Israel and the Gaza Strip are at war again this Saturday after the launch of a surprise military offensive by Hamas, which fired thousands of rockets and infiltrated fighters into Israeli territory. The Jewish state, whose emergency services reported at least 22 people dead and hundreds injured, responded with air strikes, while ground fighting continues. In the afternoon, there were 9 deaths on the Palestinian side.
These new clashes are part of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has lasted for decades. Here are the main dates.
1947 and the UN partition plan
The Second World War and the Holocaust pushed many Jews to go to Palestine, accounting for a third of the population there. After the withdrawal of the British, the responsibility of administering the territory fell to the UN. In 1947, the organization divided Palestine into three parts: a Jewish state (55% of the land), an Arab state (45%) and an international zone in Jerusalem.
1948 and the proclamation of the State of Israel
The State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The next day, several states declared war on it: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. But Israeli troops are gaining ground. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are fleeing to Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring countries.
1967 and 1973, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars
While the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLO, was born recently, Israel led a lightning offensive in 1967 and occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Egyptian Sinai and the Syrian Golan Heights. Six years later, Egypt and Syria in turn launched an offensive in the Sinai and the Golan during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
1987 and the first Intifada
A revolt against the Israeli occupation breaks out in a camp in Gaza, then in the West Bank. It marks the start of the first Intifada – “uprising” in Arabic. Hamas was created and a year later, at the end of 1988, the Palestinian National Council proclaimed a Palestinian state.
1993 and the Oslo Accords
On September 13, under the eyes of Bill Clinton in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat exchange a historic handshake. They thus sealed the Oslo Accords, which established the mutual recognition of Israel and the representativeness of the PLO. Hamas rejects these agreements, as do Jewish settlers. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated two years later by an opponent of the peace process.
2000 and the second Intifada
In September, the visit of Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister, to the Esplanade des Mosques, triggered a new uprising by the Palestinians. In five years, the clashes will leave nearly 6,000 dead on both camps, mainly on the Palestinian side. Tensions have not stopped since, with 2022 being a particularly deadly year.