Council on Foreign Relations — October 3, 2024
Explore the history and important events behind the long-standing Middle East conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians from 1947 to today.
Smoke rises in Gaza following Israeli strikes on October 9, 2023.
Source: Mohammed Salem / Reuters
The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians reflects a long-standing struggle in the region encompassing the land between the Jordan River to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. That conflict has deep historical roots, shaped by statehood claims from the Israelis and the Palestinians that have been supported by various international agendas and activities over time.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back more than a century, with flashpoints building from the United Nations 1947 initial UN Partition Plan to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, to the recent Israel-Hamas war sparked in October 2023.
Despite continued efforts at brokering peace—including the 1979 Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, and the 2020 Abraham Accords—conflict has persisted.
This timeline explores some of the pivotal moments in the conflict from 1947 to today.
November 29, 1947 — UN Partition Plan
The UN General Assembly passes Resolution 181 calling for the partition of the Palestinian territories into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The resolution also envisions an international, UN-run body to administer Jerusalem. The Palestinian territories had been under the military and administrative control of the United Kingdom (known as a mandate) since the 1917 defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Civil strife and violence between the Jewish and Arab communities of the Palestinian territories intensifies.
May 14, 1948 — Israel Declares Independence
Israel declares its independence as the British rule ends. Sparked by Israel's declaration of independence, the first Arab-Israeli War begins. Egypt (supported by Saudi Arabian, Sudanese, and Yemeni troops), Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invade Israel. The fighting continues until 1949, when Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria sign armistice agreements.
December 11, 1948 — UN Addresses Palestinian Displacement
Over the course of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, at least seven hundred thousand Palestinian refugees flee their homes in an exodus known to Palestinians as the nakba (Arabic for catastrophe). Israel wins the war, retaining the territory provided to it by the United Nations and capturing some of the areas designated for the imagined future Palestinian state. Israel gains control of West Jerusalem, Egypt gains the Gaza Strip, and Jordan gains the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its historic Jewish quarter. In 1948, the UN General Assembly passes Resolution 194, which calls for the repatriation of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinians will later point to Resolution 194 as having established a right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The specific parameters of that return are debated in the decades that follow, including among many descendants from the 1948 refugees and the three hundred thousand Palestinians who will flee their homes during the June 1967 war.
June 5-10, 1967 — The Six-Day War
Israel and several of its Arab neighbors fight the Six-Day War. Israel wins a decisive victory: it suffers seven hundred casualties; its adversaries suffer nearly twenty thousand. Israel emerges with control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—areas inhabited primarily by Palestinians—as we'll as all of East Jerusalem. Israel also takes control of Syria's Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula, which is part of Egypt. Israel will stay in the Sinai Peninsula until April 1982.
November 22, 1967 — The UN Security Council Resolution for Israeli Withdrawal
The UN Security Council passes Resolution 242 calling for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in the recent conflict and for the termination of states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of every state in the area and the right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. The resolution establishes the concept of land for peace.
October 3, 1973 — The Yom Kippur War
Another Arab-Israeli war, known variously as the Yom Kippur War, the Ramadan War, and the October War, is fought when Egypt and Syria attempt to retake the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. Cold War tensions spike as the Soviet Union aids Egypt and Syria and the United States aids Israel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries begins an oil embargo on countries that support Israel, and the price of oil skyrockets. The fighting ends after a UN-sponsored cease-fire (negotiated by the United States and the Soviet Union) takes hold. The UN Security Council passes Resolution 338, which calls for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 242.
September 1, 1978 — The Camp David Accords
Israel and Egypt sign the Camp David Accords, which establish a basis for a peace treaty between the two countries. The accords also commit the Israeli and Egyptian governments, along with other parties, to negotiate the disposition of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
March 26, 1979 — Israel Withdraws From the Sinai Peninsula
Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty, the first between Israel and one of its Arab neighbors. The treaty commits Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and evacuate its settlements there. The termination of the state of war between Egypt and Israel leads to the normalization of diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries. Israel's prime minister and Egypt's president exchange letters reaffirming their commitment—outlined in the Camp David Accords—to negotiate the disposition of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
December 1, 1987 — First Intifada
An Israeli driver kills four Palestinians in a car accident that sparks the first intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. The image of Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks becomes the enduring image of the intifada. Over the next six years, roughly 200 Israelis and 1,300 Palestinians are killed.
A Palestinian cleric named Sheikh Ahmed Yassin establishes the militant group Hamas as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas endorses jihad as a way to regain territory for Muslims; the United States designates Hamas a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
July 31, 1988 — Jordan Surrenders Claims on the West Bank and East Jerusalem
King Hussein of Jordan relinquishes his country's claims to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in favor of the claims of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In December of the same year, PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat denounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist, and acknowledges UN Security Council Resolution 242 and the concept of land for peace. The United States responds to Arafat's announcement by beginning direct talks with him, though it suspends the talks following a Palestinian terrorist attack against Israel.
