Arab–Israeli conflict

The Arab–Israeli conflict ( , ) spans roughly one century of political tensions and open hostilities, though Israel itself only was established as a sovereign state in 1948. The conflict involves the establishment of the Zionist movement and the subsequent creation of the modern State of Israel in territory regarded by the Jewish people as their historical homeland, and by the Pan-Arab movement as belonging to the Palestinians, be they Muslim, Christian, Druze or other (and in the Pan-Islamic context, in territory regarded as Muslim lands).
The conflict, which started as a political and nationalist conflict over competing territorial ambitions following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, has shifted over the years from the large scale regional Arab–Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though the Arab World and Israel generally remain at odds with each other over specific territory. 
==Religious aspects of the conflict==
Several studies argue that groups on both sides, including Hamas and Gush Emunim, evoke religious arguments for their uncompromising positions. The Likud party is currently the most prominent Israeli party which includes the Biblical claim to the Land of Israel in its platform. 
The Land of Canaan or Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) was, according to the Torah, promised by God to the Children of Israel, i.e. Jews. The Jewish people conquered and ruled that land from the 11th to the 6th century BCE. Contemporary history of the Arab–Israeli conflict is very much affected by Christian and Muslim beliefs and their interpretations of the idea of the Chosen concept in their policies with regard to the "Promised Land" and the "Chosen City" of Jerusalem.Avi Beker, The Chosen: The History of an Idea and the Anatomy of an Obsession, New York: Palgrave Mcmillan, 2008 
In his 1896 manifesto The Jewish State, Theodor Herzl repeatedly refers to the Biblical Promised land concept (though Herzl was an atheist himself).The State of the Jews, Theodor Hertzl, 1896, Translated from the German by Sylvie D'Avigdor, published in 1946 by the American Zionist Emergency Council. The original German title, "Der Judenstaat", literally means "The Jews' State". Archived 2009-10-25. In the same period, Jewish migration to Palestine (Aliyah) increased in volume. 
Christian Zionists support the Jews in this war because they recognize their ancestral rights to this land as explained in the New Testament by Paul in Romans 11. Some also believe that the return of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus. 
Muslims too claim to have religious priority in accordance with the Quran. Contrary to the Jewish belief that this land was promised only to the descendants of Abraham's younger son Isaac, they argue that the Land of Canaan was promised to all descendants of Abraham, with Arabs claiming to be the descendants of his elder son Ishmael. Additionally, Muslims also revere many holy sites which were originally founded by Biblical period Jews (such as The Cave of the Patriarchs and the Temple Mount), and in the past 1,400 years have constructed Islamic landmarks on these ancient Jewish sites, such as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslims also believe that Muhammad passed through Jerusalem on his first journey to heaven.
==History==
===End of 19th century–1948===
In the late 19th century, under the banner of a movement called Zionism, many European Jews began purchasing swamps and other desert land from the Ottoman sultan and his agents. Theodore Herzl, the founder of the movement, appealed to the Ottomans as a way to raise tax revenues and to modernize the relatively sparsely populated and barren land. At that time, the entire city of Jerusalem was contained in its tiny walled area and only had a few tens of thousands of inhabitants. Under the Zionists, collective farms, known as kibbutzim, were established, and cities were founded, such as Tel Aviv. Generally, at first, the Arabs welcomed the Zionists, with their standard of living, education, capital, and jobs. Many Arabs moved into the region, matching the increase in Jews from Europe.
Before World War I, the Middle East, including Palestine, had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 years. During the closing years of their empire the Ottomans began to espouse their Turkish ethnic identity, asserting the primacy of Turks within the empire, leading to discrimination against the Arabs.Fraser, T.G. The Middle East: 1914-1979. St. Martin’s Press, New York. (1980) Pg. 2 The promise of liberation from the Ottomans led many Jews and Arabs to support the allied powers during World War I, leading to the emergence of widespread Arab nationalism.
In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, which stated that the government viewed favourably "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." The Declaration was issued as a result of the belief of key members of the government, including Prime Minister Lloyd George, that Jewish support was essential to winning the war; however, the declaration caused great disquiet in the Arab world.Segev, Tom (2000): One Palestine, Complete, pp. 48-49, Abacus, ISBN 034911286X. After the war, the area came under British rule as the British Mandate of Palestine. The area mandated to the British, included what is today Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. 
