We explain what the Israel-Palestine conflict is, what its causes are and the key concepts. Also, what are the main organizations and what is Hamas.
What is the conflict between Israel and Palestine?
The conflict between Israel and Palestine It is the confrontation between the Arab population and the Jewish population that inhabits the territory of the region of historic Palestine. It originated from Jewish immigration to Palestine during the 20th century, promoted by the Zionist movement, as a consequence of the anti-Semitism and racism suffered by Jewish communities in Europe and Asia.
Nationalist movements on both sides faced each other directly for the first time in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, which ended with the victory of the Jews, the creation of the State of Israel, and the expulsion of a large part of the Arab population from Palestine. . Clashes between Arabs and Jews for control of the territory were repeated until, at the end of the 20th century, an attempt was made to establish a diplomatic agreement to divide it.
However, during the 2000s, extremist groups on both sides rose to power and negotiations stalled. Currently, The region is divided between the State of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (which controls the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank). However, since 2007, Hamas (a radical Islamist group that is considered terrorist by the international community) controls Gaza and is at war with Israel.
Since then, there have been different periods of escalation of violence, such as in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and currently since 2023. These were stages in which there were intense Israeli bombings on Gaza and attacks on the border by Palestinian groups. These clashes have caused devastating human and material losses, especially for the civilian population in Gaza, and have generated international condemnation for possible violations of human rights and humanitarian laws.
Key concepts about the conflict between Israel and Palestine
Some key concepts to understand the conflict between Israel and Palestine are:
- Israel. It is the State of Israel today, which was founded in 1948, after the first Arab-Israeli war. It occupies much of the region of historic Palestine (minus the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank).
- Israeli. He is the citizen of the current State of Israel. This term does not refer to the Jewish religion, but to the political and civil constituency of Israel.
- Israelite. It is the name used to designate the ancient Jews, descendants of Israel or Jacob. It is a religious denomination.
- Hebrew. It is the name given to the ancient Semitic people, from which the current official language of Israel comes.
- Jew. He is a person who professes Judaism. It is a religious denomination, and not necessarily political.
- Zionism. It is a nationalist political movement that maintains that the Jewish population has the right to settle in the lands of Israel. Not all people who profess the Jewish faith are Zionists.
- Palestine (region). It is a historical region in Western Asia that includes the space between the Mediterranean Sea, the Jordan River Valley, the Litani River and the Negev Desert. The region is divided between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Currently, the State of Israel is located in part of the West Bank and the State of Palestine comprises the Gaza Strip and the other part of the West Bank.
- State of Palestine. It is the Arab-ruled country in Palestine, comprising the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank. Its government was created from exile in 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is the main political body representing the Palestinian people. Part of the territory it claims is still occupied by the State of Israel. The government is organized by the Palestinian National Authority.
- Arab. It refers to the people with an identity linked to the Arabic language. Although the majority of the Arab population professes Islam, there is a large proportion that does not. The term Arab refers to the cultural identity descended from the Arabian Peninsula.
- Palestinian. It is the name with which the Arab inhabitants of the historical region of Palestine are identified, who are currently within the territory of the State of Israel or the State of Palestine. The term does not refer to a religious affiliation, but rather a cultural one.
- Muslim. It is the person who professes the religion of Islam.
- Islamism. It is a nationalist political movement that maintains that the organization of society should be based on Islamic religious law. Within Islam there are dozens of different groups. Some of them act within the legality of their countries and have peaceful and democratic methods. Others have a radical character, use violence for political purposes and are considered terrorists by the Western international community.
- Displaced. It refers to people who suffered forced displacement during one of the wars of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This means that they had to abandon their homes, properties and original habitat and settle, forcibly, in settlements established by the government.
- Refugee. They are people who had to be exiled from their country of origin, escaping war, violence or forced displacement. International law seeks to prevent these people from being forced to return to their place of origin. Most of them must live in refugee camps or settlements established by the country that receives them.
