The Israeli-Palestinian conflict timeline represents one of the most protracted and complex disputes in modern history, rooted in competing national movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 1948 War and the Nakba Following the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947, which proposed dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War erupted immediately after Israel's declaration of independence in May 1948.
Formation and Early History of the Palestine Liberation Organization
For Palestinians, this war, known as the Nakba or "Catastrophe," resulted in the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, the creation of refugee camps, and the loss of territory that formed the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, annexed by Egypt and Jordan respectively. This occupation bred Palestinian resistance movements, including the rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yasser Arafat.
Initial purchases of land from absentee Ottoman owners led to tensions with local Palestinian peasants, marking the beginning of a demographic and political struggle that the Ottoman authorities struggled to manage. The rise of political Zionism, particularly following Theodor Herzl's "Der Judenstaat" in 1896, spurred Jewish immigration, or Aliyah, primarily from Eastern Europe.
Formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Its Historical Context
The Peel Commission in 1937 proposed partition, a solution rejected by Arab leaders and accepted in principle by Zionists, setting the stage for further escalation. These agreements established the Palestinian Authority and initiated a phased withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho, representing a landmark, albeit fragile, step toward a two-state solution.
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