By the 1920s, the Jewish and Arab populations had grown hostile to each other and acts of violence persisted from both sides of the conflict. European anti-semitism had spread to the Middle East, and there was great association with the upcoming Nazi movement in Germany. There are notable photos and other documents linking Hitler to leaders like the Grand Mufti in Jerusalem. Similarly, anti-Arab sentiments and prejudices grew steadily among the Jewish population in Palestine. Eventually, violence between Arab and Jews had begun a vicious cycle which continues to this day.
Jewish immigration to Palestine increased. By 1931, 17 percent of the population of Palestine were Jews, an increase of six percent since 1922.Lesch, Ann M. and Tschirgi, Dan. Origins and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Greenwood Press: West Port, Connecticut. (1998). Pg. 47 Jewish immigration increased soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany, causing the Jewish population in Palestine to double.Smith, Charles D. Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict: A History With Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s: Boston. (2004). Pg. 129 Palestinian Arabs saw this rapid influx of Jewish immigrants as a threat to their homeland and their identity as a people. Moreover, Jewish policies of purchasing land and prohibiting the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned industries and farms greatly angered the Palestinian Arab communities.Lesch, Ann M. and Tschirgi, Dan. Origins and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Greenwood Press: West Port, Connecticut. (1998). Pg.47,51 Demonstrations were held as early as 1920, protesting what the Arabs felt were unfair preferences for the Jewish immigrants set forth by the British mandate that governed Palestine at the time. This resentment led to outbreaks of violence. In March 1920, a first violent incident occurred in Tel Hai, later that year riots broke out in Jerusalem. In August 1929, Arabs murdered 67 Jews in the city of Hebron, in what became known as the Hebron Massacre. By 1936, escalating tensions led to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.Lesch, Ann M. and Tschirgi, Dan. Origins and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Greenwood Press: West Port, Connecticut. (1998). Pg.
In response to Arab pressure, the British Mandate authorities greatly reduced the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine (see White Paper of 1939 and the Exodus ship). These restrictions remained in place until the end of the mandate, a period which coincided with the Nazi Holocaust and the flight of Jewish refugees from Europe. As a consequence, most Jewish entrants to Palestine were illegal (see Aliyah Bet), causing further tensions in the region. Following several failed attempts to solve the problem diplomatically, the British asked the newly formed United Nations for help. On 15 May 1947 the UN appointed a committee, the UNSCOP, composed of representatives from eleven states. To make the committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented.Smith, Charles D. Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict: A History With Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s: Boston. (2004). Pg. 186 After five weeks of in-country study, the commission recommended creating a partitioned state with separate territories for the Jews and the Arabs in Palestine . This "two state solution" was accepted with resolution 181 by the UN General Assembly in November 1947 by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. The Arab states, which constituted the Arab League, voted against. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides.Fraser, T.G. The Middle East: 1914-1979. St. Martin’s Press, New York. (1980). Pg. 41
 In the months prior to the end of the Mandate the Haganah launched a number of offensives in which they gained control over all the territory allocated by the UN to the Jewish State, creating a large number of refugees and capturing the towns of Tiberias, Haifa, Safad, Beisan and, in effect, Jaffa.
On May 14, 1948, one day before the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, Israel declared its independence and sovereignty on the portion partitioned by UNSCOP for the Jewish state. The next day, the Arab League reiterated officially their opposition to the "two-state solution" in a letter to the UN. That day, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq invaded the territory partitioned for the Arab state, thus starting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition.Smith, Charles D. Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict: A History With Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s: Boston. (2004). Pg. 198 By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Prior to and during this conflict, 711,000GENERAL PROGRESS REPORT AND SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR PALESTINE, Covering the period from 11 December 1949 to 23 October 1950, GA A/1367/Rev.1 23 October 1950 Palestinians Arabs fled their original lands to become Palestinian refugees, in part, due to an alleged promise from Arab leaders that they would be able to return when the war is won. Many Palestinians fled from the areas that are now present-day Israel as a response to massacres of Arab towns by militant and terrorist Jewish organizations like the Irgun and the Stern Gang (See Deir Yassin massacre). Many historians speculate that these massacres took place with the intention of causing psychological distress amongst the Arab population, giving them ample reason and fear to flee their homes and surrounding areas. The War came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and each of its Arab neighbours. This 1949 armistice line, the so-called green line, is to this day the internationally-recognized border of the state of Israel. It is often referred to as the "pre-1967" border.
