Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the former territory of Mandatory Palestine. Key parts of the conflict have included Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.

The conflict has its origins in the rise of Zionism in the late 19th century in Europe. This movement aimed to establish a Jewish state through colonization in the region of Palestine. In the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Britain, an imperial power, gave its support to the Zionist movement and promised to support the creation of a "Jewish homeland" in Palestine. After British occupation of the formerly Ottoman region during World War I, Mandatory Palestine was established as a British mandate. Increasing Jewish immigration led to rapid growth of the Yishuv, or Jewish population in Palestine, and heightened tensions and conflict between Jews and Arabs over land and economic issues. The 1936 Arab general strike led to the Peel Commission investigation and began the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, which demanded an end to British colonial rule and its support for Zionism. Because the British government could not resolve these tensions, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine was created. The United Nations later voted to adopt its recommendations as a partition plan in 1947. The plan was rejected by the Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League, which triggered the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine.

During the 1948 Palestine war, the State of Israel was founded, and more than half of the mandate's predominantly Palestinian Arab population fled or were expelled by Israeli forces. Palestinians refer to this event as the Nakba. By the end of the war, Israel was established on most of the former mandate's territory, while the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were controlled by Egypt and Jordan, respectively. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are known together as the Palestinian territories. Two Palestinian uprisings against Israel and its occupation broke out in 1987 and 2000. These were the first and second intifadas.

Israel's occupation led to Israel building illegal settlements in the territories. It also created a system of institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians under its occupation, which is referred to as Israeli apartheid. This discrimination includes Israel's denial of Palestinian refugees' right of return and right to their lost properties. Israel has also drawn international condemnation for violating the human rights of the Palestinians. The international community, with exceptions including the United States and Israel, which prefer talks between the two sides alone, has largely agreed since the 1980s that the conflict should be settled through a two-state solution along the 1967 borders and a fair resolution for Palestinian refugees. In recent years, public support for a two-state solution has decreased. In 2007, Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip and officially adopted a policy of isolating it from the West Bank. Since then, Israel has framed its relationship with Gaza in terms of the laws of war, rather than its status as an occupying power. In a July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that Israel continues to illegally occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Since 2006, Israel has fought several wars with Hamas, the ruling party in the Gaza Strip. Attacks by Hamas-led armed groups in October 2023 in Israel resulted in nearly 1,200 deaths. These attacks were followed by another war, which has caused widespread destruction, loss of life, mass population displacement, a humanitarian crisis, and a famine in the Gaza Strip. Israel's actions in Gaza during this war have been described by international law experts, genocide scholars and human rights organizations as a genocide. For the current phase of the conflict that began in October 2023, see Gaza war. For the wider regional conflict, see Arab–Israeli conflict.

Main article: History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Further information: Military operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

History

The conflict began in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when Zionism grew and Zionist settlers arrived in Palestine. During World War I, Great Britain promised Arab leaders an independent state in Arab areas of the Ottoman Empire, but Palestine was left out. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, which supported a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. After the war, the British Mandate in Palestine began, and Jewish immigration grew. Arab Palestinians revolted against British rule and Jewish settlement in the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. Britain later proposed a small Jewish state, but its White Paper of 1939 rejected a Jewish state and limited Jewish immigration, which badly damaged relations with the Zionist movement.

In 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations recommended dividing Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and an international city of Jerusalem. Palestinian Arabs opposed the plan, and fighting broke out. After Israel declared its independence in May 1948, the Arab League sent its forces in, starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs were moved out of their homes in what is described as ethnic cleansing, an event known as the Nakba. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Conflict continued with the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the First Intifada uprising from 1987 to 1993. The Oslo Accords of 1993 aimed for peace, but the Second Intifada broke out in 2000. In 2023, after a surprise attack by Hamas-led groups on southern Israel, Israel launched the Gaza war. A ceasefire has been in effect since 10 October 2025, though limited fighting has continued.

Attempts to reach a peaceful settlement

For the PLO to take part in peace talks, it had to reject terrorism and accept Israel's "right to exist." By the late 1970s, Palestinian leaders in the occupied territories and most Arab states supported a two-state solution. In 1981, Saudi Arabia proposed a two-state plan with support from the Arab League, but the Israeli cabinet continued to oppose a Palestinian state. Israel invaded Lebanon the following year, in an attempt to weaken the PLO. In 1988, the Palestinian Declaration of Independence formally set the goal of a Palestinian state made up of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Arafat then denounced terrorism and accepted Israel's right to exist, but Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir refused to negotiate with the PLO or accept a Palestinian state.

