The conflict between Israel and Palestine is escalating to its climax at dawn on October 7. Qassam of the Hamas Islamic Movement in the Gaza Strip suddenly launched a bold, unprecedented large-scale attack deep into the Israeli-controlled area in the South and deployed hundreds of gunmen to attack dozens of people. settlements bordering the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army responded with dozens of consecutive airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, cutting off all electricity supply to this land and launching a military campaign. The “Iron Sword” epidemic targets targets of Hamas forces in Palestine. The Israeli government also declared a nationwide state of emergency and officially confirmed that the country is in a state of war.
On October 10, Israeli media reported that at least 900 people were killed and 2,000 injured (mostly civilians); Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip reached nearly 700 people. Hamas also announced the detention of more than 130 Israeli hostages. People living near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel had to leave their homes to avoid air strikes from the other side. Some experts predict that the scale of the upcoming attack may be even larger than in 2014 when Israel mobilized 80,000 reserve troops.
It can be said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most The world’s oldest and most persistent conflict has entailed at least six Middle East wars, two Palestinian Intifada protests, and countless bloody clashes and violent attacks that have created many deadlocks. unprecedented diplomacy in human political history.
This is an extremely complicated conflict with conflicts about religion, culture, politics, politics, borders, and territory, causing many political leaders to The veteran diplomat had to put in a lot of effort, but everything still seemed like “a waste of money” when fighting and conflicts in this Middle East could always erupt at any time.
Causes of conflict
The deep roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stem from accumulated and persistent conflicts from ancient times in history related to disputes. different territories in terms of religion, ethnicity and culture…
From 5,000 years ago, the ancestors of Jews and Arabs settled in the mysterious land of the Middle East. Through the changes of history, there were times when the Jews won and built a prosperous Jewish Kingdom, but there were also many times when they lost their land and were driven into exile everywhere. However, in many ways, especially by buying land from local people, the Jews always find a way to return to their Kingdom of Israel.
Nearly 2,000 years ago after occupying the Kingdom of Israel. The Roman Empire changed its name to Palestine and the Arabs living there were called Palestinians. After the Roman Empire was defeated, Palestine became part of the Arab Empire from the 7th century.
During the period 1517-1917 the Ottoman Empire controlled most of the region This. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I (1914-1918), the League of Nations (predecessor of the United Nations) decided that more than 90% of Palestinian territory was given to Arab countries and Britain and France were the mandate. In which Britain controls the Palestinian territories with a majority of Arabs and Jews as a minority but there is no conflict between them.
However, tensions between Jews and Arabs are increased when Britain was tasked with establishing a “homeland” for the Jews in Palestine. According to the British plan, Jews began to settle in Palestine in 1917. From 1919 to 1926, the anti-Semitic movement in Europe was strong, causing about 90,000 Jews to migrate to Palestine.
Jews continued to flee the Nazi genocide fled to Palestine and by the end of the 1930s the Jewish population in this land had increased to 400,000 (one-third the number of Arabs). By 1940, the number of Jews and Arabs was nearly equal, causing conflicts between the Jewish and Arab communities to become more intense, along with opposition to British rule in this land also increasing.
Since 1923 the British mandate over Palestine ended. In 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181 dividing Palestine into two states, one for Palestinian Arabs (accounting for 43 5% of the territory) and one for Jews (accounting for 56 5% of the area). The Jews agreed, but the Arabs did not accept and refused to negotiate. From then on, the fire of conflict between the parties was officially sparked with a war against the new nation of Israel over the West Bank of the Gaza Strip and for control of Jerusalem.
May 14, 1948 Immediately after Britain withdrew from Palestine, the head of the Jewish Agency, David Ben Gurion, declared the establishment of the State of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. One day after May 15, 1948, the first Middle East war broke out between a coalition of Arab countries (including Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) and Israel. About 750,000 Palestinians had to flee or were forced to leave their homes during the “Day of Disaster” (al-Nakba) and settled in refugee camps near the Israeli border.
So far the situation The status of these refugees remains a sticking point in Arab-Israeli relations. In this war, Israel not only did not weaken, but also controlled more lands in Palestine. Meanwhile, Jordan controls the West Bank area, Egypt controls the Gaza area; The city of Jerusalem was divided in two between Israeli forces in the west and Jordanian forces in the east.
Over the next few decades the two sides continued to blame each other and war conflicts continued. continues to happen. During the Six-Day War of 1967, also known as the third Middle East war, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights, Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
It is estimated that during this short war, between 280,000 and 325,000 Palestinian Arabs had to flee or were expelled from the West Bank and more than 100,000 people had to leave the Golan Heights due to the war and take up residence in neighboring countries such as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. They and their descendants have never been allowed by the Israeli government to return home because they believe it will threaten the existence of the Jewish State.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem – where the Al-Temple is located. Aqsa of Muslims and also the most revered holy site of Jews called Temple Mount – can be considered a bottleneck in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when both sides want this to be their capital. . With the high symbolism of Jerusalem, United Nations Resolution 181 gave special status to this city considering it a “divided entity” managed by the United Nations.
