Israeli–Palestinian conflict

For the current phase of the conflict beginning in October 2023, see Gaza war. For the wider regional conflict, see Arab–Israeli conflict.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict

Situation in the Israeli-occupied territories, as of December 2011, per the United Nations OCHA.[2]
See here for a more detailed and updated map.
Datec. late 19th / early 20th century – present
Location
Status Ongoing
  • Israeli–Palestinian peace process (halted)
  • Gaza–Israel conflict (intermittent)
Territorial
changes
1948–1967:
  • Egypt occupies the Gaza Strip
    • Establishment of the All-Palestine Protectorate (until 1959)
  • Jordan annexes the West Bank
Since 1967:
  • Israel occupies the Gaza Strip
    • Unilateral disengagement (2005)
  • Israel occupies the West Bank
    • Establishment of Israeli settlements
    • Division of Israeli control and Palestinian control by the Oslo II Accord (1995)
Belligerents

Israel and Zionist predecessors:
Pre–1948:
Yishuv

  • Bar-Giora
  • Hashomer
  • Haganah
  • Irgun
  • Lehi

1948–present:
State of Israel

Palestinians:
Pre–1948:

  • Muslim-Christian Associations
    • Palestine Arab Congress
  • Arab Higher Committee

1948–present:
1948:

  • Arab Higher Committee
  • All-Palestine Protectorate
  • Army of the Holy War

1949–1956:

  • Palestinian fedayeen[a]

1964–2005:

  • PLO (1964–2005)[b]
  • UNLU (1987–1993)[c]
  • Palestinian Authority (1994–2005)[d]

2007–present:

  • Hamas government
  • Palestinian Joint Operations Room (2018–present)[e]
Casualties and losses
9,901–10,239 killed 104,701–110,887 killed

More than 700,000 Palestinians displaced[3] with a further 413,000 Palestinians displaced in the Six-Day War;[4] 2,000+ Jews displaced in 1948[5]
6,373 Israeli[6] and 13,000–16,000 Palestinian deaths in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[7]
654 Israeli[8] and 19,085 Palestinian and Lebanese deaths in the 1982 Lebanon War in addition to 800–3,500 in the Sabra-Shatila massacre.[9]
1,962 Palestinians[10] and 179–200 Israeli deaths[11] in the First Intifada.
1,010 Israelis[12] and 3,179–3,354 Palestinian deaths in the Second Intifada.[12]
402 Palestinians were killed in the 2006 Gaza–Israel conflict.[13]
1,116[14]–1,417[15] Palestinian deaths in the Gaza War (2008–2009).
2,125–2,310 Palestinian deaths in the 2014 Gaza War.[16]
285 Palestinian and 17 Israeli deaths in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.[17]

As of 1 August 2025, at least 74,111+[18][19][20][21] Palestinians and 2,053+ Israelis killed in the Gaza war with a further 1,900,000 Palestinians displaced within Gaza[22] and 135,000 Israeli evacuees.[23] Indirect deaths[f] likely to be several times higher than those killed by violence,[25] with estimates for total Palestinian deaths in the Gaza war are between 186,000[26]– 335,500[g]

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine.[28][29][30] Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights,[31] the permit regime in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian freedom of movement,[32] and the Palestinian right of return.

The conflict has its origins in the rise of Zionism in the late 19th century in Europe, a movement which aimed to establish a Jewish state through the colonization of Palestine,[33][34] synchronously with the first arrival of Jewish settlers to Ottoman Palestine in 1882.[35] The Zionist movement garnered the support of an imperial power in the 1917 Balfour Declaration issued by Britain, which promised to support the creation of a "Jewish homeland" in Palestine. Following British occupation of the formerly Ottoman region during World War I, Mandatory Palestine was established as a British mandate. Increasing Jewish immigration led to tensions between Jews and Arabs, which grew into intercommunal conflict.[36][37] In 1936, an Arab revolt erupted, demanding independence and an end to British support for Zionism, which was suppressed by the British.[38][39] Eventually, tensions led to the United Nations adopting a partition plan in 1947, triggering a civil war.

During the ensuing 1948 Palestine war, more than half of the mandate's predominantly Palestinian Arab population fled or were expelled by Israeli forces. By the end of the war, Israel was established on most of the former mandate's territory, and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were controlled by Egypt and Jordan respectively.[40][41] Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has been occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, known collectively as the Palestinian territories. Two Palestinian uprisings against Israel and its occupation erupted in 1987 and 2000, the first and second intifadas respectively. Israel's occupation resulted in Israel constructing illegal settlements there, creating a system of institutionalized discrimination against Palestinians under its occupation called Israeli apartheid.[42] This discrimination includes Israel's denial of Palestinian refugees from their right of return and right to their lost properties. Israel has also drawn international condemnation for violating the human rights of the Palestinians.[43]