David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, accepted the two state solution that the UN established in 1947, but Ben Gurion expressed in a letter to his wife: 
:...a "partial" Jewish State was just a beginning, and [Ben Gurion] planned the organization of a powerful army, and the use of coercion or force to absorb all the country's extension.Letters to Paula and the Children, David Ben Gurion, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971, letter dated 12-05-37, pages 153-57.Einstein, Israel, Gaza (spanish), Página/12, January 2, 2009 by Juan Gelman, 2007 Cervantes prize winner
===1949–1967===
Before the adoption by the United Nations of Resolution 181 in November 1947 and the declaration of the State of Israel in May 1948, several Arab countries adopted discriminatory measures against their local Jewish populations.Why Jews Fled the Arab Countries by Ya'akov Meron. Middle East Quarterly, September 1995Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands, The New York Times, May 16, 1948, quoted in Was there any coordination between Arab governments in the expulsions of the Middle Eastern and North African Jews? (JIMENA) There were riots in Yemen and Syria. In Libya, Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. As a result, a large number of Jews were forced to emigrate from Arab lands, although many also emigrated for ideological reasons. Over 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1952, with approximately 285,000 of them from Arab countries.'1942 - 1951', Jewish Agency for Israel.- During the first four years of statehood, the country had to struggle for its existence, while simultaneously absorbing over 700,000 immigrants.Aliyeh to Israel: Immigration under Conditions of Adversity - Shoshana Neumann, Bar-Ilan University, page 10.- Asia: Yemen - 45,127 (6.7), Turkey - 34,647 (5), Iraq - 124,225 (18), Iran - 25,971 (3.8), Syria and Lebanon - 3,162 (0.5), Eden - 3,320 (0.5); Africa: Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria - 52,565 (7.7), Libya - 32,130 (4.6) (Keren-Hayesod, 1953).Note: The numbers add up to 286,500 (without Turkey, see also: History of the Jews in Turkey). Overall, about 850,000 Jews had left the Arab World by the early 1970s (according to official Arab documentation), with many of them leaving their property behind."All I wanted was justice" - Adi Schwarz, Haaretz, Jan. 10 2008.- According to official Arab statistics, some 850,000 Jews left those countries from 1948 to the beginning of the 1970s, and about 600,000 of them were absorbed in Israel ... the property the Jews left behind in Arab countries ... Jewish-owned land alone is estimated at 100,000 square kilometers - four times the size of Israel. Today, these displaced Jews and their descendants represent 41% of the total population of Israel. For details, see Jewish exodus from Arab lands.
As a result of Israel's victory in its 1948 war of independence, any Arabs caught on the wrong side of the cease-fire line were unable to return to their homes in what became Israel. Likewise, any Jews on the West Bank or in Gaza were exiled from their property and homes to Israel. The main difference between the two is that Arabs were allowed to stay in Israel and gain citizenship post-1948, while Jews were completely removed from Arab-held areas after 1948. Today's Palestinian refugees are the descendants of those who left, either out of fear for their lives or in response to instructions from the Grand Mufti and/or Arab armies to leave their homes, so the Arab armies would have a free-fire range to evict the Jews from the new UN-created State of Israel.
In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, in contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.Howard M. Sachar. A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our TimePublished by Alfred A. Knopf (New York). 1976. p. 455. ISBN 0-394-28564-5. On July 26, 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company, and closed the canal to Israeli shipping. 
Israel responded on October 29, 1956, by invading the Sinai Peninsula with British and French support. During the Suez Canal Crisis, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into a ceasefire.
Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization. The UNEF was only deployed on the Egyptian side of the border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory.First United Nations Emergency Force (Unef I) - Background (Full Text)
On May 19, 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers, 
and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. It again closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping,'Egypt Closes Gulf Of Aqaba To Israel Ships: Defiant move by Nasser raises Middle East tension', The Times, Tuesday, May 23, 1967; pg. 1; Issue 56948; col A. returning the region to the way it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded. 
In 1966-67, Egypt's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, began a pan-Arab campaign seeking unified support to conquer Israel and expel the Jews. Freshly armed with the latest in Soviet supplied planes, tanks, and other military stocks, Egypt felt, for the first time since 1948, that they were in a position to overrun Israel. Egyptian media began a relentless and supportive jingoist campaign whipping up a fervor of popular support for war. This enthusiasm spilled over to the other Arab capitals. 
On May 30, 1967, Jordan entered into the mutual defense pact between Egypt and Syria. Egypt mobilized Sinai units, crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on Israel's southern border. Likewise, armies in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan also mobilized, encircling Israel for an imminent coordinated attack. In response, on June 5 Israel sent almost all of its planes on a preemptive mission into Egypt. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War.
At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.
===1967–1973===
In the summer of 1967, Arab leaders met in Khartoum in response to the war, to discuss the Arab position toward Israel. They reached consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace and no negotiations with the State of Israel, the so-called "three nos".
In 1969, Egypt initiated the War of Attrition, with the goal of exhausting Israel into surrendering the Sinai Peninsula. The war ended following Nasser's death in 1970. 
On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt staged a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, overwhelming the Israeli military. The Yom Kippur War accommodated indirect confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union.
When Israel had turned the tide of war, the USSR threatened military intervention. The United States, wary of nuclear war, secured a ceasefire on October 25.
===1974–2000===
; Egypt
Following the Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in March, 1979. Under its terms, the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip remained under Israeli control, to be included in a future Palestinian state. The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways.
; Jordan
In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement, which stipulated mutual cooperation, an end of hostilities, and a resolution of other issues. The conflict between them had cost roughly 18.3 billion dollars. Its signing is also closely linked with the efforts to create peace between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) representing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It was signed at the southern border crossing of Arabah on October 26, 1994 and made Jordan only the second Arab country (after Egypt) to normalize relations with Israel.
; Iraq
In June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed newly built Iraqi nuclear facilities in Operation Opera.
During the Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel, in the hopes of uniting the Arab world against the coalition which sought to liberate Kuwait. At the behest of the United States, Israel did not respond to this attack in order to prevent a greater outbreak of war.
; Lebanon
In 1970, following an extended civil war, King Hussein expelled the Palestine Liberation Organization from Jordan. September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the autonomy of Palestinian organisations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country.Shlaim. Avi. "Lion of Jordan; The life of King Hussein in War in Peace", 2007, pg.301. The violence resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinians.Massad, Joseph Andoni. "Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan", pg. 342. Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with the expulsion of the PLO and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon. The PLO resettled in Lebanon, whence it staged raids into Israel. In 1981, Syria, allied with the PLO, positioned missiles in Lebanon. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. Within two months the PLO agreed to withdraw thence.
