This is an article from the Winter 2025 Civitas Examiner (Volume 2, No. 4) and was written by one of our students, Lucy M. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
This conflict involving the not-fully recognized state of Palestine and the country of Israel is historically one of the longest running conflicts in the world.
To fully understand this long-reigning conflict, we must look back at the historical interactions between these people and work our way back to the present. Though the conflict has been going on for much longer, we’re starting on May 14, 1948, when Israel became an independent country.
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The day after, on May 15, the newly-founded nation was ambushed by the armies of five different Arab countries. This jumpstarted what is referred to by some as Israel’s war for independence.
What happened was that when the United Nations General Assembly voted to separate the British-ruled (at the time) state of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, but it was rejected by the Arab leaders.
The Jewish leaders then declared the establishment of the state of Israel, and the day after were invaded by the forces of Egypt, Transjordan (Modernly known as Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq who were intending on preventing the establishment of the Jewish formation. They attempted to secure the land for the Palestinian-Arab population.
When this war ceased, territorial agreements were made, and boundaries were set. The most relevant point was that the Gaza strip was occupied by Egypt.
At this point in time, around 750,000 Palestinians fled the country of Israel or were forced out.
Though, during this same time, Jews from various muslim countries and areas came to the newly founded country of Israel.
This war ultimately secured the establishment of Israel and formed the political and military foundation for the country in the years to come.
1967 Middle East War
This is also known as the six days war. This conflict pretty drastically changed the border agreements for Israel and the Gaza Strip.
In this war, Israel was fighting against the combined forces of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The war began when Israel, fearing an alleged attack from Egypt, launched a strike on Egypt’s air force. Overall, this war ended with Israel capturing back the Gaza strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. This meant that more than 1 million Palestinians were now living in Israel-controlled territories.
However, in 1979, Israel signed a treaty with Egypt, giving them ownership over the Sinai Peninsula.
Today, the West Bank, which is the area between Israel and the Jordan River, is home to over 3 million Palestinians. This area, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip are widely considered Palestinian territories. Palestine has always rejected Israel’s presence in these places.
Israel still has control over the West Bank, but the Palestinians have their own kind of government and rules, that is the “Palestinian Authority.”
Still, even though they are widely considered Palestinian territory, there are more than 160 Israeli settlements there as well as in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians want the Israeli settlements removed, but the Israeli government argues that the biggest settlements there are all rooted in its historical rights. The Israeli government doesn’t recognize Palestine’s rights to have their own state, claiming that the West Bank is still part of the Israeli homeland.
In 2022, Israel stated that the creation of a Palestinian state would be a threat to Israeli security. However, in 2024, the United Nations put out a statement saying that “Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal.” The UN claimed that Israel was in breach of international agreements on racism, and asked them to withdraw all settlers in these Palestinian territories.
October 7 and Hamas
On Oct. 7, 2023, a terrorist group/political organization known as Hamas launched a massacre on Israelis, keeping 253 people hostage, two of which were Americans. Many of these hostages were kept until October 13, 2025 when they were finally released.
Hamas was formed in 1987, shortly after the first Palestinian uprising. In 1997, Hamas was recognized as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) by the United States. Hamas is upheld by various aspects of the socio-political structure in palestinian territories. In 2006, Hamas won the legislative elections required to govern the Gaza Strip. Hamas was formed with the goal to annihilate Israel and make it into one Palestinian state. Since its creation, Hamas has wanted the elimination of Israel, however, some of the documents stating so have been edited and now appear more vague. These documents do not recognize Israel.
Hamas has committed many human rights violations that have been reported by the United Nations. Hamas has orchestrated mass killings of Israelis–especially targeting civilians–as well as taking many civilians hostage, which are all crimes against humanity according to the HRW (Human Rights Watch). In addition, Hamas has launched indiscriminate rocket and motor shell attacks toward civilian areas in Israel, which is a violation of international law. Hamas has also taken captive 251 men, women and children (only including people on Oct. 7th) which is also a violation of human rights.
All these violations are against Israelis. But there are also plenty of violations against fellow Palestinians, the very people they are governing. An example of this would be the use of human shields that Hamas has employed as a defense tactic against Israel. A human shield as a defense mechanism is actually considered a war crime
Territorial Arguments
Both Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital. Israel, after occupying East Jerusalem–they were already in control of the west–declared the country its permanent capital, saying that Jerusalem cannot be divided. The UN recognizes Jerusalem as Palestinian land occupied by Israel.
The Gaza strip is a section of land surrounded by Egypt, Israel, and the Mediterranean sea. It is one of the most densely populated places in the world. For a long time, Gaza had one of the highest unemployment rates in the world (around 50%), and the majority of the population was living under the poverty line. That’s something that hasn’t changed throughout this war. In fact, it’s only gotten worse. The unemployment rate rose to around 80% as of now.
The UN regards Gaza as an Israeli-occupied territory because of its high amount of control in the area. However, Israel withdrew their settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005.
When Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, Israel and Egypt both imposed a blockade of sorts, with Israel controlling most of what came through into/out of the Gaza Strip.
In the following years, Israel and Hamas have had more minor conflicts separate from these ones spanning between 2008 and 2014. A more major conflict occurred in 2021 which ended a ceasefire at the time.
More recently, in July 2025, countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, and others called for an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict due to the sheer amount of civilian casualties.
Even more recently, in Oct. 2025, the Israeli government approved the first phase of Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza. The agreement relied heavily on the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the entry of aid into Gaza for civilians.
As of Oct. 12, Israelis and Palestinians were celebrating the exchange of hostages and prisoners, as well as the ceasefire as a whole. Hamas reportedly returned all of the living Israeli hostages and Israel freed close to 2,000 of their war prisoners.
From the outside, the exchange seemed to be going quite well, but it seemed that it couldn’t last. On Nov. 22, 2025, Israel’s military launched airstrikes against the Hamas military in Gaza. Health officials in the area corroborate that at least 24 people were killed in the affair and another 54 were wounded. Israel reports that the airstrikes were sent in response to gunfire at its troops.
Though, despite this violence, an international plan for the future governance and security of the Gaza Strip is set in place. The United Nations has formally agreed to a U.S.-developed plan for future management of the Gaza Strip.
The key parts of the U.S. blueprints are an international security force, transitional authority, and a future Palestinian state. This plan allows for international groups of military troops (peacekeepers) to take charge of security in Gaza. It also forms a temporary government system in the area overseen by President Donald Trump. He would be responsible for coordinating reconstruction and civil services. This plan also suggests that, given certain conditions are met, a path for a future Palestinian state is possible and probable.
