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ISRAEL V/S PALESTINE: WHERE DOES IT BEGIN, AND WILL IT EVER
END?
The war keeps escalating with no solution in sight. Is there a way out, or are
they too far into it?
October 19, 2023
New Delhi
By Abhilasha Dey &
Kumari Sumati Singh
The Israel-Palestine conflict is a long-standing and deeply rooted dispute between the State
of Israel and the Palestinian people over territory, identity, and political sovereignty. The
conflict has resulted in numerous wars and ongoing tensions, making it one of the most
protracted and complex conflicts in the modern world.
Following the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas, which is currently controlling the
Gaza strip, the situation between Israel and Palestine has worsened. In retaliation of the
attack, the Prime Minister of Israel has announced a war and stated that “Our enemy will
pay a price the type of which it has never known”.
The ongoing armed conflict between Palestinian militant group, Hamas, and Israel began
on October 7, 2023. Hamas launched its attacks during the end of the Sukkot Jewish
holiday and 50 years after the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The attack began in the morning
with a barrage of around 5000 rockets launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip
against Israel, as a result of which around 1400 Israelis were killed in a single day and
several were severely injured.
The current political conflict between the two began in the early 20th century. Over the
years, there have been several wars circling around the same between the Arabs and the
Jews.
The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be traced back to the late 19th and early
20th centuries when Jewish immigration to Palestine, then under Ottoman rule, began to
increase. Between the 1920s and 1940s, the number of Jewish immigrants grew with many
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fleeing from persecution in Europe, especially the Nazi Holocaust in World War Two.
Tensions escalated between Jewish immigrants and the Arab population in the region and
also with the British empire.
After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations granted
Britain a mandate to govern Palestine. This was followed by the creation of the State of
Israel with the British withdrawal from the territory in 1948. This was intended to safeguard
the Jewish immigrants seeking shelter from the destruction caused during the World War
II.
Owing to the intensifying conflict between the Arab and Jews, five Arab countries attacked
Israel a day after it declared statehood. The war ended with armistice agreements, which
solidified Israel's existence but also resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands
of Palestinian Arabs, a situation that remains a contentious issue to this day.
There have been multiple wars fought over the years causing mass destruction on both the
sides alike. The 1956 Suez Crisis ended with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Egypt
over the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the then Egyptian President. The 1967 Six-
Day War resulted in Israel occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and
Golan Heights. The consequences of this war continue to be at the heart of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
The situation worsened as the Yom Kippur War, also known as the October war, in October
6, 1973, commenced as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the
Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. After the resistance, the war ended with a ceasefire. This
was followed by the Lebanon War in 1982, mainly to target the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon. The conflict also led to a prolonged
Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon.
The wars have well bled into the twenty first century with the multiple Gaza wars in the
years 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014. These three conflicts primarily took place in the Gaza
Strip, a densely populated Palestinian territory. Israel's operations aimed at countering
rocket attacks from Gaza and the activities of Hamas, the Palestinian group controlling
Gaza. This resulted in significant loss of life and infrastructure damage in Gaza.
As of 2023, the tensions between the communities have escalated significantly leading to
unfathomable destruction to life of the innocent civilians. On 7 October, hundreds of
Hamas gunmen crossed from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel by breaking through the
heavily-fortified perimeter fence, landing by sea, and using paragliders. The gunmen
killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in a series of raids on military posts,
kibbutzim and a music festival, and took hostages back into Gaza.
In retaliation of the attack by Hamas in Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on
Sunday that the next stage of the operation in Gaza - an expected ground offensive -
"may take a month, two or three, but at the end there will be no more Hamas". Israel has
maintained that there is no other response to these attacks, apart from an outrightly
declared war. Israel also wants to bring back the hostages that Hamas seized.
The Israel-Palestine conflict remains unresolved and continues to be a source of tension
in the Middle East and a topic of international concern. Efforts to find a lasting and
peaceful resolution to the conflict have been ongoing for decades, but a comprehensive
solution has proven elusive.
The destruction and disruption of lives caused by the “war” is indescribable. What is
happening to the people and their families, including women and children, is completely
shell-shockingly horrifying. The loss the conflict has brought upon both the sides and, by
extension, the entire world, is incalculable and can never be compensated.
Even though the possibility of a truce seems very far-fetched and borderline unrealistic,
there may still be hope that the issue might resolve. And if that is not the case, the havoc
caused will be insurmountable and will shake the whole world to the core.
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