The history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine: the essence and reasons

The history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on since 1947 and remains a bleeding wound throughout the Middle East. The history and reasons of the confrontation between the two countries, as well as why Hamas escalated in 2023, are described in the Izvestia article.

History of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, causes

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest and most complex conflicts of our time. Its roots go back to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the national identity of both the Arabs of Palestine and Jews, inspired by Zionism, which promotes the idea of restoring the Jewish state in its historical homeland, intensified. In 1917-1918, Great Britain occupied the territory of Palestine, and British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour made a proposal to the head of the Jewish community Lionel Rothschild to create a home for the Jewish people in Palestine while respecting the rights of other peoples. This statement was called the Balfour Declaration. At the same time, Great Britain advocated providing guarantees for the independence of the territory of Palestine after the end of the First World War. The League of Nations, established after the end of World War I, placed Palestine under British rule as a mandate State in 1922.

All this laid the foundation for a future confrontation that grew with Jewish immigration during the interwar period and resulted in a wave of riots and clashes in the 1920s and 1930s. The situation finally changed in 1947, when Great Britain referred the issue to the newly created United Nations (UN; replaced by the League of Nations), which proposed a plan to divide the territory into two states and establish an international regime for Jerusalem. The plan did not lead to peace, instead, in November 1947, the Arab-Israeli War began (in Israel it is called the War of Independence).

In 1948, Israel was created, which in the following years, during several wars, expanded its area at the expense of the Palestinian territories, and in 1967 occupied the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, most of the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. These events led to numerous waves of mass migration of the Arab population.

The emergence of Hamas, the confrontation with Israel

Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) emerged in 1987 during the first intifada (the Arabic word meaning "shaking off"), historically it has been associated with the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt (the organization is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia). At the same time, he adopted the "Islamic Charter," which did not recognize Israel's right to exist.

The first intifada ended in 1993, when the Oslo Agreement was signed, in which the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed to divide Palestine into Arab and Jewish parts, subject to Israel's withdrawal from all territories occupied by it since 1967, and recognized Israel's right to exist.

In 2000, the second intifada began. It ended in 2005 and led to the PLO's autonomous control over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A year later, Hamas won the elections and gained control of the enclave, while the PLO representatives were expelled.

After the split of the Palestinian political camp in 2007, the country was effectively divided into two governing zones: the West Bank under the control of Fatah (the dominant party in the Palestinian National Authority) and the Gaza Strip under the control of Hamas.

Since then, conflicts have flared up between Hamas and Israel more than once, and the IDF has conducted operations in the territory: "Hot Winter" in 2008 in the Gaza Strip, which aimed to destroy Palestinian rocket launchers and rockets; "Cast Lead" in 2008-2009; "Pillar of Cloud" in 2012; "Guardian walls" in 2021; "Shield and Arrow" in May 2023.

On October 7, 2023, the day of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War and during the holidays of Simchat Torah and Shmini Atzeret (in 2023, they fell on the period from sunset on October 6 to evening on October 7), another conflict began.

The operation of 2023 was named "Al-Aqsa Storm" by Hamas in honor of the Al-Aqsa Mosque located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In May 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics of Palestine published a report according to which about 134 thousand Palestinians and Arabs have been killed in Palestine and beyond since 1948. Death counts were also carried out for the period from October 2023 to June 2024. According to them, the number of victims in the Gaza Strip can range from 55,000 to 78,500 people. According to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave, the number of victims by July 2025 exceeded 57 thousand Palestinians. Data on the number of victims in Israel is unknown.

The reasons for the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023

In the explanations of one of the leaders of Hamas, the decision to attack on October 7, 2023, was made by a limited circle of commanders, and the key goal was the capture of hostages for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. All this was done in response to the Israeli Government's policy over the previous year, including incidents around holy sites and the harsh regime of Palestinian prisoners.

It is also important to note that Hamas accuses the Israeli side of the occupation and incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to the Islamic world, Al-Aqsa stands on the site of the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad. Israel has repeatedly expressed its intention to build a new temple of Solomon on the mountain due to the fact that the Jerusalem temple once stood there.

Russia's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Moscow's approach to the conflict between Palestine and Israel is based on the 1947 UN decision to create two internationally recognized states. The Russian authorities also stress the unacceptability of terrorist methods and at the same time insist that a lasting settlement is possible only through negotiations between all parties involved.

"Russia's position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is well known and has been absolutely clearly stated more than once. It does not have any conjunctural character related to the current situation. It is based on the decisions of the UN Security Council, which provide for the creation of two independent sovereign states: Israel and Palestine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October 2023.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine: when and how it will end

Since October 2023, the issue of ending the conflict and its possible outcome has been raised more than once. Many experts argued that it could last for more than one year. In August 2025, it became known that Israel had approved a new phase of Operation Gideon's Chariots, designed for several waves of reservist mobilization and a possible assault on Gaza City. The campaign may last until 2026, and the number of soldiers involved will reach 130 thousand.

As orientalist Leonid Tsukanov told Izvestia earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main goal is to end the conflict on Israeli terms without agreeing to a partial truce in exchange for the release of some hostages. The expert notes that even without the complete defeat of Hamas, the Israeli army will gain control over most of the sector, but the conflict may take on a protracted character, and the Islamic Resistance Movement will continue the guerrilla war of attrition.