ArabIsraeli conflict

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"Arab-Israeli War" redirects here. For other uses, see ArabIsraeli War (disambiguation).
ArabIsraeli conflict
Date
Location
Result

Territorial
changes

May 1948present
Main phase: 19481973
Middle East
Ongoing

EgyptIsrael Peace Treaty

Oslo Accords

IsraelJordan peace treaty

UNSC 1701
Israeli occupation of the Sinai
Peninsula (195657; 19671982),West
Bank (1967present), Gaza Strip (1967
2005), Golan Heights(1967present)
and South Lebanon(19822000)

Belligerents
Palestinians:

Israel

AHW (19471949)

Fedayeen (1949
1964)

PLO (19642005)
Gaza
Strip (2005)
Jordan (19481994)
Egypt (19481978)
Iraq (1948)
Syria (1948)
Lebanon (1948)

Hezbollah (1982)

Suez Crisis: (1956)

War of Attrition: (196770)

United
Kingdom

France

Soviet Union

South Lebanon
Conflict:

SLA (1978
2000)

Supported by:[show]

Supported by:[show]

Commanders and leaders

John Bagot

David BenGlubb

Gurion

Habis al-Majali

Chaim
Weizmann

Abd al-Q. alYigael

Husayni

Yadin
Hasan Salama
Yaakov
Dori

Fawzi AlDavid

Qawuqji

Shaltiel

Ahmed Ali alYitzhak

Mwawi

Rabin

Haj Amin AlAriel

Husseini

Sharon

King Farouk I
Ehud Barak
Isser Be'eri
Moshe

Dayan
Yisrael
Galili

Ahmad Ali alMwawi

Muhammad
Naguib
Saad El Shazly

Yigal Allon
Shimon
Avidan
Yitzhak
Pundak
Yisrael
Amir

Casualties and losses

22,570 military deaths[5] 90,785 total Arab deaths[7]
1,723 civilian deaths[6]
Both sides:
74,000 military deaths
18,000 civilian deaths
(19451995)[8]

The ArabIsraeli conflict (Arabic: Al-Sira'a Al'Arabi

A'Israili; Hebrew: - Ha'Sikhsukh Ha'Yisraeli-Aravi) refers to the political
tension and military conflicts between certainArab countries and Israel. The roots of the modern
ArabIsraeli conflict are bound in the rise of Zionism andArab nationalism towards the end of the
19th century. Territory regarded by the Jewish people as their historical homeland is also regarded
by the Pan-Arab movement as historically and presently belonging to the Palestinian Arabs,[9] and in
the Pan-Islamic context, as Muslim lands. The sectarian conflict between Palestinian Jews and
Arabs emerged in the early 20th century, peaking into a full-scale civil war in 1947 and transforming
into the First Arab-Israeli War in May 1948. This followed the Declaration of the Establishment of the
State of Israel by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, who
declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel to be known as the State of Israel.[10]
The conflict has shifted over the years from the large scale regional ArabIsraeli conflict to a more
local IsraeliPalestinian conflict, as large-scale hostilities mostly ended with the cease-fire
agreements, following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Subsequently, peace agreements were signed
between Israel and Egypt in 1979, and Israel and Jordan in 1994. The interim Oslo Accords led to
the creation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, though a final peace agreement has yet to
be reached. A cease-fire currently stands between Israel and Syria, as well as more recently with
Lebanon (since 2006). The conflict between Israel and Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resulted in the
2009 cease fire (although fighting has continued since then) is usually also included as part of the
IsraeliPalestinian conflict and hence the ArabIsraeli conflict. Despite the peace agreements with
Egypt and Jordan and the generally existing cease fire, the Arab world and Israel generally remain at
odds with each other over specific territory, besides other issues.
Contents
[hide]

