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First Arab-Israeli war
The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 broke out when five Arab nations invaded territory in the former Palestinian mandate immediately following the announcement of the independence of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. -
Arab Refugees
"The Palestinian refugee problem originated as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when five Arab armies invaded the State of Israel just hours after it was established. During the ensuing war, as many as 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their homes in the newly created state.. -
The Armistice Agreement
On 24 February 1949, ten days after the First Knesset was convened for its opening sitting in Jerusalem, Israel signed its first Armistice Agreement, with Egypt, on the island of Rhodes. Its preamble stated that it should constitute a step towards peace. It determined armistice lines which, except in the Gaza Strip, were to coincide with the international boundary of the former Mandatory Territory of Palestine and Egypt... -
Second Arab-Israeli War Erupts
In the early 1950s, Egypt violated the terms of the Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement and blocked Israeli ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a major international waterway. It also began to block traffic through the Straits of Tiran, a narrow passage of water linking the Israeli port of Eilat to the Red Sea. This action effectively cut off the port of Eilat -- Israel's sole outlet to the Red Sea and Indian Ocea -
The Six Day War
In June 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, after Nasser had declared his intention to annihilate the Jewish state and forged military alliances with Syria and Jordan for that purpose, building up troop concentrations along his border with Israel and blockading shipping to the Israeli port of Eilat.
