The May 2021 Gaza War
Between late April and early May 2021, several events converged to create a new Israeli-Palestinian political-strategic dynamic: Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas ‘s decision of 29 April to postpone the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections, Israeli police actions against Palestinian worshippers in al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, and renewed Israeli eviction threats against Palestinian families living in the Shaykh Jarrah neighborhood near the Old City of […]
The 2014 Gaza War
On July 8, 2014, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Protective Edge. The conflict lasted for 50 days, and it was characterized by intense fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups, primarily Hamas, which controlled Gaza. The conflict resulted in significant casualties and destruction in Gaza, and it […]
The War on Gaza, 2008–2009
Background The war on Gaza (2008–9) constituted the culmination of a series of Israeli military operations against the Strip that started during the Second Intifada and were only interrupted by fragile cease-fires. Between October 2003 and January 2005, when it was still inside the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army conducted twelve military operations—assassinating senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ) leaders, conducting […]
The Second Intifada
28-29 September 2000 Former Israeli army general and then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits al-Aqsa mosque with his entourage, sparking a violent reaction from Palestinians. Israel reoccupies the Palestinian territories amid fighting between the Palestinian resistance and Israeli army. A second intifada begins which, according to Israeli human rights organisation BTselem, kills 3315 Palestinians and 972 Israelis […]
The Oslo Accords
Thirty years ago, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met on the lawn of the White House in Washington to sign a deal many believed could be a precursor for peace in the region. The first Oslo Accord brought together Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. The former was the Israeli prime minister, and the latter was the […]
The first Intifada
The grassroots protests of 1987 escalated into full-blown riots involving much of civil society, from organisations, union groups to newly created institutions to the ordinary population who came out in large numbers on to the streets led by rock-throwing youths. As the protest movement developed, more sophisticated missiles, such as the Molotov cocktail, were used […]
Yom Kippur War
It has been 50 years since the start of the 1973 War between Israel, Egypt and Syria. The war, known to Israelis as the Yom Kippur War, and to Arabs as the October War, ushered in a new reality in the Arab world and changed the face of US foreign policy towards the Middle East. Here’s […]
Six-Day War
More than 50 years ago, the state of Israel shocked the world when it seized the remaining Palestinian territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, in a matter of six days. In a war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria, known as the 1967 War, or the June War, Israel delivered […]
The 1956 Suez War
Three nations, including Israel, launched a war to gain the Canal back from Nasser. Published On 29 Feb 200829 Feb 2008 An Egyptian naval gunboat patrols the Suez Canal. Nasser did not anticipate an attack following his nationalisation of the vital waterway The second Arab-Israeli war, also known as the Suez War, broke out on October 29, 1956 […]
Nakba Day: What happened in Palestine in 1948
Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world mark the Nakba, or catastrophe, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948. Having secured the support of the British government for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, on May 14, 1948, as soon as the British Mandate expired, Zionist forces declared the establishment of […]