The term "peace process" describes a step-by-step approach to peace, first used for talks between Israel and Arab countries such as Egypt. Key issues like borders, resources, and the right of return were left for later "final status" talks, which never took place. The Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 built on earlier talks, but trust between the two sides declined, and Israel expanded its control over Palestinian areas. Meron Benvenisti noted that life became harsher for Palestinians, and the Wye River Memorandum introduced a "zero tolerance" policy on violence that was criticized by human rights groups, while Dennis Ross praised its results. In 1993, Israel's Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles, which left key issues for "final status" talks, and the agreements did not recognize Palestinian statehood or follow UN Resolution 242. The process ended after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and failed talks at Camp David in 2000 with Ehud Barak. George J. Mitchell led a fact-finding committee, and its committee's findings were published in 2001. The Second Intifada began in 2000, and talks at the Taba Summit in Taba, Egypt ended without agreement in January 2001. Ariel Sharon of the Likud party then became prime minister, and his government did not resume high-level talks. A 2002 Quartet plan, the Road Map for Peace, did not get past its first phase. The 2007 peace conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland aimed to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and carry out the "Roadmap for peace," but no agreement followed. The Arab Peace Initiative (Arabic: مبادرة السلام العربية), first proposed by Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Beirut summit in 2002 and agreed again at the Riyadh summit in 2007, offered normal relations with Israel if it withdrew from occupied lands, including the Six-Day War territories and the Golan Heights. The Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and others supported it, and Barack Obama was asked to adopt it, while the Islamist party Hamas, the elected government of the Gaza Strip, was divided and mostly rejected it. Palestinians criticized the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement and another with Bahrain in 2020. Israeli leaders responded differently over time: Ehud Olmert gave a cautious welcome, and Benjamin Netanyahu gave tentative support in 2015 before rejecting it as a basis for talks in 2018.

Main article: Israeli–Palestinian peace process

Main article: Oslo Accords

Main article: 2000 Camp David Summit

Main article: The Clinton Parameters

Main article: Road map for peace

Main article: Taba Summit

Main article: Arab Peace Initiative

Current status

Main article: Israeli apartheid

See also: Israeli-occupied territories, West Bank § Status, Positions on Jerusalem, and Status of territories captured by Israel

Main article: Israeli settlement

Main article: Military Police Corps (Israel)

See also: Blockade of the Gaza Strip, Gaza War (2008–2009), 2014 Gaza War, and Economy of the Gaza Strip § Israeli policies and their impact

See also: Blockade of the Gaza Strip, Structural abuse, and Structural violence

Main articles: International recognition of the State of Palestine and Palestine and the United Nations

In 2021, Human Rights Watch said that the policies of Israel towards Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza amount to the crime of apartheid. Amnesty International made a similar claim in 2022, but others disagree, and the International Committee of the Red Cross rejects the charge. Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories, which include the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, since the 1967 Six-Day War. In 2024, the International Court of Justice said that this occupation, and Israeli settlements, are illegal under international law, and that Israel should pay full reparations to the Palestinian people. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, but Israel disputes this. As of 2023, about 500,000 Israeli settlers lived in the West Bank and another 200,000 lived in East Jerusalem.

Since 2006, Israel has followed a policy of "separation" between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with strict limits on imports, exports and travel. Critics say this policy weakens Palestinian unity and economic life. After the Hamas led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas on 9 October 2023 and tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Military Advocate General of Israel said that Israel is justified under international law to impose a blockade for security reasons, while the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has described the blockade as collective punishment of the population. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has campaigned for full member status for the state of Palestine at the UN. The UN General Assembly has approved the de facto recognition of Palestine by granting it non-member state status. Both sides have also been criticized for schoolbooks and teaching that encourage hatred of the other side.

