People usually want a simple date. They want to point to a calendar and say, "There. That is when the israel and palestine conflict started." Honestly? It doesn't work like that. If you ask a historian in Jerusalem, a refugee in Gaza, or a scholar in London, you’re going to get three different answers that all feel like the absolute truth to the person telling them.
It’s a mess of broken promises, ancient ties, and 20th-century colonialism.
Some say it started in 1948 with the creation of the State of Israel. Others point to 1917 and a specific piece of paper called the Balfour Declaration. Then there are those who say you have to go back thousands of years to biblical times. But if we’re looking at the modern political firestorm that dominates our news feeds today, we have to look at the late 1800s. That’s when the gears really started turning.
Back then, the land was part of the Ottoman Empire. It wasn't a "country" called Palestine in the modern sense, but it was a distinct region populated by a mix of people—mostly Arab Muslims and Christians, with a small, long-standing Jewish community. Things were relatively quiet. Then, nationalism hit Europe like a freight train.
The 1880s and the Rise of Two Dreams
You’ve got to understand the atmosphere in Europe at the time. Anti-Semitism was rampant. Pogroms in Russia were killing Jewish people by the thousands. This birthed Zionism—the idea that Jewish people needed a safe, sovereign home in their ancestral land. At the same time, Arab nationalism was waking up. People living in the Levant wanted to be free from Ottoman rule.
They were two trains heading toward the same station on a single track.
The first major wave of Jewish immigration, the First Aliyah, began around 1881. It wasn't an invasion; it was families buying land, often at inflated prices from absentee Ottoman landlords. But as more people arrived, the local Arab population started getting nervous. You’d be nervous too. Imagine living in a quiet town for generations and suddenly seeing thousands of people moving in with a totally different culture and the stated goal of building a state there.
The British Entrance and the 1917 Turning Point
World War I changed everything. The British were desperate to win and started making promises they couldn't keep. To the Arabs, they promised an independent Arab state in exchange for a revolt against the Ottomans. To the Jewish community, they issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917. This was a short, 67-word letter stating the British government "viewed with favor" the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
It was a recipe for disaster.
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By the time the British took control of the area under a "Mandate" in 1920, both sides felt they had a legal and moral right to the land. The British tried to play both sides. They failed miserably. Violence started bubbling over in the 1920s and 30s. The Jaffa Riots of 1921 and the Hebron Massacre of 1929 weren't just random acts of violence—they were the bloody realization that these two national movements were fundamentally incompatible under a single colonial ruler.
Why 1948 Changed the Map Forever
If you want to know when the israel and palestine conflict started in its modern, militarized form, 1948 is the year. But even that year has two names. For Israelis, it’s the War of Independence. For Palestinians, it’s the Nakba, or "The Catastrophe."
After WWII and the horrors of the Holocaust, the international community felt an urgent need to solve the "Jewish Question." The newly formed UN proposed Resolution 181 in 1947. The plan was to split the land into two states. Jewish leaders said yes. Arab leaders said no. They argued the UN had no right to give away half of their land to a population that, at the time, owned only about 7% of it.
War broke out immediately.
It wasn't just a local fight. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq all sent troops. By the time the smoke cleared in 1949, Israel didn't just have the land the UN gave them—they had 77% of it. Jordan took the West Bank, and Egypt took the Gaza Strip.
The Human Cost of 1948:
- Roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
- They became refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank/Gaza.
- Israel saw it as a miraculous survival against five armies.
- Palestinians saw it as the theft of their identity.
The "Green Line" was drawn—a ceasefire border that people thought would be temporary. It lasted until 1967.
1967: Six Days that Redefined the Middle East
The 1967 Six-Day War is probably the most significant event since 1948. In a lightning strike, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. Suddenly, Israel was no longer just a small state; it was an occupying power.
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This is where the "Occupation" talk starts.
Before 1967, the conflict was mostly between Israel and Arab countries. After 1967, it became much more about the Palestinians themselves fighting for a state. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, became the face of the struggle. They wanted their land back, and they were willing to use guerrilla tactics and international diplomacy to get it.
