ISRAEL-PALESTINE

CONFLICT: AN OVERVIEW

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

To understand the historical development of the

conflict.
To see into the root causes of the conflict.
To study the characteristics of various countries
party to the conflict.
To understand the conflict in context to its
importance for the stability of the region and the
world.
To study the role of US and USSR in this conflict.

METHODOLOGY ADAPTED FOR THE STUDY

The whole of study is done via the information

drawn from secondary sources.
2. The sources of the information are books ,written
and other media available on the internet.
3. Maps have been used (where ever necessary) to
make the concept easy to understand.
1.

CHAPTERISATION
1. Introduction
2. Pre-1948 period
3. After the creation of The state of Israel
4. Efforts for peace
5. Timeline of the conflict

EVOLUTION OF THE IDEA OF ISRAEL

Idea of Israel or a Jewish state was the result of

Zionist movement in Europe in 1897.

Theodor Herzl was the leader of the Zionist
movement.
They purposed for the creation of a state for Jewish
people in Palestine via colonization by Jewish
agricultural and industrial workers.
Palestine during this period was under the indirect
control of Ottoman empire.

POST WW I POLITICAL STATUS

The defeat of Ottoman empire resulted in Palestine

falling in hands of Britishers as a part of The Sykes

Picot Agreement (1916).
1,00,00 Jewish immigrants arrived in Palestine in
1920s.
The Balfour Declaration (1917) paved the way
creation of a Jewish state.
Arab Palestinians grew suspicious and civil war
broke out in early 1930s.
Britishers suppressed the Arab resistance ruthlessly.

UN PARTITION PLAN OF 1947

With the British Empire dwindling they

turned the problem to UN.

In November 1947 UNGA voted to
divide Palestine into two states.
Jews got the best, more than half the
country(they owned only 10% of land)
the fertile and coastal areas.
Arabs were twice in number and got less
than 50% of the area.
Palestinian Arab leadership rejected the
UN partition plan.

WARS/UPRISINGS RESULTED FROM THE CONFLICT

First Arab-Israeli War in 1948
Six-Day War of 1967
Yom Kippur War in 1973
1982 Israel-Lebanon war
First Intifada 19871991
20002003 Second Intifada
2008 Gaza War
2012 Operation Pillar of Defense
2014 Operation Protective Edge

PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT

Government of Israel
Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF)
Mossad (Israeli
intelligence agency)

Government of
Palestinian Authority
Palestinian Liberation
Organization(PLO)
Hamas
Fatah

INTERNATIONAL PEACE EFFORTS

UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967

Camp David Accords, 1978
Oslo Agreement, 1993
Camp David, 2000
Arab Peace Initiative, 2002
Geneva Accord, 2003
201314 peace efforts by John Kerry (US secretary of

State)

BONES OF CONTENTION
Non-stop build up of Israeli settlements on

Palestinian lands.
Unresolved fate of Palestinian refugees of 1948 war.
Israels economic blockade of Gaza Strip.
Palestinian bid for the full member status of UN.
Hamass firing of rockets on Israeli border areas.
Underground tunnels from Gaza into Israeli
territory.
Terror attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens.
Unresolved fate of The Holy City of Jerusalem.