- Israeli Arab citizen. They are people of Palestinian Arab culture, not Jewish, who live in territories that are part of the State of Israel.
Organizations involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestine
The main organizations linked to the Israeli side in the Israel-Palestine conflict are:
- World Zionist Organization. It is the group that brings together the Zionist movement worldwide. He was responsible for organizing Jewish migration to Palestine during the first half of the 20th century.
- State of Israel. It is the governmental political institution that was founded on part of the Palestinian territory. Since the 1948-1949 war, it has been considered a sovereign country. Some of its war actions during the second half of the 20th century were criticized by the international community and, currently, the United Nations (UN) considers that it occupies some territories illegally.
- Tzahal. It is the name of the armed forces of the State of Israel, whose official name is the Israel Defense Forces. Since its creation in 1948, it participated in thirteen wars against its neighboring countries.
- Mossad. It is one of Israel's two intelligence agencies, dealing with state intelligence actions around the world, except for those carried out within the State of Israel and in Palestinian territories (the West Bank and Gaza Strip). ).
- Shabak. It is the other of Israel's two intelligence agencies, which is in charge of state and military intelligence actions in the territories of the State of Israel itself, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
- Gush Emunim. It is a Jewish fundamentalist organization that promotes the settlement of the Jewish population in the Golan Heights region, a territory that is disputed within the Arab-Israeli conflict and that the UN considers illegally occupied by the State of Israel.
- Likud. It is one of the most important right-wing political parties within Israel. Its most prominent members (Uzi Landau, Benjamin Netanyahu and Limor Livnat) were against the negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority, defended the illegal occupation of the disputed territories and opposed the creation of a Palestinian Arab State.
- Israel Beitenu. It is a political party in Israel with a secular, liberal and right-wing orientation. Its members accept the resolution of the existence of two States in Palestine (one Jewish and one Arab).
- Yesh Atid. It is a political party in Israel with a secular ideology that seeks to reform the Israeli government. It is the party most committed to the search for peace with the Palestinians and promotes stopping the advance of Israeli settlements in occupied areas.
The main organizations linked to the Palestinian side in the conflict between Israel and Palestine are:
- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It is an organization made up of different Palestinian nationalist movements. Since the 1960s he led the Palestinian struggle to recover the occupied territories, through guerrilla warfare and attacks on the Israeli army. Starting in the 1990s, he abandoned the armed struggle and dedicated himself to diplomatic channels. She was the manager of the Oslo Accords, through which she achieved international recognition and the creation of the State of Palestine.
- Palestinian National Authority. It is the government institution that governed the territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since the signing of the Oslo Accords. In 2013 it officially became the State of Palestine.
- Fatah. It is a Palestinian political organization founded in the late 1950s by Yasser Arafat. It was one of the groups that led the armed struggle against the Israeli army and one of the most important within the PLO. It is a secular and nationalist organization that, since the 1990s, has pursued a democratic path and accepts the two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It is considered a center-left association that promotes Arab socialism.
- Hamas. It is an Islamist political and paramilitary organization that emerged in the late 1980s in the fight against Israeli domination in Gaza. Since Fatah and the PLO turned to diplomatic channels, Hamas has grown as a radical alternative within the Palestinian struggle. It is considered a terrorist by the international community and promotes armed struggle against the State of Israel. It has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2006 and is at war with Israel.
What is Hamas?
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary political organization that emerged in the fight against Israeli domination and occupation. The term is an acronym of the official name, which in Spanish means Islamist Resistance Movement. The creation of Hamas is part of a larger movement of radicalization of Islam across the region. Since 2006, it has controlled the Gaza Strip and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the Organization of American States and other countries (mostly aligned with the State of Israel).
This organization was founded in 1987 and opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords (1993), which established the return by the State of Israel of some territories claimed by the Palestinians and the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. In 1994, Hamas began a wave of suicide bombings in response to the Hebron Massacre carried out by the Israeli army. The Palestinian population at the time disapproved of these types of attacks and Hamas did not have much popular support.
