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Balfour Declaration
1917, the Balfour Declaration stated Britain's support in a Jewish state being created. -
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Jewish Migration to Palestine
During this time, Nazis had gained an immense amount of power in Germany which forced German Jews to flee. Many went to Palestine and the Jewish population there grew from 17% to over 30% -
Formation of Israel
The World Zionist Organisation announced the establishment of Israel.
Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria all invaded in June 1948 but a counterattack by Israel prevailed and 78% of the total land area was claimed by them. Due to this, over 720,000 Palestinians were displaced.
Later, Jordan controlled the West Bank and Egypt controlled Gaza. -
Israel accepted a UN State
The first country that recognised Israel as a state was the Soviet Union in 1948. Currently, 161 UN states out of the 192 recognise Israel. -
Operation Black Arrow
Ariel Sharon led an Israeli operation against an Egyptian army base near Gaza. Eight Israeli soldiers and over 30 Egyptian soldiers killed and many more were injured.
Egypt felt humiliated and gave Palestinian raids even further support and blocked Israeli trade routes and air traffic through Egypt. This led to retaliation from Israel and eventually was one of the causes of Israel's involvement in Sinai Peninsula Invasion. -
The Six-Day War
In June, Israel went to war against Syria, Egypt and Jordan. This resulted in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights coming under Israeli control.
500,000 more Palestinians were displaced due to this. -
Beginning of Occupation
Israel began to occupy the previously Palestinian land and enforce their own laws. They also formed settlements surrounded by armed guards to push Palestinians to leave the country, therefore, solidifying the movement of a Jewish capital. These settlements have caused a lack of basic resources for Palestinians, Israeli violence directed towards Palestinians and many to have their homes destroyed. -
Munich Massacre
5 Palestinian terrorists, affiliated with the Black September, disguised themselves as athletes and snuck into the Munich Olympic Village. They were then met by 3 more Palestinians and proceeded to the Israeli athletes apartments. They managed to take 11 of the athletes hostage and used them to demand that 200 Arab prisoners be released and they have a passage home. A fight between the German Police and Palestinians began. All 11 Israeli athletes were killed by a surviving terrorist. -
Yom Kippur War
On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Egypt, Syria and a handful of other Arab states launched a surprise attack against Israel in the hopes of taking back territory. Egypt stormed the Sinai Peninsula while Syria took Golan Heights.
Israel managed to recapture Golan Heights and an Israel/Egypt ceasefire was mandated on October 25th. Israel then managed to take more of Golan Heights. -
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The First Intifida
Israeli violence and mistreatment towards Palestinians caused a Palestinian uprising in objection to multiple things including, detentions, house destruction and extrajudicial killings. Although the Intifada lasted 4 years, 332 people (mostly Palestinians) were killed in the first 13 months alone. -
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Oslo Peace Process
In September of 1993, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation acknowledged Israel as a state and Israel acknowledged the PLO as the Palestinian people's representative.
For this, Yitzhak Rabin (Israeli Prime Minister) and Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister) and Yasser Arafat (Palestinian Political Leader) were awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
The Oslo Accords made the Palestinian Authority which gave Palestinians the right of self-governance in the Gaza Strip and some part of the West Bank. -
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Second Intifada
A visit to the Temple Mount by an Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon, sparked the second Intifada. This Intifada is seen as the end of the 1990s negotiations between Israel and Palestine. This one was much more violent as over 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed. -
Separation Wall
A 700km wall around the West Bank has been under construction since 2002. The wall has been said to be for security but a closer look shows that the wall is not on the West Bank border, giving Israel an extra 10% of land.
The wall has also cut off Palestinians from their jobs, health care, schools and farmland. -
Israel Settlement Removal from the Gaza Strip
In 2005, Israel removed all of their settlements from the Gaza Strip. However, Israel still has control of the area due to full control over the airspace, water, services like electricity and water, residency and taxes. They also have control over who and what leaves and comes into the area.
Gaza has been under a military blockade since 2007. -
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Gaza War
The Gaza War happened between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and lasted 3 weeks. Israel stated that they were preventing rocket fire and weapons smuggling.
During those 3 weeks, there were air strikes and ground soldiers from Israel and rockets by Hamas (the Palestinian Islamic Fundamentalist group located in the Gaza Strip).
Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 13 Israelis were killed. -
Israel/Gaza Conflict (Operation Protective Edge)
Operation Protective Edge was an Israeli military operation located in the Gaza Strip that started on July 17th. It lasted seven weeks and was much like the Gaza War in that Israel said it was to prevent rocket attacks from the Hamas ruled Gaza. Over 2,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed due to rocket attacks and ground fighting. Gaza fired over 4,000 rockets and, although many of were intercepted, 224 hit residential area in Gaza itself. A ceasefire was announced on August 16th.
