From Balfour to Today: Exploring the Origins of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

One particular year holds paramount significance in comprehending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 1948, the Jewish people achieved the seemingly implausible realization of their statehood, while Palestinians endured the massive exodus known as the Nakba, or catastrophe. These events are indelibly etched into the collective memories of both communities, often viewed in starkly contrasting perspectives, continuing to exert profound influence on their trajectories.

If 1948 marked the commencement of a new era, it also signalled the conclusion of another — the post-World War I period when Western powers partitioned the Middle East, sowing the seeds of conflict through a series of decisions. To fathom the persistent confrontations, an exploration of the intricacies leading up to 1948 is imperative. This historical journey could commence at various junctures; we have chosen 1920, the establishment of the British mandate for Palestine, as the starting point.

Over subsequent decades, two nationalistic movements — Palestinian and Jewish — took root in the same territory, initiating a competition that has remained irreconcilable. The Arab population sought the universal aspiration of self-determination, while the increasing influx of Jewish immigrants yearned for a refuge in their ancient homeland, an attainment rarely realized by persecuted minorities.

Tracing back to ancient times, a primary source traces the existence of a people called Israel to at least 1200 B.C. In 538 B.C., Jews constructed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The Romans, in 70 A.D., seized the city, causing extensive destruction, and prompting Jewish migration. By 400 A.D., Christians became the majority, and in 638 A.D., Muslims conquered Jerusalem in response to global threats and hostility.

During the British mandate era, pivotal decisions by Jews, Palestinians, as well as Western and Arab powers laid the groundwork for the current state of suffering and unresolved tensions. Along this historical trajectory, numerous opportunities arose for events to unfold differently.

Israel's military operation in Gaza has resulted in the death of more than 29,000 Palestinians as of February 19, according to the territory's Health Ministry. This grim milestone marks one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to continue the offensive until achieving "total victory" against Hamas, prompted by the militants' attack on Israeli communities on October 7. Netanyahu and the military have announced plans to move troops into the southernmost town of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, where over half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge from the ongoing conflict.

The conflict began when Hamas-led militants entered southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, resulting in the death of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants also took around 250 men, women, and children hostage. Following exchanges for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in November, approximately 130 individuals remain captive, with a fourth of them presumed dead.

Despite decades of characterization by Western media, academics, military experts, and world leaders as an intractable, complicated, and deadlocked conflict, here is a straightforward guide to understanding one of the world's longest-running conflicts.

The Balfour Declaration, issued on November 2, 1917, was a letter written by Britain's then-foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a prominent figure in the British Jewish community. Despite its brevity, comprising only 67 words, the declaration had profound and lasting implications for Palestine. It committed the British government to support "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" and to facilitate the realization of this objective. This historic letter is widely known as the Balfour Declaration. Notably, it involved a European power promising land to the Zionist movement in a region where Palestinian Arab natives constituted more than 90 per cent of the population.

Following the Balfour Declaration, a British Mandate was established in 1923 and endured until 1948. During this period, the British facilitated significant Jewish immigration, with many newcomers fleeing Nazism in Europe. However, these actions were met with protests and strikes from the Palestinian population, who were alarmed by the demographic changes in their country and the confiscation of their lands for the benefit of Jewish settlers.

The tensions reached a critical point in the 1930s, leading to the Arab Revolt from 1936 to 1939. In April 1936, the Arab National Committee called for a general strike, withholding tax payments, and boycotting Jewish products as a protest against British colonialism and increasing Jewish immigration. The British responded with a harsh crackdown, conducting mass arrests, punitive home demolitions, and other repressive measures, some of which are echoed in present-day Israeli practices against Palestinians.

The second phase of the revolt, starting in late 1937, was led by the Palestinian peasant resistance movement, targeting British forces and colonialism. As tensions escalated, Britain deployed 30,000 troops to Palestine, initiating bombings, imposing curfews, demolishing homes, and engaging in widespread administrative detentions and summary killings. Concurrently, the British collaborated with the Jewish settler community, forming armed groups like the Special Night Squads. This period saw the expansion of the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary group that later became the core of the Israeli army. Over the course of the three-year revolt, 5,000 Palestinians were killed, 15,000 to 20,000 were wounded, and 5,600 were imprisoned.

