6th Century BC – 1917: Mass exodus of Jewish people by neighboring empires such as the Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Islamic Caliphates, Egyptian Sultanates, and Ottoman Empire until WWI.
1917: The British government announced the Balfour Declaration, a public statement of the desire and support of a Jewish state in the future.
1918: Following WWI, the Allies signed the Treaty of Sevres with the Ottoman Empire, ceding Palestine to the British Empire as the Mandate of Palestine. A mass migration of European Jewish people into the Mandate of Palestine began.
1941-1945: 6 million Jewish people died in the holocaust during WWII leading the devestated and scattered Jewish population of Europe to desire a homeland.
1947: Led primarily by Great Britain, the UN proposed a division of the Mandate of Palestine into a Jewish-led Israel and an Arab-led Palestine.
1948-1949: Disagreeing with the proposal, a coalition of Arab League States attacked Israel marking the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts as well as greater Arab-Israeli conflicts. Known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israel won this conflict, pushing beyond the UN’s proposed borders into Palestine.
1967: On June 5, the Six-Day War broke out between Israel, and all of its neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and minor Lebanese involvement). The conflict originated from border disputes in which Israel won further occupying the Gaza Strip and West Bank of Palestine, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and the Golan Heights of Syria (Which Israel currently occupies).
1973: Also known as the Yom Kippur War, from October 6 to October 25, Israel once again fought Egypt and Syria over land Israel occupied following the Six-Day War. Unlike previous conflicts, the Yom Kippur War led to the Camp David Accords, a significant milestone in maintaining peace between Israel and neighboring Arab states.
1978: On September 17, the United States brokered the Camp David Accords, returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and marking the first negotiations between Israel and an Arab state.
1987-1993: The Palestinian Liberation Organization fought Israel in the First Intifada. In 1993 the Oslo Accords compromised once more establishing a central Palestinian government primarily based in the West Bank, granting autonomy to the Palestinians in certain areas. Hamas, formed in 1987, deemed the PLO too moderate and secular, splintering off with more extremist ideals in the Gaza Strip.
2000-2005: Following the failure to reach a final compromise in the 2000 Camp David Summit, an uprising by the Palestinian people took place against Israeli occupation. Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
2008-20014: Following Hamas firing rockets into the town of Sderot, Israel launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip from 2008-2009. This led to a series of attacks by Hamas on Israel with Israel responding with military operations (Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense, & Operation Protective Edge).
2021: On May 10, a major outbreak of violence erupted eventually being quelled through a ceasefire 11 days later (2021 Israel-Palestine Crisis).
2023: Hamas launched the largest attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War on October 7 including thousands of rockets and missiles as well as fighters onto Israeli soil. Israel responded with military force against Hamas (Operation Iron Swords). On November 24, Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire but fighting resumed on December 1st.
