Israel-Palestine Conflict

Context (TH): Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel.

The leader of Hamas’s military wing said the attack was in response to the:
- Continued illegal occupation of Palestinian lands by Israel.
- Continued blockade of Gaza
- Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year
Some experts believe the recent attacks are Hamas’s response to normalising relations between Israel and other West Asian countries.
Hezbollah declared its solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance.”

Hezbollah (Party of God)

Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon.
Hezbollah originated during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990).
It wields significant power in Lebanon. It currently holds 13 of the country’s 128-member Parliament. Along with allies, it is part of the ruling government.
Iran provides funds and training to the budding militia of Hezbollah.
In the past, it has carried out global terrorist attacks.
Parts of Hezbollah — in some cases, the entire organization — have been designated as a terrorist group by the United States and many other countries.

What are Hezbollah’s aims?

It functions as a proxy for Iran and opposes Israel and Western influence in West Asia.
Israel and Hezbollah first fought a war in 2006.

Iran-Israel proxy conflict

Iran and Israel are engaged in a proxy war.
Supporters of Israel believe Iran threatens Israel and wants to eliminate it.
- Iran has provided financial support, weapons, and training to groups like Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
- These groups have attacked Israel, and many countries label them terrorist organizations.
Supporters of Iran argue Israel’s presence in the Arab region justifies Iran’s actions.

Genesis of the Conflict Between Isreal and Palestine

During the late 19^th century, Zionism emerged, aiming to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Zionism tried to bring the Jewish people back to their historic homeland.
It gained momentum with the publication of Theodor Herzl’s pamphlet “The Jewish State.”
Herzl’s pamphlet proposed a Jewish homeland as a solution to the “Jewish question.”
As a result, many Jews immigrated to the Ottoman Empire and later Palestine.

After World War I

After the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I, Britain took control of Palestine.
Palestine was inhabited by a Jewish minority and an Arab majority.
Many Jewish people moved to Palestine in the 1920s and 1940s to find a safe place to live because they were facing a lot of problems in Europe. For Jews, Palestine was their ancestral home.
The international community gave Britain the task of establishing a “national home” for Jewish people in Palestine.
Palestinian Arabs claimed the land and opposed the move. From then, tensions between Jews and Palestinian Arabs grew.

The Ottoman Empire controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14^th and early 20^th centuries.

Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya)

It is a Palestinian political group with military capabilities founded in 1987.
Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. It has run the Gaza Strip since 2007.
It is a de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip.
It refuses to recognise the state of Israel and violently opposes the Oslo peace accords.
It is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the EU, Canada, Egypt, and Japan.
The elections did not happen in Palestine since 2006.

Jerusalem

It is a city in Western Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea.
Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions:
1. Judaism
2. Christianity
3. Islam

Judaism

Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism.
It has been the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people since the 10^thcentury BC.
During classical antiquity, Jerusalem was considered the centre of the world, where God resided.

Christianity

In the Christian faith, Jerusalem is where Jesus was brought as a child to be presented at the Temple.
According to the Gospels, Jesus preached and healed in Jerusalem, especially in the Temple courts.

Islam

In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city after Mecca and Medina.
Muslims believe Muhammad was transported to Jerusalem during his Night Journey.

Arab World vs. Israel

First Arab-Israeli War

In 1947, the United Nations voted to divide Palestine into:
- Separate Jewish and Arab states
- With Jerusalem under international administration.

That plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by the Arab side and never implemented.
The British rulers left in 1948, and Jewish leaders declared the creation of Israel.
The creation of Israel sparked the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948.
The war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory. After the war:
- Israel controlled most of the territory.
- Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes.
- Territory was divided into three parts:
  1. State of Israel
  2. West Bank (of the Jordan River): occupied by Jordan.
  3. Gaza Strip: occupied by Egypt.
Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West and Jordanian forces in the East.
Over the following years, tensions rose, particularly between Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

Second Arab-Israeli War

On 26 July 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal and closed the canal to Israeli shipping.
In October 1956, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip with British and French military support.
In November, the UN called for Britain, France, and Israel to withdraw their troops from Egypt.
In January 1957, Israel withdrew from Egyptian land, except from the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Aqaba, arguing that the Gaza Strip never belonged to Egypt.

Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War)

In June 1967, Israel attacked Egyptian and Syrian air forces and started the Six-Day War.
After the war, Israel gained territorial control over:
- The Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt
- The West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan
- The Golan Heights from Syria.

Camp David Accords

In 1979, representatives from Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords.
It ended the thirty-year conflict between Egypt and Israel.
It led to Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula.
The two countries agreed to allow self-rule for Palestinians living in occupied territories.

First Intifada

In 1987, Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip revolted against the Israeli government and started the first intifada.
The first lasted from 1987 to 1993, and the second from 2000-2005.

Oslo Accords

Oslo Accords are a series of agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the 1990s.

Oslo I Accords (1993)

It set up a framework for the Palestinians to govern themselves in the West Bank and Gaza.
It enabled mutual recognition between the newly established Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Oslo II Accords (Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement) (1995)

The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement sought to implement the first Oslo peace deal.
It expanded the first agreement, adding provisions that mandated the complete withdrawal of Israel from six cities and 450 towns in the West Bank.
The interim pact was only supposed to last five years, but it has tacitly been rolled over for more than two decades.
The question of Jerusalem was left undecided under the Oslo Accords.

Aftermath of Oslo Accord

After a wave of violence in 2015, the Palestinian President announced that Palestinians would no longer be bound by the Oslo Accords.

In January 2020, the Trump administration released its long-awaited “Peace to Prosperity” plan. Palestinians rejected it.

Abraham accord

Abraham accord (Israel-Arab normalisation) is an agreement for normalising relations between Israel and four Arab countries:
1. Bahrain (August 2020)
2. United Arab Emirates (September 2020)
3. Sudan
4. Morocco
In 2020, Israel, UAE and Bahrain signed an agreement to normalise ties. The USA brokered it.
Subsequently, Morocco and Sudan were added.

UNESCO, US and Israel

UNESCO criticised Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and granted full membership to Palestine in 2011.
Accusing UNESCO of anti-Israel bias, the US and Israel formally quit UNESCO in 2019.
US rejoined the UNESCO in 2023.

Current Status

Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, but it continues to occupy the West Bank.
Israel considers the “complete and united Jerusalem” its capital, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The US is one of only a handful of countries to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Yom Kippur war (October war / Ramadan war / Fourth Arab Israeli war)

The Hamas surprise attack is being compared to the Yom Kippur War.
The Yom Kippur War was fought between Israel on one side and Egypt and Syria on the other, from October 6 to 25, 1973.
Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated attack on Israel. While Israel was aware of troop mobilisation, it had not expected an attack in the Holy Islamic month of Ramadan.
Caught by surprise, Israel took time to mobilise its own soldiers, many of whom were on leave for Yom Kippur.
Thus, initially, both Syria and Egypt made some gains. However, Israel soon launched its own counterstrike and beat back both attackers.
However, the significant number of casualties it incurred highlighted Israel’s vulnerability in combat.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday called the “Day of Atonement.”
On this day, the Jewish people seek forgiveness for their sins, both towards God and other people.
They do this through prayer, fasting, and reflection.

Consequences of the Current Conflict

It has an immediate impact on the 90 lakh Indian community that lives and works in the Middle East.
Following groupings or deals will face difficulties due to the unrest in the Middle East.
- The US-brokered Abraham Accords.
- I2U2 (India, Israel, US, and UAE), which is an economic grouping.
- The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

India’s Enduring Support for the Palestinian Cause

India’s support for the Palestinian cause is an integral part of the nation’s foreign policy.
In 1974, India became the first non-Arab state to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
In 1988, India became one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian State.
In 1996, India opened its Representative Office in Gaza, which was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003.
India voted in favour of Palestine becoming a full member of UNESCO.
In 2012, India co-sponsored and voted in favour of the UNGA Resolution that enabled Palestine to become a ‘non-member Observer state’ at the UN without voting rights.
In 2015, India supported the Bandung Declaration on Palestine at the Asian African Commemorative Conference.

In 2015, the 60^th Asian African Commemorative Conference adopted the Bandung Declaration on Palestine. It sought the liberation of Palestine from illegal Israeli Occupation.