and pushed its way into Egyptian and Syrian territory by crossing the Suez Canal and establishing forces in the West Bank. The war lasted for the entire duration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. It ended with Israel and Egypt signing a formal ceasefire agreement.
1975-1990: Lebanese Civil War
While this war did not take place on Israeli soil, Israel was involved in the Lebanese Civil War, primarily to counter the influence of Palestinian militants and later Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces had occupied a buffer zone in southern Lebanon until their withdrawal in 2000.
1982: Lebanon War
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Palestinian attacks and to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Lebanese territory. This was less than six weeks after Israel’s complete withdrawal from Sinai. The increased tensions between Israel and Palestine resulted in the bombing of Beirut and southern Lebanon where PLO had a stronghold. Israel invaded and gained control of Lebanon with the PLO still resisting. The war went on for three years till Israeli troops completely withdrew from Lebanon in 1985.
2006: Second Lebanon War
In July 2006, Hezbollah with its extensive rocket arsenal, launched an operation into northern Israel, killing many Israeli soldiers and causing civilian casualties and damage. Hezbollah wanted to pressure the country into releasing Lebanese prisoners. But Israel launched a counter-offensive that left over a thousand Lebanese dead and nearly a million displaced. While the Second Lebanon War did not directly involve the Palestinian territories, it was influenced by regional dynamics and conflicts. While many Arab leaders criticised Hezbollah for inciting violence, the group’s ability to fight the Israel Defense Forces to a standstill won it praise across the Arab world. The war ended with a United Nations-brokered ceasefire.
Israel-Palestine Wars Since Hamas Takeover
The Israel-Palestine conflict has continued with bouts of escalations interspersed with periods of relative calm. But since the political control of Hamas over the Gaza Strip, there have been four notable conflicts in Gaza in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021.
2008-09: Gaza War
This conflict started in December 2008 after Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket launches by Palestinian militants. The war lasted three weeks with significant casualties on both sides.
2012-14: Operation Pillar of Defense and Operation Protective Edge
On November 14, 2012, Israel launched an air military operation – ‘Pillar of Defense’ – against the “terrorist” organisation Hamas and the Islamic Jihad leadership in Gaza. The operation lasted eight days.
Again on July 8, 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, which also came to be known as the 2014 Gaza War. The 50-day conflict was one of the deadliest escalations between Israel and Hamas in recent times. The conflict resulted in significant civilian casualties and infrastructure damage in Gaza. The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and the UN.
2021: Gaza-Israel Violence
The conflict of May 2021 started with tensions in East Jerusalem after Israel claimed to protect itself from Palestinian violence. There were clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and…