1 Background

1.1 Religious aspects of the conflict

1.2 National movements

1.3 Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine

1.3.1 First mandate years and the Franco-Syrian war

1.3.2 1929 events

1.3.3 1930s and 1940s

1.4 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

2 History
o

2.1 1948 ArabIsraeli War

2.2 194967

2.3 196773

2.4 19742000

2.4.1 Egypt

2.4.2 Jordan

2.4.3 Iraq

2.4.4 Lebanon

2.4.5 Palestinians

2.5 200009

2.6 2010present

3 Notable wars and violent events

4 Cost of conflict

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links
o

8.1 Government and official sources

8.2 Regional media

8.3 Think tanks and strategic analysis

8.4 Peace proposals

8.5 Maps

8.6 General sources

Background
Religious aspects of the conflict
Some groups opposed to the peace process invoke religious arguments for their uncompromising
positions.[11]The contemporary history of the ArabIsraeli conflict is very much affected by the
religious beliefs of the various sides and their views of the idea of the chosen people in their policies
with regard to the "Promised Land" and the "Chosen City" of Jerusalem.[12]
The Land of Canaan or Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) was, according to the Hebrew
Bible, promised by God to the Children of Israel. This is also mentioned in the Qur'an. In his 1896
manifesto, The Jewish State, Theodor Herzl repeatedly refers to the Biblical Promised Land concept.
[13]
Likud is currently the most prominent Israeli political party to include the Biblical claim to the Land
of Israel in its platform.[14]
Muslims also claim rights to that land in accordance with the Quran.[15] Contrary to the Jewish claim
that this land was promised only to the descendants of Abraham's younger son Isaac, they argue
that the Land of Canaan was promised to what they consider the elder son, Ishmael, from whom
Arabs claim descent.[15] Additionally, Muslims also revere many sites holy for Biblical Israelites, such
as the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Temple Mount. In the past 1,400 years, Muslims have
constructed Islamic landmarks on these ancient Israelite sites, such as the Dome of the Rock and
the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. This has brought the two
groups into conflict over the rightful possession of Jerusalem. Muslim teaching is
that Muhammad passed through Jerusalem on his first journey to heaven. Hamas, which governs
the Gaza Strip, claims that all of the land of Palestine (the current Israeli and Palestinian territories)
is an Islamicwaqf that must be governed by Muslims.[16]
Christian Zionists often support the State of Israel because of the ancestral right of the Jews to the
Holy Land, as suggested, for instance, by Paul in Romans 11. Christian Zionism teaches that the
return of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Christ.[17][18]

National movements
The roots of the modern ArabIsraeli conflict lie in the rise of Zionism and the reactionary Arab
nationalism that arose in response to Zionism towards the end of the 19th century. Territory regarded
by the Jewish people as their historical homeland is also regarded by the Pan-Arab movement as
historically and presently belonging to the Palestinian Arabs. Before World War I, the Middle East,
including Palestine (later Mandatory Palestine), had been under the control of the Ottoman
Empire for nearly 400 years. During the closing years of their empire, the Ottomans began to
espouse their Turkish ethnic identity, asserting the primacy of Turks within the empire, leading to
discrimination against the Arabs.[19] The promise of liberation from the Ottomans led many Jews and

Arabs to support the allied powers during World War I, leading to the emergence of widespread Arab
nationalism. Both Arab nationalism and Zionism had their formulative beginning in Europe. The
Zionist Congress was established in Basel in 1897, while the "Arab Club" was established in Paris in
1906.
In the late 19th century European and Middle Eastern Jewish communities began to increasingly
immigrate to Palestine and purchase land from the local Ottoman landlords. The population of the
late 19th century in Palestine reached 600,000 mostly Muslim Arabs, but also significant minorities
of Jews, Christians, Druze and some Samaritans and Bahai's. At that time, Jerusalem did not extend
beyond the walled area and had a population of only a few tens of thousands. Collective farms,
known as kibbutzim, were established, as was the first entirely Jewish city in modern times, Tel Aviv.
During 191516, as World War I was underway, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry
McMahon, secretly corresponded with Husayn ibn 'Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and
Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina. McMahon convinced Husayn to lead an Arab revolt against
the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war.
McMahon promised that if the Arabs supported Britain in the war, the British government would
support the establishment of an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces
of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. The Arab revolt, led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of
Arabia") and Husayn's son Faysal, was successful in defeating the Ottomans, and Britain took
control over much of this area.

Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine

Main article: Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine
First mandate years and the Franco-Syrian war
In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British forces (including the Jewish Legion). The British
government issued the Balfour Declaration, which stated that the government viewed favorably "the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" but "that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".
The Declaration was issued as a result of the belief of key members of the government, including
Prime Minister David Lloyd George, that Jewish support was essential to winning the war; however,
the declaration caused great disquiet in the Arab world.[20] After the war, the area came under British
rule as the British Mandate of Palestine. The area mandated to the British in 1923 included what is
today Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Transjordan eventually was carved into a separate
British protectorate the Emirate of Transjordan, which gained an autonomous status in 1928 and
achieved complete independence in 1946 with the approval by the United Nations of the end of the
British Mandate.
A major crisis among the Arab nationalists took place with the failed establishment of the Arab
Kingdom of Syria in 1920. With the disastrous outcome of the Franco-Syrian War, the selfproclaimed Hashemite kingdom with its capital in Damascus was defeated and the Hashemite ruler
took refuge in Mandatory Iraq. The crisis saw the first confrontation of nationalist Arab and Jewish
forces, taking place in the Battle of Tel Hai in March 1920, but more importantly the collapse of the
pan-Arabist kingdom led to the establishment of the local Palestinian version of Arab nationalism,
with the return of Haj Amin al-Husseini from Damascus to Jerusalem in late 1920.
At this point in time Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine continued, while to some opinions a
similar, but less documented, immigration also took place in the Arab sector, bringing workers from
Syria and other neighbouring areas. Palestinian Arabs saw this rapid influx of Jewish immigrants as
a threat to their homeland and their identity as a people. Moreover, Jewish policies of purchasing
land and prohibiting the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned industries and farms greatly angered
the Palestinian Arab communities.[21][verification needed] Demonstrations were held as early as 1920, protesting
what the Arabs felt were unfair preferences for the Jewish immigrants set forth by the British
mandate that governed Palestine at the time. This resentment led to outbreaks of violence later that

year, as the al-Husseini incited riots broke out in Jerusalem. Winston Churchill's 1922 White
Paper tried to reassure the Arab population, denying that the creation of a Jewish state was the
intention of the Balfour Declaration.
1929 events
In 1929, after a demonstration by Vladimir Jabotinsky's political group Betar at the Western Wall,
riots started in Jerusalem and expanded throughout Mandatory Palestine; Arabs murdered 67 Jews
in the city of Hebron, in what became known as the Hebron massacre.

A Jewish bus equipped with wire screens to protect against rock, glass, and grenade throwing, late 1930s

During the week of the 1929 riots, at least 116 Arabs and 133 Jews [22] were killed and 339 wounded.
[23]

1930s and 1940s

By 1931, 17 percent of the population of Mandatory Palestine were Jews, an increase of six percent
since 1922.[24] Jewish immigration peaked soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany, causing
the Jewish population in British Palestine to double. [25]
In the mid-1930s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam arrived from Syria and established the Black Hand, an antiZionist and anti-British militant organization. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants
and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. The cells were equipped with bombs and
firearms, which they used to kill Jewish settlers in the area, as well as engaging in a campaign of
vandalism of Jewish settler plantations.[26] By 1936, escalating tensions led to the 193639 Arab
revolt in Palestine.[27]
In response to Arab pressure,[28] the British Mandate authorities greatly reduced the number of
Jewish immigrants to Palestine (see White Paper of 1939 and theSS Exodus). These restrictions
remained in place until the end of the mandate, a period which coincided with the
Nazi Holocaust and the flight of Jewish refugeesfrom Europe. As a consequence, most Jewish
entrants to Mandatory Palestine were considered illegal (see Aliyah Bet), causing further tensions in
the region. Following several failed attempts to solve the problem diplomatically, the British asked
the newly formed United Nations for help. On May 15, 1947, the General Assembly appointed a
committee, the UNSCOP, composed of representatives from eleven states.[29] To make the
committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented. [30] After five weeks of incountry study, the Committee reported to the General Assembly on September 3, 1947. [31] The
Report contained a majority and a minority plan. The majority proposed a Plan of Partition with
Economic Union. The minority proposed The Independent State of Palestine. With only slight
modifications, the Plan of Partition with Economic Union was the one the adoption and
implementation of which was recommended in resolution 181(II) of November 29, 1947.[32] The
Resolution was adopted by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. All six Arab states who were UNmembers voted against it. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to
control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides. [33]

Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

Main article: 194748 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

Boundaries defined in the UN partition plan of 1947:

Area assigned for a Jewish state;
Area assigned for an Arab state;
Corpus separatum of Jerusalem (neither Jewish nor Arab).

Armistice Demarcation Lines of 1949:

Arab territory until 1967;
Israel

In the weeks prior to the end of the Mandate the Haganah launched a number of offensives in which
they gained control over all the territory allocated by the UN to the Jewish State, creating a large
number of refugees and capturing the towns of Tiberias, Haifa,Safad, Beisan and, in effect, Jaffa.
Early in 1948, the United Kingdom announced its firm intention to terminate its mandate in Palestine
on May 14.[34] In response, U.S. President Harry S. Truman made a statement on March 25
proposing UN trusteeship rather than partition, stating that "unfortunately, it has become clear that
the partition plan cannot be carried out at this time by peaceful means. ... unless emergency action
is taken, there will be no public authority in Palestine on that date capable of preserving law and

order. Violence and bloodshed will descend upon the Holy Land. Large-scale fighting among the
people of that country will be the inevitable result."[35]

History
Main article: History of the ArabIsraeli conflict

1948 ArabIsraeli War

Main article: 1948 ArabIsraeli War
On May 14, 1948, the day on which the British Mandate over Palestine expired, the Jewish People's
Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved a proclamation which declared the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.[36] There were no
mention of the borders of the new state other than that it was in Eretz Israel. In an official cablegram
from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the UN Secretary-General on May 15,
1948, the Arab stated publicly that Arab Governments found "themselves compelled to intervene for
the sole purpose of restoring peace and security and establishing law and order in Palestine."
(Clause 10(e)). Further in Clause 10(e) "The Governments of the Arab States hereby confirm at
this stage the view that had been repeatedly declared by them on previous occasions, such as the
London Conference and before the United Nations mainly, the only fair and just solution to the
problem of Palestine is the creation of United State of Palestine based upon the democratic
principles ..."
That day, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq invaded/intervened in what had just
ceased to be the British Mandate, marking the beginning of the 1948 ArabIsraeli War. The
nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus
extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition.[37] By December 1948, Israel controlled
most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate
consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and
the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Prior to and during this conflict, 713,000 [38] Palestinian Arabs
fled their original lands to become Palestinian refugees, in part, due to a promise from Arab leaders
that they would be able to return when the war had been won, and also in part due to attacks on
Palestinian villages and towns by Israeli forces and Jewish militant groups. [39] Many Palestinians fled
from the areas that are now present-day Israel as a response to massacres of Arab towns by militant
Jewish organizations like the Irgun and the Stern Gang (See Deir Yassin massacre). The War came
to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and each of its Arab
neighbours.
Before the adoption by the United Nations of Resolution 181 in November 1947 and the declaration
of the State of Israel in May 1948, several Arab countries adopted discriminatory measures against
their local Jewish populations. The status of Jewish citizens in Arab states worsened dramatically
during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. Major anti-Jewish riots erupted throughout the Arab World in
December 1947, and Jewish communities were hit particularly hard in Syria and Aden, with
hundreds of dead and injured. By mid-1948, almost all Jewish communities in Arab states had
suffered attacks and their status deteriorated. Jews under Islamic regimes were uprooted from their
longtime residency or became political hostages of the ArabIsraeli conflict. As a result, a large
number of Jews fled or were forced to emigrate from Arab countries and other Muslim countries as
well. Anti-Jewish violence and persecution initiated the first waves of exodus, with many following.
In Libya, Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. [40] Egypt expelled
most of its Jewish community in 1956, while Algeria denied its Jews of citizenship, upon its
independence in 1962. The majority were fleeing due to worsening political conditions, although
some emigrated for ideological reasons.[41]