October 30, 1991 — The Madrid Peace Conference
The Madrid Peace Conference begins, sponsored jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union. Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian delegates attend the first negotiations among those parties. The talks proceed along bilateral tracks between Israel and its neighbors, though the Lebanese join the Syrian delegation and the Jordanian team includes Palestinian representatives. A multilateral track includes the wider Arab world and addresses regional issues. The talks last for two years without any breakthroughs.
September 13, 1993 — The Oslo Accords
Secret negotiations in Norway result in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, also known as the Oslo Accords. Before the accords are signed, Israel and the PLO recognize each other in an exchange of letters. Israel and the PLO agree to the creation of the Palestinian Authority to temporarily administer the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Israel also agrees to begin withdrawing from parts of the West Bank, though large swaths of land and Israeli settlements remain under the Israeli military's exclusive control. The Oslo Accords envision a peace agreement by 1999. Palestinian leader Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts on the Oslo Accords.
May 4, 1994 — The Gaza-Jericho Agreement
The Israelis and the Palestinians sign the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, which begins implementation of the Oslo Accords. The agreement provides for an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho, a town in the West Bank, and for a transfer of authority from Israeli administration to the newly formed Palestinian Authority. The agreement also establishes the structure and composition of the Palestinian Authority, its jurisdiction and legislative powers, a Palestinian police force, and relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Arafat returns to the Gaza Strip after a long absence.
October 26, 1994 — Israel and Jordan Sign a Peace Treaty
Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty, settling their territorial dispute and agreeing to future cooperation in sectors such as trade and tourism. This is Israel's second peace treaty with an Arab state. It accords special administrative responsibilities for Jerusalem's Muslim holy places to Jordan.
September 28, 1995 — Oslo II Accord
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators sign the Interim Agreement, sometimes called Oslo II. It gives the Palestinians control over additional areas of the West Bank and defines the security, electoral, public administration, and economic arrangements that will govern those areas until a final peace agreement is reached in 1999.
July 11-25, 2000 — Camp David Summit
President Bill Clinton hosts Israeli and Palestinian leaders for talks at Camp David. Reports indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is prepared to accept, among other things, Palestinian sovereignty over some 91 percent of the West Bank and certain parts of Jerusalem. The deal would include a land swap in which some Israeli land would go to the Palestinians in compensation for the remaining 9 percent of the West Bank, which would go to Israel. Two weeks of intensive discussion, however, fails to produce an agreement. President Clinton blames Arafat for the failure. Before leaving office several months later, Clinton lays out proposals for both sides. Talks between them continue, but without success.
September 28, 2000 — The Second Intifada
Israeli politicians, including Ariel Sharon, a controversial retired Israeli general, visit the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The Palestinians view the visit as an effort to change the status quo at the holy site. The ensuing demonstrations turn violent, marking the beginning of a second intifada. It will last until 2005 and be markedly more violent than the first intifada. Four thousand Palestinians and one thousand Israelis die.
March 27, 2002 — The Passover Massacre
A terrorist attack kills thirty people at a Passover celebration at a hotel in the Israeli city of Netanya. As a result, the Israeli military reoccupies portions of the West Bank, including the city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is located and where Arafat has his West Bank headquarters.
June 23, 2002 — Israeli West Bank Barrier-Building Begins
Israel begins building a security barrier in the West Bank to protect Israeli cities and towns from terrorist attacks. The barrier, which is a wall in some stretches and a fence in others, is controversial because in places it cuts deep into West Bank territory to protect settlements. The Palestinians are cut off from Jerusalem, some Palestinian villages are sliced in half, and some Palestinians are unable to get to work or school as a result of the security barrier's path. Israel's Supreme Court forces changes in the barrier's route, but the barrier continues to impede Palestinian movement and commerce in certain areas.
April 30, 2003 — Road Map for Peace
The Quartet, an informal group created to pursue Middle East peace comprising the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union, puts forth a Road Map for Peace based on the outline President George W. Bush offered in his 2002 speech. The road map lays out a plan for peace based on Palestinian reforms and a cessation of terrorism in return for an end to Israeli settlements and a new Palestinian state.
August 15, 2005 — Israeli Disengagement With Gaza
Israel begins a unilateral withdrawal of settlers and military forces from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military remains in control of Gaza's borders (except the Gaza-Egypt border, which is controlled by Egypt), airspace, and coastline. After Israel's withdrawal, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other smaller militant groups fire rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.
January 29, 2006 — Hamas Expands Power in Gaza
Hamas defeats Fatah, a Palestinian political faction founded in 1950s which was a long-dominant faction within the PLO, in Palestinian elections. The United States and other countries suspend their aid to the Palestinian Authority because they consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization. Fatah and Hamas make a deal to govern the West Bank and Gaza Strip together. The deal quickly fails, and Hamas takes over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
June 25, 2006 — Gilad Shalit Taken Hostage
Hamas operatives kidnap an Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit on Israeli soil near the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military tries and fails to free him. He is held captive in Gaza until Israel—with the help of Egypt and the United States—negotiates his release in 2012.
