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The Balfour Declaration of 1917 -

The Balfour Declaration was a statement issued by the British government on November 2, 1917, declaring its favor of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."

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Arthur Balfour (1848–1930) -

The public statement was issued by Arthur Balfour, at the time British foreign secretary under Prime Minister Lloyd George. Addressed to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a prominent member of the British Jewish community, the letter was short— just 67 words—but its contents had a tumultuous effect on Palestine that is still felt today.

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Read without prejudice -

The letter's contents also revealed the government's wish that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

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Holocaust aftermath -

Following the Second World War and the Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

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First Zionist Congress -

But calls for a Jewish homeland had been voiced as far back as the late 19th century. Indeed, the newly formed Zionist movement demanded as much during the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.

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The British mandate -

Eventually, a British mandate was created in 1923 and lasted until 1948. Pictured is Sir Herbert Samuel, former British minister of the interior (wearing the trilby hat), arriving in Jerusalem to take over as High-Commissioner of the British mandate in Palestine. He is accompanied by Sir Edmund Allenby (right), the general who led the conquering of Jerusalem and Palestine against the Ottoman Empire in 1917.

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Mandate for Palestine -

The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan. It was created in 1922 following the defeat of Ottoman forces at the end of the First World War. Pictured are British troops marching in Palestine.

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Mass Jewish immigration -

During this period, the British facilitated mass Jewish immigration, many later arrivals being those fleeing Nazism in Europe.

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Jewish settlements -

The British began confiscating land owned by Palestinians and handing it over to Jewish settlers. The kibbutz movement, established as early as 1910, flourished.

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A changing demographic -

Alarmed by their country's changing demographics, a groundswell of Palestinian nationalism was marked by a reaction to the Zionist movement and to Jewish settlement in Palestine. Jewish immigrants faced increased protest against their presence.

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The Arab Revolt -

Matters came to a head in 1936 with the so-called Arab Revolt, a populist national uprising against the British administration of the Palestine mandate.

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Demonstrating dissatisfaction -

Palestinians took to the streets demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases. A general strike was launched. Thousands of Arabs died, with many more arrested (pictured). The main form of collective punishment employed by the British forces was destruction of property. The revolt was finally quelled in 1939.

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Resolution 181 -

The Second World War diverted attention away from the Palestine issue, but in 1947 the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan.

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The Partition Plan -

The plan called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. Jewish residents celebrated the decision (pictured). However, the Palestinians rejected the resolution because it allotted little over half of Palestine to the Jewish state, including most of the fertile coastal region.

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First Arab-Israeli War -

On May 14, 1948, the British mandate expired. On the same day, the State of Israel was created. The following day, May 15, the first Arab-Israeli War broke out.

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Invasion by Arab nations -

The conflict was sparked when five Arab nations—Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon—invaded territory in the former Palestinian mandate immediately following the announcement of the independence of the State of Israel.

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Zionist ambition -

But even before the commencement of hostilities, Zionist paramilitaries were already embarking on a military operation to destroy Palestinian towns and villages in an effort to expand the borders of the soon-to-be-born State of Israel.

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A victory for Israel -

The Arab-Israeli War ended in 1949 with Israel's victory. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians were displaced in what they termed the Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic. Pictured are Arab Palestinians surrendering to Jewish forces.

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A divided territory -

The ending of the war saw the territory divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. Thus began decades of regional tension, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

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Founding of the PLO -

In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed. A year later, the Fatah political party was established. On February 4, 1969, Fatah founder Yasser Arafat (pictured) was elected Chairman of the PLO in Cairo. Sadly, peace did not prevail.

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The Six-Day War -

The Six-Day War began on June 5, 1967, with a preemptive Israeli air assault in Egypt and Syria in response to a series of military maneuvers by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser.

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An occupying force -

This was followed by a ground offensive launched in the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

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A short but decisive conflict -

A short but decisive conflict, by June 10 the war was over with Israel having captured and occupied the rest of historic Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Pictured is David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin leading a group of soldiers past the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem.

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The era of world terrorism -

The Yom Kippur War was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. The clash did not result in significant gains for the Arabs but, in any case, terrorist attacks carried out by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and, notably, Black September at Munich (pictured), were by now grabbing headlines worldwide.

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The peace deal that died -

On September 13, 1993, US President Bill Clinton hosted the historic meeting between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin and Arafat shook hands for the first time after Israel and the PLO signed an agreement on Palestinian autonomy in the occupied territories. Tragically, Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an Israeli ultranationalist named Yigal Amir, radically opposed to the prime minister's peace initiative, particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.

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The emergence of Hamas -

Meanwhile, a new threat to Israel's security had emerged, a Palestinian militant group known as Hamas. A spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s, Hamas, by now listed by the US and Israel as a terrorist group, would eventually win the Palestinian Authority's parliamentary elections in 2006, deposing longtime majority party Fatah.

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Second Intifada -

Hamas spearheaded the Second Intifada in September 2000, which lasted five years (the first having occurred between December 1987 and 1993). The uprising was fueled by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial visit to the al-Aqsa mosque—the third holiest site in Islam.

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Israel builds a wall -

Israel responded by building the "Defense Wall," separating the state from the West Bank, in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya, in July 2003.

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Israel–Hamas war -

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack in Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Israel retaliated with a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, leading to a war that resulted in the death of over 50,000 Palestinians, with many more missing or displaced.

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Ceasefire deal -

In January 2025, following 15 months of conflict, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal, which temporarily halted the violence. However, the agreement collapsed in March, leading to the resumption of airstrikes and ground operations. Despite previous hopes for lasting peace, the situation remains highly unstable, with ongoing casualties and widespread destruction in Gaza.

Sources: (BBC) (Global Conflict Tracker) (Al Jazeera) (United States Department of State) (Britannica) (CNN) (Amnesty International)

See also: Hezbollah explained: a complex role in Middle Eastern politics

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