In March 1983, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement. However, Syria pressured President Amin Gemayel into nullifying the truce in March 1984. By 1985, Israeli forces withdrew to a 15 km wide southern strip of Lebanon, until its complete withdrawal in May 2000, seen by Arab Muslims as the result of painful blows suffered at the hands of Hezbollah. They claim that they had won the war and had forced Israel out.Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 
; Palestinians
In December 1987, the First Intifada began. The First Intifada was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian Territories."Uprising by Palestinians against Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories", Intifada, Microsoft Encarta. The rebellion began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinian actions ranged from civil disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti and barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the Israel Defense Forces brought the Intifada international attention. The PLO was excluded from peace negotiations until it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism the following year. In mid-1993, Israeli and Palestinian representatives engaged in peace talks in Oslo, Norway. As a result, in September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, known as the Declaration of Principles or Oslo I; in side letters, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced terrorism, violence and its desire for the destruction of Israel. The Oslo II agreement was signed in 1995 and detailed the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C. Area A was land under full Palestinian civilian control. In Area A, Palestinians were also responsible for internal security. The Oslo agreements remain important documents in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
===2000–present===
As an attempt to halt the al-Aqsa Intifada, Israel raided facilities in major urban centers in the West Bank in 2002. This included re-taking many parts of land in Area A. Violence again swept through the region. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began a policy of unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2003. This policy was fully implemented in August 2005."Special Update: Disengagement - August 2005", Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sharon's announcement to disengage from Gaza came as a tremendous shock to his critics both on the left and on the right. A year previously, he had commented that the fate of the most far-flung settlements in Gaza, Netzararem and Kfar Darom, was regarded in the same light as that of Tel Aviv.Ma'ariv II December 2002 The formal announcements to evacuate seventeen Gaza settlements and another four in the West Bank in February 2004 represented the first reversal for the settler movement since 1968. It divided his party. It was strongly supported by Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, the Minister for Immigration and Absorption, but Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Bibi Netanyahu equally strongly condemned it. It was also uncertain whether this was simply the beginning of further evacuation.Shindler, Colin. "A History of Modern Israel", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008, pg. 314
In June 2006, a cross border raid by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip resulted in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit; - Haaretz, - UPI: - "[K]idnapped soldier Gilad Shalit" to date, he's been held hostage by Hamas, who barred the International Red Cross from seeing him, and demands the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners.Deal’s collapse extends Shalit saga"Who are the deadly terrorists Israel refuses to release for Shalit?""Israel to publish Hamas prisoner list" Hamas took over control of the strip in 2007. Due to Hamas holding Shalit, firing rockets at Israeli towns, and refusing to recognize past agreements between the Palestinian National Authority and Israel, the latter has tightened its control over Gaza's borders and restricted the flow of goods and people into and out of the area. Due to this policy, according to the BBC, "there are high levels of poverty, deprivation and unemployment in Gaza City ... Only basic humanitarian items have been allowed in [the Gaza Strip], and virtually no exports permitted, paralyzing the economy."
In July 2006, Hezbollah fighters crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel, attacked and killed eight Israeli soldiers, and abducted two others as hostages, setting off the 2006 Lebanon War which caused much destruction in Lebanon.Israel (country), Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia., 2007, p. 12. Archived 2009-10-31. A UN-sponsored ceasefire went into effect on August 14, 2006, officially ending the conflict."Lebanon truce holds despite clashes", CNN The conflict killed over a thousand people, mostly Lebanese civilians,guardian.co.uk (September 14, 2006). "Amnesty report accuses Hizbullah of war crimes". Retrieved July 16, 2008.Reuters via The Epoch Times (August 6, 2006). "No Let Up in Lebanon War". Retrieved July 16, 2008.Associated Press via CHINAdaily (July 30, 2006). "Rice postpones trip to Beirut". Retrieved July 16, 2008.Sarah Martin and Kristele Younes, Refugees International (August 28, 2006). "Lebanon: Refugees International's Statement for Donors' Conference". Retrieved July 16, 2008.Human Rights Watch (August 2006). "Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon". Retrieved 2007-04-05. severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure, and displaced approximately one million LebaneseLebanon Higher Relief Council (2007). "Lebanon Under Siege". Retrieved March 5, 2007. and 300,000–500,000 Israelis, although most were able to return to their homes.Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (July 12, 2006). "Hizbullah attacks northern Israel and Israel's response". Retrieved March 5, 2007. After the ceasefire, some parts of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to Israeli unexploded cluster bomblets.
On September 6, 2007, in Operation Orchard, Israel bombed an eastern Syrian complex which was allegedly a nuclear reactor being built with assistance from North Korea. Israel had also bombed Syria in 2003.
In April 2008, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008 by a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the Golan Heights is being discussed. President Assad was quoted in the The Guardian as telling the Qatari paper:
:...there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only party qualified to sponsor any direct talks, President Assad told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have the vision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything." 
Speaking in Jerusalem on August 26, 2008, then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Israel's increased settlement construction in the West Bank as detrimental to the peace process. Rice's comments came amid reports that Israeli construction in the disputed territory had increased by a factor of 1.8 over 2007 levels.