194967

As a result of Israel's victory in the 1948 ArabIsraeli War, any Arabs caught on the wrong side of the
ceasefire line were unable to return to their homes in what became Israel. Likewise, any Jews on the
West Bank or in Gaza were exiled from their property and homes to Israel. Today's Palestinian
refugees are the descendants of those who left, the responsibility for their exodus being a matter of
dispute between the Israeli and the Palestinian side.[42][43] Over 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel
between 1948 and 1952, with approximately 285,000 of them from Arab countries. [44][41]
In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, in
contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation
of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.[45][46] On July 26, 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal
Company, and closed the canal to Israeli shipping.[47] Israel responded on October 29, 1956, by
invading the Sinai Peninsula with British and French support. During the Suez Crisis, Israel captured
the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into
a ceasefire.[47][48] Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of
navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The United Nations Emergency
Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization. [49] The UNEF was only
deployed on the Egyptian side of the border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory.[50]
Israel completed work on a national water carrier, a huge engineering project designed to transfer
Israel's allocation of the Jordan river's waters towards the south of the country in realization of BenGurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the Negev desert. The Arabs responded by trying to
divert the headwaters of the Jordan, leading to growing conflict between Israel and Syria.[51]
The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was first established in 1964, under a charter
including a commitment to "[t]he liberation of Palestine [which] will destroy the Zionist and imperialist
presence..." (PLO Charter, Article 22, 1968).
On May 19, 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers,[52] and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai
Peninsula.[53] It again closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping,[54][55] returning the region to the way
it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded.
On May 30, 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized Sinai units,
crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on
Israel's southern border. On June 5, Israel launched an attack on Egypt. The Israeli Air Force (IAF)
destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the
Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces.[56] This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in
the Six-Day War.[53][55] At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza
Strip, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Shebaa farms, and the Golan Heights. The results
of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.

196773

Egyptian forces crossing the Suez Canal on October 7, 1973

At the end of August 1967, Arab leaders met in Khartoum in response to the war, to discuss the Arab
position toward Israel. They reached consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace, and
no negotiations with the State of Israel, the so-called "three no's". [57]

In 1969, Egypt initiated the War of Attrition, with the goal of exhausting Israel into surrendering the
Sinai Peninsula.[58] The war ended following Gamal Abdel Nasser's death in 1970.
On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt staged a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest
day of the Jewish calendar. The Israeli military were caught off guard and unprepared, and took
about three days to fully mobilize.[59][60] This led other Arab states to send troops to reinforce the
Egyptians and Syrians. In addition, these Arab countries agreed to enforce an oil embargo on
industrial nations including the U.S, Japan and Western European Countries. These OPEC countries
increased the price of oil fourfold, and used it as a political weapon to gain support against Israel.
[61]
The Yom Kippur War accommodated indirect confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union.
When Israel had turned the tide of war, the USSR threatened military intervention. The United
States, wary of nuclear war, secured a ceasefire on October 25.[59][60]

19742000
Egypt
Further information: EgyptIsrael relations

Begin, Carter and Sadat at Camp David

Following the Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in
March 1979. Under its terms, the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip
remained under Israeli control, to be included in a futurePalestinian state. The agreement also
provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Straits
of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways.
Jordan
Further information: IsraelJordan relations
In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement, which stipulated mutual cooperation,
an end of hostilities, the fixing of the Israel-Jordan border, and a resolution of other issues. The
conflict between them had cost roughly 18.3 billion dollars. Its signing is also closely linked with the
efforts to create peace between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representing
the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It was signed at the southern border crossing of Arabah on
October 26, 1994 and made Jordan only the second Arab country (after Egypt) to sign a peace
accord with Israel.
Iraq
Further information: IraqIsrael relations
Israel and Iraq have been implacable foes since 1948. Iraq sent its troops to participate in the 1948
ArabIsraeli War, and later backed Egypt and Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and in the 1973 Yom
Kippur War.
In June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed newly built Iraqi nuclear facilities in Operation Opera.
During the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel, in the hopes of uniting the Arab
world against the coalition which sought to liberate Kuwait. At the behest of the United States, Israel
did not respond to this attack in order to prevent a greater outbreak of war.