After more than half a century of conflict, Jews and Arabs have been living side by side in the land of Palestine. Hundreds of small Jewish settlements are interspersed with villages or near Arab cities bordering the border established after the 1967 war. As a result, no clear border can be drawn between Jews and Arabs and The deep contradictions between the two sides have made efforts to find a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so far unsuccessful.
The 1993 Oslo Peace Agreement led to Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank as well as the Palestinian Authority established in 1994 led by Mr. Arafat. In 1995, the second Oslo Accord was signed, but the peace process remained inconclusive as Israel continued to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Hamas continued to carry out attacks aimed at into Israel’s goals.
It can be seen that the peace negotiations that have been going on for decades between Israel and Palestine are still hopeless when the basic conflict remains unresolved and the Fighting and conflict still regularly take place in this land to this day.
Internal conflicts
Experts assess The internal problems of Israel and Palestine themselves cause the conflict to remain unresolved. Almost all key leaders of both Israel and Palestine have tough views and it is difficult to compromise on an agreement to end the conflict, especially when it involves a series of difficult and fraught issues. problems such as Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, acts of violence and terrorism…
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lose political support if recognize the State of Palestine because many forces and factions in Israeli politics always have a tough stance on this issue. On November 4, 1995, the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a radical Jewish student, because he opposed Mr. Rabin signing the historic Oslo Accords in Washington with the leader of the Liberation Movement. Palestine (PLO) Yasser Arafat.
Meanwhile in Palestine, the difference between two key political forces is the Fatal Movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Fatal is the core force of the PLO with moderate viewpoint) currently controls the West Bank and the Islamic Hamas Movement (pursuing a violent struggle to establish a Palestinian State on the basis of territorial lines planned before 1948) currently controls the Gaza Strip making the possibility of Fatal and Hamas finding a consensus on the conflict with Israel quite remote despite reconciliation efforts within Palestine.
The political disagreement between Fatal and Hamas push the peace negotiation process between Israel and Palestine increasingly complicated, especially when Israel only recognizes the PLO as the Palestinian representative participating in the negotiations. Therefore, Hamas and Israel have had many clashes from small to large scale such as the fierce fighting in the years 2008-2009, 2014, 2022 and most recently the surprise attack by Hamas on deep in the area controlled by Israel on October 7.
The role of the Arab bloc and major powers
Despite declaring support for the Israeli struggle Palestine, but many Arab countries have their own calculations, making the peace process in Palestine still very distant.
Furthermore, the struggle for ownership of the ancient city of Jerusalem is one of The most important religious knots are not only between Palestine and Israel but also between major countries when expressing different stances on this issue. With a particularly sacred meaning for Islam and Judaism, recognizing Jerusalem as belonging to any side in this dispute means denying its religious sacredness and geopolitical role. of the Old City of Jerusalem to the other side.
While Russia and China aim for a solution to divide the holy land into East and West halves based on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital. Capital of the Palestinian state The US supports Israel’s stance on an intact, undivided land of Jerusalem.
In addition, with their stance supporting Palestine, China and Russia are one of the few countries recognizes Hamas as a legitimate political group trusted by the majority of people. Meanwhile, America’s views and policies under past presidents have been almost consistent in denying Palestine’s statehood and supporting Israel in many areas such as aid politics military and finance. In particular, in December 2017, US President Donald Trump declared all of Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and moved the US Embassy in Israel here, fanning the flames of conflict, destroying the peace process and deepening conflicts. Conflicts about religion and belief between Israel and Palestine.
Although up to now the “two-state” solution to the issue of Israel and Palestine is considered optimal, the countries involved all have their own Private political calculations have partly led to peaceful solutions for the Middle East, which is rife with instability, which still has no end and is even continuing to escalate to its current peak.
The reality throughout history shows that conflicts and conflicts between Israel and Palestine have existed for thousands of years, in which religion has always been the main cause and bottleneck in conflicts in the region. this land through the crusades.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the longest and most complex conflict world and despite peace processes and general mediation efforts, a peace agreement has not yet been reached. can be achieved even though the conflict is escalating to its peak, leading to the risk of turning into a total war.
Finding a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has never been an issue. easy and is becoming more and more difficult than ever, requiring the efforts of all relevant parties as well as the international community for a peaceful solution for the sacred but also hidden land of the Middle East. this instability.
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