Overview
The Israel-Palestine conflict is quite famous around the world. Since time immemorial, thousands of lives have been lost, gallons of blood have been shed, and millions of children have become homeless, or worse orphans. Before examining the atrocities this war had on the lives of men, women, and children, let us first see the exact reason for this conflict.
The History Behind the Israeli – Palestine War
The conflict is rooted in as early as the 20th century. The war began in 1948, as soon as the state of Israel was created, in lieu of the UN partition treaty. The war ended with Israel’s victory and the separation of land into 3 parts – The Gaza Strip, Israel, and the West Bank. Even though Israel has a long history of conflicts with its neighbours, the Palestine conflict went on for longer than usual. In 1987, thousands of Palestine’s people stood up against the then Israeli Government, in what is known as the first intifada. They demanded the land as rightfully theirs and wanted Israel to let go of 6 cities and 450 towns in the West Bank.
Soon after the second intifada took place between 2000-2005, the Israeli government retaliated by setting up the barrier wall against the west bank, despite the opposition from the International Court of Justice. All attempts to ensure peace between the two nations went in vain when Palestine formed a pact with the rival faction, Hamas, in 2014. Hamas attacked Israel by throwing nearly 3 000 rockets at them in 2014 and Israel retaliated by planning a full-blown massive attack on Gaza. In May 2018, fighting broke out between Hamas and the Israeli military in what became the worst period of violence since 2014. Before reaching a cease-fire, militants in Gaza fired over one hundred rockets into Israel; Israel responded with strikes on more than fifty targets in Gaza during the twenty-four-hour flare-up.
The Foreign Intervention
Ever since the war between the two nations began, various nations including the United States and UAE have played a prominent role in it.
For instance, the USA under the Trump administration canceled the UN relief and works funds, which provided for Palestine’s refugees. Furthermore, the act of relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was disapproved by the Palestinians, since the Palestinians consider East Jerusalem as their future state. In January 2020, the Trump administration released its long-awaited “Peace to Prosperity Plan” which was rejected by Palestinians due to its support for future Israeli annexation of settlements in the West Bank and control over an “undivided” Jerusalem.
As a result, there lie tensions between the two states and the fear of initiating a third intifada.
Recent Troubles
Despite the efforts by various bodies and foreign governments, all has not been well for the Palestinians. In October 2020, an Israeli court ruled that several Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah—a neighborhood in East Jerusalem—were to be evicted by May 2021 with their land handed over to Jewish families. In February 2021, several Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah filed an appeal to the court ruling and prompting protests around the appeal hearings, the ongoing legal battle around property ownership, and demanding an end to the forcible displacement of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem.
In April 2021, numerous Palestinians started protesting against the pending evictions and residents of Sheikh Jarrah. The protests expanded when the Israeli police sought violence against the demonstrators, leaving hundreds of Palestinians wounded.
Recently in December 2022, a new and “the most religious government” has been formed in Israel. This comes at a time when there has been the largest number of deaths in both states, since 2015. The coalition government is led by Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and his Likud party and comprises two ultra-Orthodox parties and three far-right parties, including the Religious Zionism party.
The new government’s political agenda has been criticized and questioned and it is envisioned that if this agenda comes to play it can not only derail the relation with Palestine but also deprive Israel of its liberal democracy.
Written by: Mridul Bhatla
Edited by: Rucha Naik