Issues in dispute

The main issues in this conflict are the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, security concerns, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and borders. After the PLO recognized Israel's "right to exist" in 1982, most of the world agreed on a way to solve the conflict based on international law. The main exceptions were the United States and Israel. Each year, the UN General Assembly almost unanimously supports a resolution that says the Israeli settlements and the annexation of East Jerusalem are illegal. It also calls for Israel to leave the land it has occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967 and for a fair solution to the refugee problem. Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, which is against international law. Jerusalem is also important to the Abrahamic religions, so its status is a very sensitive question.

Actions taken by one side alone, along with the strong words of hardline political groups and violence, have increased anger and distrust on both sides. Since the talks broke down, security has become less of a focus for Israelis than jobs, housing, and corruption. Israeli policy has shifted toward managing the conflict and the occupation of Palestinian land rather than finding a negotiated solution. Because Israeli settlements keep expanding in the West Bank, most Palestinians believe that Israel wants lasting control over this land rather than a real agreement.

Fatalities

See also: Israeli casualties of war, Palestinian casualties of war, and Gaza genocide

Studies give different totals for people killed in the conflict. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported that 13,000 Israelis and Palestinians were killed between 1948 and 1997, and other estimates give 14,500 between 1948 and 2009. During the 1982 Lebanon War, Israel killed an estimated 20,000 Palestinians and Lebanese, not counting the 800 to 3,500 Palestinians killed in the Sabra-Shatila Massacre. According to B'tselem, 1,551 Palestinians and 421 Israelis lost their lives during the first intifada from 1987 until 2000. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – occupied Palestinian territory (OCHAoPt) counted 6,407 Palestinians and 308 Israelis killed from 2008 to September 2023, before the Gaza war. These counts include civilians and security forces in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel, but they leave out deaths only indirectly linked to the conflict and cases where the circumstances are unclear or disputed. Israel's International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism argued that human rights groups overestimated the share of civilians among the dead. During Operation Cast Lead, there was also disagreement over whether Gazan police were combatants. Because no full record of land mine and explosive remnants of war casualties exists for the Palestinian territories, the United Nations Mine Action Centre has reported its own figures, including 12 people killed and 27 injured since the Gaza War, and the Palestinian National Security Forces lack maps of the minefields.

Between 29 September 2000 and 2010, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reported that 7,454 Palestinians and Israelis were killed. Of the 6,371 Palestinians, 1,317 were minors, and at least 2,996 were not taking part in fighting when they died. Palestinians killed 1,083 Israelis, including 741 civilians. The October 7 attacks in 2023 led to 1,195 deaths among Israelis and foreign nationals, including 815 civilians, and 251 people were taken hostage. In the ensuing Gaza war, more than 71,803 Palestinians in Gaza have been reported as killed, over half of them women and children, and more than 171,500 were injured. A study in The Lancet estimated 64,260 deaths from traumatic injuries by June 2024, and noted that the toll could be higher if "indirect" deaths are included. Israel's tightened blockade of Gaza cut off basic necessities, causing a severe hunger crisis, with a high risk of famine continuing as of May 2025.

Public opinion

For reactions to the Gaza war specifically, see International reactions to the Gaza war § Opinion polling.

Polls show that many people have become less hopeful about peace. In a Pew Research Center poll in June 2025, fewer Israelis believed they could live peacefully with Palestinians, falling from 50% in 2013 to 21% in 2025. Support for a two-state solution also dropped among Palestinians, from 39% in April 2021 to 29% in October 2021, around the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. Among both Israeli Jews and Palestinians, support fell from 53% and 51% in 2016 to 34% and 33% in 2022. A Gallup poll in August 2025 found 33% of people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem supported a two-state solution, compared with 27% in Israel, and only 23% and 21% respectively believed permanent peace is possible.

Opinions in other countries also vary. In a 2016 Gallup poll of Americans, 62% felt more sympathy for Israelis, 15% for Palestinians, and 23% for neither, both, or no opinion. In a 2022 Pew poll, most Americans viewed both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people positively, but they were less positive about the Israeli government and the Palestinian government. A YouGov poll in July 2023, before the Gaza war, found majority support for a two-state solution in every country surveyed. A Gallup poll in July 2025 found that American support for Israel's military conduct in Gaza had dropped from 50% to 32% over 17 months, and a Quinnipiac survey in August 2025 found that at least half of respondents considered Israel's actions in Gaza to be genocide. Across 25 countries in a Pew survey in spring 2025, only Kenya, Nigeria, and India viewed Israel more favorably than unfavorably.