The international community, with the exception of the United States and Israel, has been in consensus since the 1980s regarding a settlement of the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution along the 1967 borders and a just resolution for Palestinian refugees. The United States and Israel have instead preferred bilateral negotiations, rather than a resolution of the conflict on the basis of international law. In recent years, public support for a two-state solution has decreased, with Israeli policy reflecting an interest in maintaining the occupation, rather than seeking a permanent resolution to the conflict. In 2007, Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip and made official its policy of isolating it from the West Bank. Since then, Israel has framed its relationship with Gaza in terms of the laws of war, rather than in terms of its status as an occupying power. In a July 2024 ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that Israel continues to illegally occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The ICJ also determined that Israeli policies violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Since 2006, Hamas and Israel have fought several wars. Attacks by Hamas-led armed groups in October 2023 in Israel were followed by another war, resulting in large-scale loss of life in Israel and Gaza. The war has also has caused widespread destruction, mass population displacement, a humanitarian crisis, and an ongoing famine in the Gaza Strip.[44][45] Israel's actions in Gaza have been described by international law experts, genocide scholars and human rights organizations as a genocide.[46][47]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b Robinson, Kali (17 January 2024). "Who Governs the Palestinians?". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Occupied Palestinian Territory: Overview Map | December 2011". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  3. ^ Morris 2004, pp. 602–604
  4. ^ Brown, Jeremy (2003). Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East. Simon & Schuster, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4711-1475-5. UNRWA put the figure at 413000
  5. ^ Dumper, Michael (1997). The Politics of Jerusalem Since 1967. Columbia University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780585388717.
  6. ^ Garfinkle, Adam M. (2000). Politics and Society in Modern Israel: Myths and Realities. M. E. Sharpe. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7656-0514-6.
  7. ^
  8. ^ Uri Ben-Eliezer, War over Peace: One Hundred Years of Israel's Militaristic Nationalism, University of California Press (2019)
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Race was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Kober, Avi (2005). "From Blitzkrieg To Attrition: Israel's Attrition Strategy and Staying Power". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 16 (2): 216–240. doi:10.1080/09592310500080005.
  11. ^ Nasrallah, Nami (2013). "The First and Second Palestinian intifadas". In Newman, David; Peters, Joel (eds.). Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Routledge. pp. 56–68. ISBN 978-0-415-77862-6.
  12. ^ a b "Fatalities since the outbreak of the second intifada and until operation "Cast Lead"". B'Tselem. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010.
  13. ^ "Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the Gaza Strip, before Operation "Cast Lead"". B'Tselem. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  14. ^ Lappin, Yaakov (2009). "IDF releases Cast Lead casualty numbers". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Confirmed figures reveal the true extent of the destruction inflicted upon the Gaza Strip; Israel's offensive resulted in 1,417 dead, including 926 civilians, 255 police officers, and 236 fighters". Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. 12 March 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Report of the detailed findings of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1". UN Human Rights Office. Human Rights Council. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  17. ^ "2021 was the deadliest year since 2014, Israel killed 319 Palestinians in oPt 5-year record in house demolitions: 895 Palestinians lost their homes". B'Tselem. 4 January 2022. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Gaza's death toll rises". Al Jazeera. 16 March 2025.
  19. ^ "Gaza death toll rises close to 62,000 as missing added". Al Jazeera. 3 February 2025.
  20. ^ "Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (10 December 2024)". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – occupied Palestinian territory. 3 February 2025. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  21. ^ McCluskey, Mitchell (6 December 2023). "Israel military says 2 civilians killed for every Hamas militant is a 'tremendously positive' ratio given combat challenges". CNN World. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  22. ^ Tétrault-Farber, Gabrielle (6 December 2023). "UN rights chief warns of heightened risk of 'atrocity crimes' in Gaza". Reuters. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  23. ^ Lev, Gid'on (27 February 2024). "The Tragedy of Israel's 135,000 Displaced Citizens". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  24. ^ Garry, S.; Checchi, F. (2020), "Armed conflict and public health: Into the 21st century", Journal of Public Health, 42 (3): e287 – e298, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdz095, PMID 31822891
  25. ^ Bloxham 2025, pp. 23–24: "A study of traumatic injury deaths in Gaza in The Lancet using multiple data sources and capture-recapture analysis suggested that the MoH's methods, far from producing an exaggerated number, actually under-estimated the death toll by around 41 percent. ... When considering the total 'excess mortality,' we need to add the Palestinians who have died because of the blockade in combination with the IDF's destruction of health and sanitation and food infrastructure. As public health experts noted, in many wars, 'most deaths' are 'due to the indirect [sic] impacts of war: malnutrition, communicable disease, exacerbations of noncommunicable disease, [and] maternal and infant disorders.'117 'Indirect' would be the wrong word for this conflict given the nature of Israeli policies, including the systematic obstruction of supplies into Gaza."
  26. ^ Khatib, McKee & Yusuf 2024, p. 237
  27. ^ Sridhar, Devi (5 September 2024). "Scientists are closing in on the true, horrifying scale of death and disease in Gaza". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  28. ^ Waxman, Dov (2019). The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0190625337.
  29. ^ Gelvin, James L. (2021). The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A History (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 9781108771634.