In the 2000s, with the growth of the anti-Palestinian right in the State of Israel, the pact between Israel and Palestine established in the Oslo Accords became stagnant and tensions increased. Since then, Hamas competed for Palestinian popular support against other major organizations such as Fatah, which had been leading the Palestinian struggle since the 1960s.
In 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections against Fatah. This generated a deep political crisis in Palestine. Hamas did not recognize the legitimacy of the Oslo Accords, nor did it recognize the State of Israel or the Palestinian National Authority. In this way, Fatah and Hamas clashed violently and, finally, Palestine was divided between the two factions. The Gaza Strip came under the control of Hamas and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank under the control of Fatah (and the Palestinian National Authority).
Between 2008 and 2009, Hamas and Israel were at war and much of Gaza was destroyed. Since then, Israel established a military blockade that left Gaza isolated and the Palestinian population in terrible living conditions. In 2018 and 2019, the civilian population of Gaza began a series of demonstrations on the border with Israel that were repressed and claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians. In 2021, direct clashes between Hamas and Israeli military forces were repeated.
In 2023, Hamas began a large-scale attack along with other guerrilla organizations (such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad) in southern Israel against military and civilian targets. Consequently, the war in the region restarted. According to Hamas, the attack was a response to the military and economic blockade of Gaza by Israel and the objective is to stop the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in its territory.
The Israeli army responded with a bombing campaign on Gaza (also targeting military and civilian targets), a total blockade of the region, and a full-scale invasion. This unleashed a terrible humanitarian crisis for the people of Gaza. Currently, the international community is divided between those who defend one side or the other.
Hamas structure
Hamas is a union of Islamist groups that act together for a common goal. It is made up of several organizations that carry out activities in different areas and has a deep structure of social assistance for Palestinians. Its political growth was established through work in grassroots commissions, which are responsible for supporting the families of the victims of war and poverty caused by the confrontation with Israel.
In addition, it controls a series of cultural, educational, religious and health institutions, aimed at improving the quality of life of Palestinian citizens. Along with economic and social assistance, they impart Islamist dogma that advocates the implementation of religious law in the social structure.
Among the most important figures in Hamas are:
- Ahmed Yasin. He was one of the founders of Hamas. As a child he had to flee to Gaza with his entire family, when his town was destroyed by the Israeli army during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. There he spent his childhood in a refugee camp under very poor living conditions. He was arrested during the First Intifada and spent eight years in an Israeli prison. He was then imprisoned repeatedly. His position became radicalized over time, but from the beginning he defended Islam and promoted the incorporation of religious law in Palestine. He opposed the Oslo Accords and maintained that the elimination of Israel was the only way to defend Palestinian rights. The Israeli military forces tried to assassinate him on different occasions until they succeeded in 2004, with a guided missile attack.
- Abdel Aziz ar-Rantisi. He was another of the founders of Hamas. Like Yasin, his family was forcibly displaced by the Israeli army and spent his childhood in a refugee camp. He studied Medicine in Egypt, where he became involved with the Muslim Brotherhood (one of the most important Islamist organizations). He fought against Arab submission to the State of Israel and promoted the liberation of Palestine through jihad (Islamic holy war). He was known for his anti-Semitism. He was imprisoned on different occasions and killed by the Israeli army with a missile attack in 2004, a month after Yasin.
- Ismail Haniye. He was born in a refugee camp in Gaza, after his parents were expelled from Palestine as a result of the 1948 war. He studied Arabic Literature at Gaza University and is an Islamist pan-Arab nationalist. He was imprisoned by Israeli forces during the First Intifada for his membership in Hamas. Furthermore, he was the target of “targeted killings” by the Israeli army, but escaped with his life. In 2006 he became prime minister of Gaza and in 2007 he formed a new government in unity with the Palestinian National Authority. However, he was later dismissed. He is one of the main leaders of Hamas and deals with international negotiations. In October 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed fourteen members of his family.
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