The Background of the Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict

 

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is not a new one. There have been armed clashes in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2022. From Israel's perspective, the current conflict needs to be appropriately solved to prevent future clashes with Hamas are inevitable in the future.

 

To understand the immediate background of this conflict, we need to look back about a century for a broader perspective.

 

The Ottoman Empire had ruled the region of Palestine for 400 years, but following their defeat in World War I, the British took control of the area. In their quest for support and assistance during the war, the British made dual promises to the Arabs and the Jews regarding the establishment of national entities in Palestine.

 

After World War II, the British handed this issue over to the international community. In 1947, the international community decided to partition the Palestine region and establish two states.

 

The Jews accepted this decision and declared the establishment of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948. However, the Arabs chose to wage a war instead of creating a Palestinian state in the allocated land, driving around 600,000 Jews into the Mediterranean Sea. The record marked the beginning of the First Arab-Israeli War.

 

However, the Arabs were not victorious in this war. Palestinian refugees began to emerge, and the Palestinian region came under Jordanian rule. In 1956, the Second Arab-Israeli War, known as the Suez Crisis, occurred, and in 1967, the Third Arab-Israeli War, also called the Six-Day War, took place.

 

Israel, preparing for an attack by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, launched a preemptive strike and achieved victory in just six days. They reclaimed East Jerusalem and occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which we hear about in the news today.

 

In 1973, the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, known as the Yom Kippur War, occurred. Israel suffered significant losses initially due to surprise attacks by Egypt and Syria. However, Israel miraculously emerged victorious despite the brutal battle. Later, in 1982, the Lebanon War took place.

 

By 1987, significant changes took place in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank initiated the Intifada (uprising) after 20 years of Israeli military rule.

 

This Intifada resulted in casualties on both sides. Around the same time, significant transformations occurred in Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the Middle East, Iraq's occupation of Kuwait led to the Gulf War. The United States, which had been in competition with the Soviet Union for influence in the Middle East over oil interests, saw this as an opportunity to solidify its hegemony in the region.

 

One significant obstacle remained—the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The United States pushed both sides to the negotiation table. Talks that began in Madrid in 1991 led to the Oslo Accords in 1993. Israeli and Palestinian leaders received the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

The plan was establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 1998. However, the Oslo Accords did not progress as planned. Palestinians demanded all of the territory initially designated for Palestine by the international community in 1947. Israel, having experienced several Middle Eastern wars with attempts to destroy the state, insisted on territorial concessions to ensure its survival and security.

 

The issue of Jewish settlements within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were already present, added to the complexities. During the negotiations, a citizen of Israel assassinated the Israeli leader who championed the peace agreement.

 

The United States made significant efforts to revive the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. In 2000, a U.S. president invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Camp David to pressure them to conclude negotiations and sign a final agreement.

 

With a sense that the opportunity for peace between Israel and Palestine was slipping away, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered maximum concessions. However, both sides could not move forward, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem.

 

When Yasser Arafat left the negotiations, refusing to be one in history as the Palestinian leader who gave up on Jerusalem, the last attempt at Israeli-Palestinian negotiations failed.

 

Following this failed negotiation, Israel saw the rise of a hardline right-wing government, and disillusioned Palestinian citizens initiated a second Intifada.

 

Over the next three years, hundreds of terror attacks, including suicide bombings, occurred within Israeli territory. Thousands of Israeli citizens and Palestinians lost their lives, and many more were injured.

 

The Ariel Sharon government built a security barrier to prevent Palestinians who engaged in acts of terror from entering Israeli territory. In 2005, Israel withdrew from Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and sealed it off.

 

In the closed-off Gaza Strip, Hamas, which did not recognize Israel as a state, took control in 2006. From that point on, Hamas started launching rockets and projectiles toward Israel. In response, Israel developed and deployed the Iron Dome missile defense system.

 

This recent war is the first in Israel's 75-year history since its establishment. The West Bank and Gaza Strip for 56 years. In many ways, the time leading up to the recent conflict is a tragedy by ongoing strife and tension between Israel and Palestine.

 

The 2023 Israel-Hamas terror attacks and Israeli retaliation are among the most intense conflicts to have occurred over the past 75 years. 

 

This article is indebted to a Korean memo by a  missionary to Israel.

 

 

Rev. Doug Choi, President of Peniel Theological Seminary, Busan, Korea