Lebanon
Further information: IsraeliLebanese conflict, IsraelLebanon relations and Palestinian insurgency
in South Lebanon
In 1970, following an extended civil war, King Hussein expelled the Palestine Liberation
Organization from Jordan. September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and
sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King
Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the autonomy of Palestinian organisations and restore his
monarchy's rule over the country.[62] The violence resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of
people, the vast majority Palestinians.[63] Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with the expulsion of
the PLO and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon. The PLO resettled in Lebanon, from
which it staged raids into Israel. In 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani, in which it together with
the South Lebanon Army forced the PLO to retreat north of the Litani river. In 1981 another conflict
between Israel and the PLO broke out, which ended with a ceasefire agreement that did not solve
the core of the conflict. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. Within two months the PLO agreed to
withdraw thence.
In March 1983, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement. However, Syria pressured
President Amine Gemayel into nullifying the truce in March 1984. By 1985, Israeli forces withdrew to
a 15 km wide southern strip of Lebanon, following which the conflict continued on a lower scale, with
relatively low casualties on both sides. In 1993 and 1996, Israel launched major operations against
the Shiite militia of Hezbollah, which had become an emergent threat. In May 2000, the newly
elected government of Ehud Barak authorized a withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, fulfilling an
election promise to do so well ahead of a declared deadline. The hasty withdrawal lead to the
immediate collapse of the South Lebanon Army, and many members either got arrested or fled to
Israel.
In 2006, as a response to a Hezbollah cross-border raid, Israel launched air strikes on Hezbollah
strongholds in Southern Lebanon, starting the 2006 Lebanon War. The inconclusive war lasted for
34 days, and resulted in the creation of a buffer zone in Southern Lebanon and the deployment of
Lebanese troops south of the Litani river for the first time since the 1960s. The Israeli government
under Ehud Olmert was harshly criticized for its handling of the war in the Winograd Commission.
Palestinians
Further information: IsraeliPalestinian conflict
The 1970s were marked by a large number of major, international terrorist attacks, including the Lod
Airport massacre and the Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972, and the Entebbe Hostage Taking in
1976, with over 100 Jewish hostages of different nationalities kidnapped and held in Uganda.
In December 1987, the First Intifada began. The First Intifada was a mass Palestinian uprising
against Israeli rule in the Palestinian territories.[64] The rebellion began in the Jabalia refugee camp
and quickly spread throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian actions ranged from civil
disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti and
barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the Israel
Defense Forces brought the Intifada international attention. The Israeli army's heavy handed
response to the demonstrations, with live ammunition, beatings and mass arrests, brought
international condemnation. The PLO, which until then had never been recognised as the leaders of
the Palestinian people by Israel, was invited to peace negotiations the following year, after it
recognized Israel and renounced terrorism.

Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, andYasser Arafat at the Oslo Accords signing ceremony on September 13, 1993

In mid-1993, Israeli and Palestinian representatives engaged in peace talks in Oslo, Norway. As a
result, in September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, known as the Declaration of
Principles or Oslo I; in side letters, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced
terrorism, violence and its desire for the destruction of Israel.
The Oslo II agreement was signed in 1995 and detailed the division of the West Bank into Areas A,
B, and C. Area A was land under full Palestinian civilian control. In Area A, Palestinians were also
responsible for internal security. The Oslo agreements remain important documents in IsraeliPalestinian relations.