A fragile six-month truce between Hamas and Israel expired on December 19, 2008; attempts at extending the truce failed amid accusations of breaches from both sides.Anthony H. Cordesman, ‘THE “GAZA WAR”: A Strategic Analysis,’ Center for Strategic & International Studies, February 2009 p.9‘Israeli Airstrike on Gaza Threatens Truce with Hamas,’ Fox News, November 04, 2008 Following the expiration, Israel launched a raid on a tunnel suspected of being used to kidnap Israeli soldiers which killed several Hamas fighters.Larry Derfner (US News): Why the Gaza War Between Israel and Hamas Broke Out Now Following this, Hamas resumed rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli cities, most notably firing over 60 rockets on December 24. On December 27, 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead — a massive aerial assault and subsequent land invasion — against Hamas, beginning a major battle in Gaza. The Israeli Operation began with an intense bombardment of the Gaza strip, targeting Hamas bases, police training camps, police headquarters and offices. Civilian infrastructure, including mosques, houses and schools were also attacked with allegations being made by Israel that Hamas fighters were operating out of them. Throughout the conflict, Hamas and other organizations fired hundreds of rockets and mortar shells on Israeli cities. Human Rights groups and aid organizations have accused Israel and Hamas of War Crimes and called for independent investigations and review of arms sales to Israel."Demands grow for Gaza war crimes investigation" UK Guardian, Jan 13, 2009. The conflict came to an end on January 18, 2009 after first Israel and then Hamas announced unilateral ceasefires. In the days following the ceasefire, the BBC reported that, "more than 40,000 Gazans were left without running water and 4,000 homes had been ruined, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless."Scale of Gaza destruction emerges" BBC News, January 19, 2009.
In December 2009, Israel signaled that it was intending to build a further 700 settlements in East Jerusalem, a move criticized by the international community which views such settlements as illegal. The move was criticized by the United States as a "blow" to peaceful negotiations with the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority has postponed future negotiations with Israel until Israel halts the construction of additional settlements on what the PA considers Palestinian territory.
==Cost of conflict==
A report by Strategic Foresight Group has estimated the opportunity cost of conflict for the Middle East from 1991-2010 at $12 trillion. The report's opportunity cost calculates the peace GDP of countries in the Middle East by comparing the current GDP to the potential GDP in times of peace. Israel's share is almost $1 trillion, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia having approximately $2.2 and $4.5 trillion, respectively. In other words, had there been peace and cooperation between Israel and Arab nations since 1991, every Israeli citizen would be earning over $44,000 instead of $23,000 in 2010.Cost of Conflict in the Middle East, Strategic Foresight Group 
In terms of the human cost, estimates range from 51,000 fatalities (35,000 Arabs and 16,000 Jews) from 1950 to 2007, to 92,000 fatalities (from 1945 to 1995).
==See also==
*Binational solution
*International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict
*Arab League and the Arab-Israeli conflict
*History of the Arab-Israeli conflict
*Soviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict and Russia and the Arab-Israeli conflict
*Foreign relations of Israel
*Accession of Israel to the European Union
*Israeli-Palestinian conflict
*Israeli-Palestinian conflict timeline
*Israel-Lebanon conflict
*Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
*Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
*Policide
*Political status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
*Jewish-Islamic conflict in the days of Muhammad
* Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator
* Civil defense in Israel
==References==
==Further reading==
*Associated Press, comp. (1996). Lightning Out of Israel: [The Six-Day War in the Middle East]: The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Commemorative Ed. Western Printing and Lithographing Company for the Associated Press. ASIN B000BGT89M.
*Bard, Mitchell (1999). Middle East Conflict. Indianapolis: Alpha Books. ISBN 0-02-863261-3.
*Barzilai, Gad. (1996). Wars, Internal Conflicts and Political Order: A Jewish Democracy in the Middle East. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN0-7914-2944-X
*Carter, Jimmy (2006). Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-8502-6. Note: Critical analyses such as have pointed to numerous factual errors and misrepresentions in this book.