  30. ^ "A History of Conflict: Introduction". A History of Conflict. BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  31. ^ "Canadian Policy on Key Issues in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  32. ^ "Movement and Access Restrictions in the West Bank: Uncertainty and Inefficiency in the Palestinian Economy" (PDF). World Bank. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010. Currently, freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm contrary to the commitments undertaken in a number of Agreements between GOI and the PA. In particular, both the Oslo Accords and the Road Map were based on the principle that normal Palestinian economic and social life would be unimpeded by restrictions
  33. ^ Khalidi 2020, pp. 7–8.
  34. ^ Shafir 1996, p. xiii: "The goal of Zionism, however, was to successfully colonize Palestine while at the same time justifying the creation of a homogeneous Jewish settlement through an intensifying denial of Palestinian national aspirations."
  35. ^ Morris 2008, p. 1.
  36. ^ Neal, Lorena S. (May 1995). "Honors Projects". The Roots of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: 1882–1914. Illinois Wesleyan University. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  37. ^ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (26 October 2020). "Balfour Declaration | History & Impact". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  38. ^ Khalidi 2024, p. 108: "The repression of the revolt had an impact not only on the populace, but also on the Palestinians' ability to fight thereafter, and on the already fractured capabilities of their national leadership. A high proportion of the Arab casualties included the most experienced military cadres and enterprising fighters.6 By the end of the revolt, most of the top Arab political leaders and thousands of other cadres, militants, and fighters were imprisoned, interned by the British in the Seychelles, in exile, or dead. The British also confiscated large quantities of arms and ammunition from the Arabs during the revolt, and continued to do so during later years. By the end of the revolt, existing political divisions within the Palestinian polity had become envenomed, leading to profound rifts between the majority supporting the revolt and a minority that had become alienated from the leadership: the consequence was assassinations, infighting, and further weakening of the Palestinian position. The impact of the revolt on the Palestinian economy was also severe, although some of that damage was self-inflicted, as a boycott of British and Jewish goods and of the mandatory government during the strike and the revolt simply opened up opportunities for the already larger Jewish-controlled sector of the economy of Palestine to expand further."
  39. ^ Khalidi 2020, p. 44
  40. ^ Pappé, Ilan (2007). The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-78074-056-0.
  41. ^ Morris 1999
  42. ^ Cite error: The named reference israpa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Totten, S. (2017). Last Lectures on the Prevention and Intervention of Genocide. Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-315-40976-4. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  44. ^ Dannenbaum, Tom; Dill, Janina (2024). "International Law in Gaza: Belligerent Intent and Provisional Measures". American Journal of International Law. 118 (4): 659–683. doi:10.1017/ajil.2024.53.
  45. ^ "GAZA STRIP: Famine confirmed in Gaza Governorate, projected to expand | 1 July - 30 September 2025" (PDF). Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. 22 August 2025.
  46. ^
    • Dumper, Michael; Badran, Amneh (2024). "Introduction". In Dumper, Michael; Badran, Amneh (eds.). Routledge Handbook on Palestine (1st ed.). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003031994. ISBN 9781003031994. In this context we should not overlook the latest turning point in the history of Palestine – the attack by Hamas on 7th October 2023 on Israeli settlements adjacent to Gaza and the subsequent genocidal war that the state of Israel has carried out in the Gaza strip
    • Speri, Alice (20 December 2024). "Defining genocide: how a rift over Gaza sparked a crisis among scholars". Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
    • Narea, Nicole (25 October 2024). "Is Israel committing genocide? Reexamining the question, a year later". Vox. Archived from the original on 27 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
    • Albanese, Francesca (25 March 2024). Anatomy of a Genocide: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese (PDF) (Report). United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. p. 1. By analysing the patterns of violence and Israeli policies in its onslaught on Gaza, the present report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating that Israel has committed genocide has been met
    • Amnesty International (2024). 'You Feel Like You Are Subhuman': Israel's Genocide Against Palestinians In Gaza (PDF) (Report). p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 December 2024. This report focuses on the Israeli authorities' policies and actions in Gaza as part of the military offensive they launched in the wake of the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023 while situating them within the broader context of Israel's unlawful occupation, and system of apartheid against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. It assesses allegations of violations and crimes under international law by Israel in Gaza within the framework of genocide under international law, concluding that there is sufficient evidence to believe that Israel's conduct in Gaza following 7 October 2023 amounts to genocide.
    • Traverso, Enzo (2024). Gaza Faces History. Other Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-63542-555-0. The only normative definition we have, codified at the United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948, accurately describes the current situation in Palestine ... describes exactly what is happening in Gaza today
    • B'Tselem (July 2025). Our Genocide (PDF) (Report). p. 86. The review presented in this report leaves no room for doubt: since October 2023, the Israeli regime has been responsible for carrying out genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Killing tens of thousands of people; causing bodily or mental harm to hundreds of thousands more; destroying homes and civilian infrastructure on a massive scale; starvation, displacement, and denying humanitarian aid — all this is being perpetrated systematically, as part of a coordinated attack aimed at annihilating all facets of life in the Gaza Strip.
  47. ^
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