200009
The Second Intifada forced Israel to rethink its relationship and policies towards the Palestinians.
Following a series of suicide bombings and attacks, the Israeli army launched Operation Defensive
Shield. It was the largest military operation conducted by Israel since the Six-Day War.[65]
As violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants intensified, Israel expanded its
security apparatus around the West Bank by re-taking many parts of land in Area A. Israel
established a complicated system of roadblocks and checkpoints around major Palestinian areas to
deter violence and protect Israeli settlements. However, since 2008, the IDF has slowly transferred
authority to Palestinian security forces.[66][67][68]
Israel's then prime minister Ariel Sharon began a policy of disengagement from Gaza from the Gaza
Strip in 2003. This policy was fully implemented in August 2005.[69] Sharon's announcement to
disengage from Gaza came as a tremendous shock to his critics both on the left and on the right. A
year previously, he had commented that the fate of the most far-flung settlements in Gaza,
Netzararem and Kfar Darom, was regarded in the same light as that of Tel Aviv.[70] The formal
announcements to evacuate seventeen Gaza settlements and another four in the West Bank in
February 2004 represented the first reversal for the settler movement since 1968. It divided his party.
It was strongly supported by Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, the Minister
for Immigration and Absorption, but Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu strongly condemned it. It was also uncertain whether this was simply the beginning of
further evacuation.[71]

Aftermath of the Sbarro pizza restaurant suicide bombing. 15 Israeli civilians were killed and more than 130 wounded
in the attack.

On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist was crushed to death by an Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, during a non-violent protest of the Israeli demolition
of Palestinian homes.[72] Corrie stood in confrontation with the bulldozers for three hours wearing a
bright orange jacket and carrying a megaphone.[72] Although the Israeli government has denied
responsibility in the incident and ruled her death as an accident, several eye-witness reports say that
the Israeli soldier operating the bulldozer deliberately ran her over.[72][73]
In June 2006, Hamas militants infiltrated an army post near the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip and
abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack, while Shalit was
wounded after his tank was hit with an RPG. Three days later Israel launched Operation Summer
Rains to secure the release of Shalit.[74] He was held hostage by Hamas, who barred the International
Red Cross from seeing him, until October 18, 2011, when he was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian
prisoners.[75][76]
In July 2006, Hezbollah fighters crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel, attacked and killed
eight Israeli soldiers, and abducted two others as hostages, setting off the 2006 Lebanon War which
caused much destruction in Lebanon.[77] A UN-sponsored ceasefire went into effect on August 14,
2006, officially ending the conflict.[78] The conflict killed over a thousand Lebanese and over 150
Israelis,[79][80][81][82][83][84][85] severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure, and displaced approximately
one million Lebanese[86] and 300,000500,000 Israelis, although most were able to return to their
homes.[87][88][89] After the ceasefire, some parts of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due
to Israeli unexploded cluster bomblets.[90]
In the aftermath of the Battle of Gaza, where Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a violent civil
war with rival Fatah, Israel placed restrictions on its border with Gaza borders and ended economic
cooperation with the Palestinian leadership based there. Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade
of the Gaza Strip since 2007. Israel maintains the blockade is necessary to limit Palestinian rocket
attacks from Gaza and to prevent Hamas from smuggling advanced rockets and weapons capable
of hitting its cities.[72]
On September 6, 2007, in Operation Orchard, Israel bombed an eastern Syrian complex which was
allegedly a nuclear reactor being built with assistance from North Korea.[91] Israel had also
bombed Syria in 2003.
In April 2008, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had
been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May
2008 by a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of
the Golan Heights is being discussed. President Assad said "there would be no direct negotiations
with Israel until a new US president takes office."[92]
Speaking in Jerusalem on August 26, 2008, then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice criticized Israel's increased settlement construction in the West Bank as detrimental to the
peace process. Rice's comments came amid reports that Israeli construction in the disputed territory
had increased by a factor of 1.8 over 2007 levels.[93]
A fragile six-month truce between Hamas and Israel expired on December 19, 2008;[94] attempts at
extending the truce failed amid accusations of breaches from both sides. [95][96][97][98] Following the
expiration, Israel launched a raid on a tunnel suspected of being used to kidnap Israeli soldiers
which killed several Hamas fighters.[99] Following this, Hamas resumed rocket and mortar attacks on
Israeli cities, most notably firing over 60 rockets on December 24. On December 27, 2008, Israel
launched Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Numerous human rights organizations accused
Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes.[100]