December 27, 2008 — Israel Attacks the Gaza Strip
Israel attacks the Gaza Strip following nearly eight hundred rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli towns in the months of November and December. The war lasts less than a month but kills hundreds of civilians, in addition to hundreds of combatants, and sparks international criticism.
July 28, 2013 — Negotiations Face Continued Hurdles
Secretary of State John Kerry seeks to restart final status negotiations. The process begins with the Israelis' agreement to release 104 Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinians' agreement not to use their new observer state status at the United Nations to advance the cause of statehood. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority collapsed in April 2014 over such issues as Israeli settlement growth, the status of a final round of prisoners, and Palestinian attempts to join several international organizations.
April 23, 2014 — Tensions Between the PLO and Hamas
The PLO and Hamas sign an agreement to form a unity government. Tensions between the factions remain, however, and no unity government is formed. Gaza and the West Bank remain disconnected and under the control of rival Palestinian leaderships.
July 8 - August 26, 2014 — Operation Protective Edge
After tit-for-tat attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians by extremists on both sides, Israel invades the Gaza Strip. The operation, code-named Protective Edge, lasts for fifty days, killing about two thousand Gazans, sixty-six Israeli soldiers, and five Israeli civilians. Unlike the conflicts from 2008 to 2009 and in 2012, Palestinian rocket fire targets major Israeli cities. The war ends after the United States, in consultation with Egypt, Israel, and other regional powers, brokers a cease-fire.
December 6, 2017 — The U.S. Formally Recognizes Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel
Changing long-standing U.S. policy, U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He also pledges to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to that city, though the move is not set to occur immediately. Numerous foreign leaders, including those of Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, along with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, criticize the policy change. It also sparks protests and violence throughout East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, as we'll as in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Jordan. In January 2018, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declines to meet with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during Pence's trip to the region.
March 25, 2019 — The U.S. Recognizes Israeli Sovereignty Over the Golan Heights
The Trump administration recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel had formally annexed from Syria in 1981. The United States is the first country other than Israel to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territory.
January 28, 2020 — Trump Administration Launches Proposed Peace Plan
Trump unveils his administration's proposed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, crafted by U.S. and Israeli diplomats without Palestinian input. The plan calls for a two-state solution with significant economic aid to the Palestinians. Many analysts criticize the plan as being one-sided, stipulating impossible requirements for Palestinian statehood and paving the way for Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Palestinian authorities reject the plan immediately. Following the plan's announcement, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces Israel's plan to annex portions of the West Bank as outlined in Trump's proposal.
September 15, 2020 — Relations Between Some Arab Countries and Israel Normalize
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates agree to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the first Arab countries to do so in over twenty-five years. In return, Israel announces the suspension of its plans to annex territory in the West Bank. Morocco and Sudan subsequently also sign on to the agreement and normalize relations with Israel.
2021 — Israel-Hamas Crisis
Evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and clashes at al-Aqsa Mosque spark conflict between Israel and Hamas. Over two hundred people in Gaza and at least ten in Israel die. The Joe Biden administration helps mediate a truce and restores some U.S. aid and diplomatic contact with the Palestinians.
2022 — Deadly Year in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israel launches a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank in response to attacks by Palestinians against Jewish Israelis. The operation and resulting resurgence contribute to the deadliest year for both sides since 2005, an uptick in violence that only turned out to rise in 2023.
October 7, 2023 — Hamas Launches Surprise Attack on Israel
Hamas launches an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel, leading to an explosion of violence. According to the Israeli government, the attack kills approximately 1,200 people, many of them civilians. Over 200 people are also taken hostage. The attack is the deadliest in Israel's history. Hamas military leaders justify the attack by citing Israel's long-running blockade on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian lands. Following the attack, Israel launches a deadly counter offensive aiming to eradicate Hamas in Gaza. International bodies, including the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, have since issued investigations into Israeli and Hamas officials for violating international law. Both parties reject these claims.
October 1, 2024 — Israel Expands Operations Into Lebanon, Iran Retaliates
Nearly a year on, peace between the parties remains elusive and the conflict continues to escalate. On October 1, Israeli military forces begin ground operations in Lebanon against the militant group and political party Hezbollah, a group that has expressed support for Hamas in Gaza and enjoys support from Iran. Hezbollah has been exchanging aerial attacks with Israel since October 7. The group says it will continue to attack Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. That ceasefire remains unreachable. After almost a year of fighting, Israel and Hamas are still in conflict. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians. Over 100 Israeli hostages are still held by Hamas. Meanwhile, in support of Hezbollah, Iran launches over 150 ballistic missiles into Israel. Experts increasingly fear these events could lead to an even larger regional war.