Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Designed by: Manoj Kumar
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the League of Nations entrusted Britain with the mandate to govern Palestine. During this period, Palestine was characterised by a Jewish minority and an Arab majority. The British Mandate for Palestine, which began in 1920, aimed at facilitating the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, as outlined in the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
The mandate's objective of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine ignited tensions between the Jewish and Arab communities. This ideological divide laid the foundation for decades of conflict.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, Palestine witnessed significant waves of Jewish immigration, largely driven by persecution in Europe and the aftermath of the Holocaust. This demographic shift further exacerbated tensions.
As Jewish immigration increased, friction between the two communities intensified. Simultaneously, resistance to British rule grew, leading to incidents such as the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939.
In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international administration. While Jewish leaders accepted the plan, Arab leaders rejected it, sparking heated debates and ultimately, its non-implementation.
In 1948, Britain withdrew from Palestine, and David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, declared the establishment of the State of Israel. This declaration was met with opposition from many Palestinians, leading to a full-scale war. Surrounding Arab nations intervened in the conflict.
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israeli forces emerged victorious, capturing Jerusalem and significant portions of the West Bank. This period witnessed the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, an event known as "Al Nakba" or "The Catastrophe."
Subsequently, the region has experienced numerous conflicts, both major and minor, resulting in significant casualties. These events have ignited Palestinian uprisings and resistance against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
In 1987, amidst the First Intifada (Palestinian uprising), Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. This political and military organisation emerged as a counterforce to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), seeking to establish an Islamic state.
The two Palestinian uprisings, known as 'intifadas' (1987-1993 and 2000-2005), profoundly influenced Israeli-Palestinian relations. The second intifada effectively ended the peace process initiated in the 1990s, leading to a renewed era of conflict. Both intifadas witnessed the active involvement of Hamas.
Today, Hamas continues to play a pivotal role in the Palestinian territories. The ongoing conflict remains a source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. Israel and Egypt maintain strict control over Gaza's borders, resulting in a protracted humanitarian crisis. Palestinians cite Israeli actions such as blockades, the West Bank barrier, and home demolitions as key grievances.
Israel argues that its actions are primarily driven by self-defence against Palestinian violence. It cites the firing of thousands of rockets by Hamas into Israeli territory and various Palestinian militant attacks on Israeli civilians as justifications for its measures.