Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, including 10,000 women and children, in more than 50 days, making it the deadliest war yet for the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Israel has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire as a four-day humanitarian truce comes to an end on November 28. It is not known whether the truce will be extended.
The devastation of Gaza and the rising death toll have sparked protests around the world, putting the decades-old issue at the center of global politics.
The Balfour Declaration
The Israeli-Palestinian issue dates back almost a century when Britain, during World War I, committed to establishing a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine under the Balfour Declaration. British troops took control of the territory from the Ottoman Empire at the end of October 1917.
Jewish immigration to Palestine
Large-scale Jewish migration to Palestine began, accelerated by Jewish people fleeing Nazism in Europe. Between 1918 and 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 6 percent to 33 percent.
Palestinians were alarmed by the demographic change and tensions increased, leading to the Palestinian Revolt of 1936 to 1939.
Meanwhile, Zionist organizations continued to campaign for a homeland for Jews in Palestine. Armed Zionist militias began attacking the Palestinian people, forcing them to flee. Zionism, which emerged as a political ideology in the late 19th century, called for the creation of a Jewish homeland.
The UN partition plan
As violence ravaged Palestine, the issue was brought to the newly created United Nations. In 1947, the UN passed Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, ceding approximately 55% of the land to Jews. The Arabs were granted 45 percent of the territory, while Jerusalem was declared a separate internationalized territory.
The city is currently divided between West Jerusalem, with a Jewish majority, and East Jerusalem, with a Palestinian majority. Israel captured East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967, as well as the West Bank – a step not recognized by the international community.
The Old City of occupied East Jerusalem is of religious significance to Christians, Muslims and Jews. It is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
In 1981, the UN designated it a World Heritage Site.
The Nakba
Before the birth of Israel in 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically expelled from their homes by Zionist militias. This mass exodus became known as the Nakba or catastrophe.
An additional 300,000 Palestinians were displaced by the Six-Day War in 1967.
Israel declared the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980, but the international community still considers it occupied territory. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.
The Oslo Accords
In 1993, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, which aimed to achieve peace within five years. It was the first time that the two parties recognized each other.
A second agreement in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three parts – Areas A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority, created following the Oslo Accords, was offered only limited control over 18%. territory, while Israel continued to control the West Bank.
Israeli settlements and checkpoints
However, the Oslo Accords slowly collapsed as Israeli settlements, Jewish communities built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, expanded at a rapid pace.
The population of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem increased from around 250,000 in 1993 to 700,000 in September this year. Around three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The construction of Israeli settlements and a separation wall in the occupied territories has fragmented Palestinian communities and restricted their mobility. Around 700 road obstacles, including 140 checkpoints, dot the West Bank. Around 70,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits pass through these checkpoints during their daily travels.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law. The UN has condemned the settlements, calling them a major obstacle to achieving a viable Palestinian state under the so-called “two-state solution.”
Gaza blockade
Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Hamas group came to power. The siege continues to this day. Israel also occupies the West Bank and East Jerusalem – territories the Palestinians want to be part of their future state.
Israel imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting off its electricity, food, water and fuel supplies following a surprise attack by Hamas in Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed in this attack.
Israel and Palestine now
This is what Israel and Palestine look like today.
Today, approximately 5 million Palestinians live in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 1.6 million Palestinians are Israeli citizens. This represents about half of their total population. The other half live in other countries, particularly in Arab countries. There are approximately 14.7 million Jews in the world today, 84% of whom live in Israel and the United States. The rest live in other countries, including France, Canada, Argentina and Russia.
This is an account of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost to violence between 2008 and 2023.
Data compiled by Sarah Shamim