The Settler Movement and the Land
After 1967, some Israelis started moving into the newly captured West Bank. They believed it was their biblical right to live in "Judea and Samaria." This is the root of the "Settlements" issue you hear about every single day. Today, there are over 500,000 Israelis living in the West Bank. For Palestinians, these settlements are physical barriers to a future state. They’re like pieces of a puzzle that no longer fit together.
The Oslo Accords: A Brief Glimmer of Hope
In the early 90s, things actually looked like they might get better. You remember the famous handshake on the White House lawn between Rabin and Arafat? That was the Oslo Accords. The idea was simple: Israel would slowly hand over land to a new Palestinian Authority (PA), and in return, the PA would recognize Israel and stop the violence.
It fell apart. Why?
Extremists on both sides hated it. A Jewish extremist assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that didn't like the PLO's diplomacy, started a campaign of suicide bombings. By the time the Second Intifada (uprising) started in 2000, the "Peace Process" was basically a corpse.
Modern Realities: Gaza, Hamas, and the Iron Wall
In 2005, Israel did something nobody expected: they pulled every single soldier and settler out of Gaza. They thought it might lead to peace. Instead, Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006 and took total control of the strip after a brief civil war with Fatah (the PLO's main party).
Since then, Gaza has been under a strict blockade by Israel and Egypt. Israel says it's to stop weapons from reaching Hamas. Palestinians say it's a "giant open-air prison."
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The cycle has become predictable and tragic:
- Hamas fires rockets into Israel.
- Israel launches massive airstrikes in Gaza.
- Civilians die.
- The world watches.
- A ceasefire is signed.
- Wait two years and repeat.
It’s a stalemate where neither side can win and neither side can leave.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that this is a religious war that has been going on for "thousands of years." It’s not. It’s a modern conflict about land, borders, and the right to live in a place you call home. While religion is a layer—specifically regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem like the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall—the core is political.
Another mistake? Thinking one side is a monolith.
Israelis are deeply divided. Some want to annex the whole West Bank; others want to tear down every settlement and give the land back tomorrow. Palestinians are also split. Some want a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders; others want one state from the "river to the sea."
Nuance and Realities of the Current Situation
We have to talk about the power imbalance. Israel is a nuclear-armed state with one of the most advanced militaries on the planet. Palestinians don't have a state, an army, or control over their own borders. This leads many international groups, like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, to use terms like "apartheid" to describe the system in the West Bank. Israel, and many of its supporters, vehemently reject this, arguing that the security measures are necessary to prevent terrorism.
It is a conflict where both sides are deeply traumatized. Israelis carry the trauma of the Holocaust and decades of suicide bombings. Palestinians carry the trauma of the Nakba and decades of living under military checkpoints and raids.
Practical Steps to Understand the Situation Better
If you’re trying to actually make sense of this without losing your mind, you have to look past the headlines.
- Read different maps. Go find a map of the region from 1946, 1949, 1967, and today. Seeing how the "Green Line" has changed—and how the settlements have dotted the West Bank—tells a story that words can't.
- Follow local journalists. Don't just watch big international networks. Look for voices like Haaretz (left-leaning Israeli), The Times of Israel (center-right), and Palestinian outlets like Wafa or Al-Monitor.
- Learn the terminology. When someone says "right of return," understand what that means for a Palestinian refugee. When someone says "security fence" vs. "apartheid wall," realize they are talking about the exact same physical structure but through two different lenses of reality.
- Acknowledge the gray area. If you find yourself thinking one side is 100% right and the other is 100% wrong, you’ve probably missed something. This conflict is a collision of two "rights." The right of a persecuted people to have a safe home, and the right of an indigenous population to not be displaced by a colonial-backed movement.
The israel and palestine conflict started as a clash of national dreams. Today, it’s a struggle for basic survival and dignity. There are no easy answers, but understanding the timeline is the only way to even begin the conversation. The next time you see a headline, remember that for the people living it, this isn't "news"—it’s their grandfather’s lost house, their child’s safety, and a century of history that refuses to stay in the past.