In 1947, with the Jewish population in Palestine reaching 33 per cent but owning only 6 per cent of the land, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181. This resolution proposed the partition of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states. However, the plan was met with rejection by the Palestinians because it allocated approximately 55 per cent of Palestine to the Jewish state, encompassing a significant portion of the fertile coastal region. At the time, Palestinians owned 94 per cent of historic Palestine and constituted 67 per cent of its population.

As the British Mandate was set to expire on May 14, 1948, Zionist paramilitaries initiated military operations before the deadline, aiming to destroy Palestinian towns and villages to expand the borders of the future Zionist state. The village of Deir Yassin, near Jerusalem, witnessed a tragic event in April 1948, where over 100 Palestinian men, women, and children were killed by Zionist paramilitaries. This incident set the tone for a broader military campaign from 1947 to 1949, resulting in the destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages, towns, and cities during what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or "catastrophe" in Arabic. Approximately 15,000 Palestinians lost their lives, including in numerous massacres.

The Zionist movement gained control of 78 per cent of historic Palestine, leaving the remaining 22 per cent divided into the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes, and today, their descendants, numbering around six million, live as refugees in 58 camps throughout Palestine and neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. On May 15, 1948, Israel officially declared its establishment, sparking the first Arab-Israeli war the following day. The conflict concluded in January 1949 with an armistice between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. In December 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194, emphasizing the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Post-Nakba, at least 150,000 Palestinians remained in the newly formed state of Israel, living under a tightly controlled military occupation for nearly two decades before eventually being granted Israeli citizenship. The Gaza Strip came under Egyptian control, while Jordan assumed administrative rule over the West Bank. In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was established, and a year later, the Fatah political party emerged.

The Naksa, also known as the Six-Day War, occurred on June 5, 1967, when Israel occupied the remaining territories of historic Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. This event led to a second forced displacement for some Palestinians, referred to as Naksa, meaning "setback" in Arabic.

Following the Six-Day War, in December 1967, the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was formed. Over the next decade, leftist groups carried out a series of attacks and plane hijackings, drawing global attention to the Palestinian cause. Settlement construction began in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, establishing a two-tier system where Jewish settlers enjoyed full rights as Israeli citizens, while Palestinians lived under a discriminatory military occupation restricting political and civic expression.

The first Palestinian Intifada erupted in December 1987, starting in the Gaza Strip and spreading to the West Bank. Triggered by the death of four Palestinians in a collision with an Israeli truck, the protests included stone-throwing at Israeli army tanks and soldiers. The Intifada led to the formation of the Hamas movement and was marked by the Israeli army's harsh response, including the "Break their Bones" policy.

The Oslo Accords in 1993 ended the Intifada, establishing the Palestinian Authority (PA) with limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The PA recognized Israel based on a two-state solution but faced criticism for perceived collaboration with the Israeli military and failure to establish an independent state. In 1995, Israel erected a fence and concrete wall around the Gaza Strip, further dividing the Palestinian territories.

The second Intifada began on September 28, 2000, following a provocative visit by Likud opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Clashes erupted, leading to a widespread armed uprising. During this period, Israel caused significant damage to the Palestinian economy and infrastructure, reoccupied areas governed by the Palestinian Authority, and initiated the construction of a separation wall. The illegal settlements, along with settler-only roads and infrastructure, have shrunk the space for Palestinians, resembling the apartheid-era bantustans in South Africa.

Settlements, which are illegal under international law, have seen a substantial increase, with over 700,000 Jewish settlers living on more than 100,000 hectares of land expropriated from Palestinians.

Following the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, the second Intifada ended, and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled. In the subsequent general election, Hamas won a majority, leading to a Fatah-Hamas civil war. Fatah retained control of parts of the West Bank, while Hamas expelled Fatah from the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007, restricting land, air, and naval access.

Israel has launched four military assaults on Gaza since 2008, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, including many civilians and children. The wars have left extensive destruction, making rebuilding difficult due to the blockade preventing essential construction materials from reaching Gaza. The 2014 assault, known as Operation Protective Edge, saw over 2,100 Palestinians killed, 1,462 of whom were civilians, and caused widespread displacement and destruction.