* Casper, Lionel L. (2003). Rape of Palestine and the Struggle for Jerusalem. New York & Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-297-4.
*Citron, Sabina (2006). The Indictment: The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Historical Perspective. New York & Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-373-3.
*
*Dershowitz, Alan (2004). The Case for Israel. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-67952-6.
* Falk, Avner (2004). Fratricide in the Holy Land: A Psychoanalytic View of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Madison: U of Wisconsin P. ISBN 0-299-20250-X
*
*
*Goldenberg, Doron (2003). State of Siege. Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-310-5.
*Gopin, Marc. (2002). Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019-514-650-6.
*
* Howell, Mark (2007). What Did We Do to Deserve This? Palestinian Life under Occupation in the West Bank, Garnet Publishing. ISBN 1859641954
*Israeli, Raphael (2002). Dangers of a Palestinian State. New York & Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House. ISBN 965-229-303-2.
*Katz, Shmuel (1973). Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine. Shapolsky Pub. ISBN 0-933503-03-2.
*
*
*
*–––. (September 1990). "The Roots of Muslim Rage." The Atlantic Monthly.
*Maoz, Zeev (2006). Defending the Holy Land. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. ISBN 0-472-11540-5
*
*Rogan, Eugene L., ed., and Avi Shlaim, ed. The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001.
* Segev, Tom (1999). One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs Under British Mandate. New York: Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-6587-3.
==External links==
===Government and official sources===
* Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
**Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000
* League of Arab States
* Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* US State Department Mideast Peace information
* United Nations on the Question of Palestine, and *Israel's UN mission's responses
* Arab-Israeli Conflict from UCB Libraries GovPubs
===Regional media===
;Israeli
* Israel News - Yedioth Aharonoth Israel's largest newspaper, centrist (Hebrew)
* IsraelInsider Israel's Daily Online News Magazine (see also Israelinsider)
* Jerusalem Post, Israel's oldest English newspaper, conservative 
* Ha'aretz Israeli newspaper, liberal 
* Jerusalem Newswire Christian-run Jerusalem-based news website, conservative
;Arab
* Lebanon Daily Star, largest English-circulation newspaper in the Arab world 
* Al Jazeera, pan-Arab news station (see also Al Jazeera)
* Al Ahram, Egypt's largest newspaper (see also Al Ahram)
* Palestine Chronicle, weekly electronic paper
===Think tanks and strategic analysis===
* Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
* Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, influential centrist Israeli think tank specializing in military and strategic analysis
* Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), Palestinian research organization
* Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information Joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank
* Middle East Research and Information Project (see also Middle East Research and Information Project)
* Saban Center for Middle East Policy (see also Saban Center for Middle East Policy)
*Washington Institute for Near East Policy (see also Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
*Original analysis of current developments in the peace-process, from Middle East Media Research Institute
*The Ariel Center for Policy Research
*A Regional Perspective on the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Jay Shapiro
* Obama and the Palestinian Question by Alvaro de Vasconcelos, Opinion, June 2009 European Union Institute for Security Studies
===Peace proposals===
See main article: List of Middle East peace proposals
* An historical summary of Middle East Peace Plans and Proposals
===Maps===
*MideastWeb Middle East Map Collection
*FactsOfIsrael.com Maps, history, statistics, victims
*University of Texas Map Collection
===General sources===
*Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from the Council on Foreign Relations
*Resources >Modern Period>20th Cent.>History of Israel>State of Israel The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*Daily digest of commentary about the Arab-Israeli conflict from around the world
*Israel and the Palestinians
*Palestine Facts 
*Encarta Encyclopedia on the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Archived 2009-10-31)
* Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, includes links to historical sources, as well as sources representing the Arab and Israeli sides of the conflict.
* The Guardian (UK) A Brief History of Arab-Israeli Conflict (flash)
* Mideast: Land of Conflict from CNN
*
* University of Texas Center for Mideast Studies extensive collection of updated links
* Diplomacy Monitor - Middle East
* Information (articles, reports, maps, books, links, ...) on the israeli palestinian conflict (middle east conflict) 
* Holy Land, Unholy War Independent coverage of the Middle East conflicts by the news agency Inter Press Service
----
----
----