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The conflict can be traced back to the late 19th century when the Zionists sought to establish a separate Jewish state in Ottoman-controlled Palestine. After WWII and the Holocaust, Israel was born due to global pressure.
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After the Israeli independence from British mandate in 1948, the Arab-Israeli war broke out in attempts to establish ruling power over Palestine. The war forced around 750000 refugees to flee from the new found Israel which came to be known as Palestinian refugees. These were accumulated in the areas of West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Syria.
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This period marks the rise of violence between Israel and Arabs. These comprise mainly attacks on Israeli civilians. During this period, Egyptian forces also took advantage of Palestinian volunteers in Gaza by arming and training them to raid Israel.
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Amid rising threatening actions by Arab nations and Egypt-aided Palestinian attacks, Israel was forced retaliate against Egypt in 1967. It came to be known as the Six-Day War which was won by IDF.
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In 1969, Yasser Arafat came to power after being elected the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. When PLO began launching civilian attacks in Israel, IDF deported them into Jordan. They continued to operate malicious acts from Jordanian region.
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After the Munich Massacre in 1972, the Syrian and Egyptian armies joined hands to attack Israel which came to be known as the Yom Kippur War. When Israel successfully defeated its attackers, it made way for future peace negotiations.
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Tensions grew with the rise of Likud party to government in 1977 that encouraged construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. A horrifying terrorist activity took place against Israeli civilians in 1978 which was responded by IDF with the launch of Operation Litani; a goal to capture Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. It further gave rise to the Lebanon War in 1982.
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This refers to the first Palestinian uprising against Israel in 1987. It was directed by PLO that continued with terror attacks on Israeli civilians. Widespread riots escalated all throughout the territories almost every day. It involved stone pelting by youths against IDF.
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The first uprising caused the deaths of around 1551 Palestinians and 422 Israelis. During this period, in 1987 Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi formed Hamas which came to be recognized as ‘armed resistance’ against Israel.
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During 1990-91 Gulf War, PLO leader Yasser Arafat supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and in opposing the coalition forces against Iraq with ulterior motives. This crippled PLO as international forces stopped funding them.
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After realising his terrible mistake, Arafat made peace attempts in 1993 with the Rabin government in Israel. Secret negotiations took place between PLO and Israel which came to be known as ‘Oslo Peace Process.’
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Things went downhill when Baruch Goldstein, a religious fundamentalist initiated the Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre in 1994. 125 Palestinians were injured while 29 were killed. Hamas retaliated with suicide attacks in civilian areas. Further peace attempts were like a roller coaster ride.
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From 2000 onwards, the Second great Palestinian uprising took place after the failure of the Camp David Summit. It resulted in several actions and counter-actions by Palestine and Israel including the a lethal suicide attack in the Park Hotel in Netanya and Operation Defensive Shield.
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When Hamas became a diplomatic power in 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council, the US and many European countries withdrew all economic aid from them and Palestinian Authority. They were deemed a terrorist organization when they refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a separate state and held to its belief of wiping it out.
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The serious bombings at the Gaza Strip in 2008 and Israeli invasion in 2009 resulted in the deaths of 1300 Palestinians. Soon after, Obama government pressured Netanyahu to refrain from constructing Israeli settlements in the West Bank to maintain peace.
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The past three years have been intense in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict history. 2021 marked another war between Israel and Gaza. Recently, Hamas launched another devastating attack against Israel by firing 2200 rockets while simultaneously deploying terrorists in Israel who attacked soldiers and civilians alike.
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