In 2009 Israel placed a 10-month settlement freeze on the West Bank. Hillary Clinton praised the
freeze as an "unprecedented" gesture that could "help revive Middle East talks." [101][102]
A raid was carried out by Israeli naval forces on six ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May 2010.
[103]
after the ships refused to dock at Port Ashdod. On the MVMavi Marmara, activists clashed with
the Israeli boarding party. During the fighting, nine activists were killed by Israeli special forces.
Widespread international condemnation of and reaction to the raid followed, IsraelTurkey relations
were strained, and Israel subsequently eased its blockade on the Gaza Strip. [104][105][106][107] Several
dozen other passengers and seven Israeli soldiers were injured,[105] with some of the commandos
suffering from gunshot wounds.[108][109]

2010present
Following the latest round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, 13 Palestinian
militant movements led by Hamas initiated a terror campaigndesigned to derail and disrupt the
negotiations.[110] Attacks on Israelis have increased since August 2010, after 4 Israeli civilians were
killed by Hamas militants. Palestinian militants have increased the frequency of rocket attacks aimed
at Israelis. On August 2, Hamas militants launched seven Katyusha rockets at Eilat andAqaba, killing
one Jordanian civilian and wounding 4 others.[111]
Intermittent fighting continued since then, including 680 rocket attacks on Israel in 2011. [112] On
November 14, 2012, Israel killed Ahmed Jabari, a leader of Hamas's military wing,
launching Operation Pillar of Cloud.[113] Hamas and Israel agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire
on November 21.[114]
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said that 158 Palestinians were killed during the operation,
of which: 102 were civilians, 55 were militants and one was a policeman; 30 were children and 13
were women.[115][116] B'Tselem stated that according to its initial findings, which covered only the period
between 14 and 19 November, 102 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip, 40 of them civilians.
According to Israeli figures, 120 combatants and 57 civilians were killed. [117]International outcry
ensued, with many criticizing Israel for what much of the international community perceived as a
disproportionately violent response.[118] Protests took place on hundreds of college campuses across
the U.S., and in front of the Israeli consulate in New York.[119] Additional protests took place
throughout the Middle East, throughout Europe, and in parts of South America. [119]
However, the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France,
Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Netherlands expressed support for Israel's right to
defend itself, and/or condemned the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.[120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130]

Notable wars and violent events

Time

Name

19481949

First ArabIsraeli War

19511955

Reprisal operations

1956

Suez War

Time

Name

1967

The Six-Day War

19671970

War of Attrition

19711982

Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon

1973

Yom Kippur War

1978

First South Lebanon conflict

1982

First Lebanon War

19852000

Second South Lebanon conflict

19871993

First Intifada

20002004

Second Intifada

Operation Summer Rains

2006
Second Lebanon War

20082009

Gaza War

2012

Operation Pillar of Defense

2014

2014 IsraelGaza conflict

Cost of conflict
See also: Arab League boycott of Israel
A report by Strategic Foresight Group has estimated the opportunity cost of conflict for the Middle
East from 19912010 at $12 trillion. The report's opportunity cost calculates the peace GDP of
countries in the Middle East by comparing the current GDP to the potential GDP in times of peace.
Israel's share is almost $1 trillion, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia having approximately $2.2 and $4.5
trillion, respectively. In other words, had there been peace and cooperation between Israel and Arab
League nations since 1991, the average Israeli citizen would be earning over $44,000 instead of
$23,000 in 2010.[131]
In terms of the human cost, it is estimated that the conflict has taken 92,000 lives (74,000 military
and 18,000 civilian from 1945 to 1995).[8]