Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and over the past 76 years, the country has been fighting for its survival. The central issue in all conflicts has always been the refusal of the Islamic world to accept a Jewish State in the Middle East.
The early history of the modern State of Israel is marked by wars and conflicts between Israel and the various Arab nations that sought to destroy it. After the Arab defeats in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, the idea of annihilating Israel militarily proved unattainable and Muslim leaders decided to change their strategy. The Jewish State began to confront adversaries of a different nature, in asymmetrical wars. Israel stopped facing countries and regular armed forces and began to face terrorist groups infiltrated among the civilian population. Hate speech and the promise to destroy Israel are present in the statutes of these groups and in the speeches of their leaders, in the Arab media, in schools, mosques and on the streets.
In this new type of warfare, groups carry out suicide attacks and use their own population as human shields, hiding and firing missiles from schools, mosques and hospitals; they release incendiary balloons, kidnap, rape and kill. When Israel retaliates, they use images of death – some of which are proven to be faked – and scenes of rubble to achieve one of their main objectives, which is to undermine Israel’s image and isolate the country politically and diplomatically. These images have fueled anti-Israel propaganda around the world.
It was after the Yom Kippur War that a false anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist narrative was created, which points to Israel as the great military power, the “new” Nazis, a colonizing and warlike force. A narrative that points to Israel as “the aggressor” and the Palestinians as “the victims.” Despite Israel having been the victim of countless wars aimed at its destruction, and the victim of the worst acts of terrorism, inexplicably there are many who “buy” this narrative and defend the terrorists.
Many of the images of the heinous acts committed by Palestinian terrorists during the pogrom of October 7, 2023 were filmed and broadcast live by the terrorists themselves. They wanted to “boast” of their exploits to their friends and family. They recorded the massacre of men, women, children and the elderly, the burning of families alive, the kidnapping of people and the destruction of entire communities. Even in the face of these images, throughout the West, including in the fields In American and European universities, on social media and in feminist organizations, many justify and support the terrorists, blaming the victims themselves for the attack.
However, the story of Israel tells a very different story about a small country constantly under attack, struggling to survive in a hostile region, against countries larger in territory and population. A country that seemed destined to disappear as soon as it was born, but that fought and flourished despite being surrounded by enemies who constantly sought its extinction.
What we have seen in these seven decades of Israel's existence is the resilience of a people who, three years after the Nazi Holocaust, managed to fight against five Arab armies and not only survive, but build a prosperous country. Through hard work, the Jews converted swamps into rich and fertile agricultural land. Today the country is a symbol of modernity, a country of startups, a country considered an oasis of technology.
Some of the Arab countries that have been at war with Israel have already signed peace agreements with the Jewish state. The peace agreements with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) and the recent Abraham Accords (2020) concluded by Israel with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco show a reshaping of geopolitics in the Middle East. These peace agreements and a possible rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia give hope for the normalization of ties with at least part of the Arab world and show that former enemies can sit down at the negotiating table and overcome their differences.
Israel's Proportion to the Arab World
The Arab League currently has 22 members: Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine1, Syria (suspended), Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia. Together, all member countries cover an area of 13,15 million km², with around 473,27 million inhabitants.
For comparison, the total area of Israel covers about 21 km2, with a population of 9,56 million people. This represents 0,14% of the total land area of the Arab League countries and Iran, a country that has an area of 1,65 million km2.
What was the geopolitical situation in the Middle East before 1947?
Most of the territory that today comprises Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel was under Ottoman rule for four centuries. During the 1a World War (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire fought alongside Germany and Austria-Hungary against the Allies – Great Britain, France, Serbia, Imperial Russia, Greece, Portugal, Romania and the United States.
The British, keen to drive the Turks out of the Middle East, made three contradictory promises. To the Arabs, they proposed that if they fought against the Ottoman Empire, Britain would give them a “great independent Arab nation” under the rule of the Hashemite family.2. In November 1917, they signed the “Balfour Declaration”, which stated that London would look “favorably” on the creation of a “Jewish national home in Palestine” and, in 1915, they had already concluded the Sykes-Picot “secret agreement” with France, by which London and Paris would divide the Middle East between themselves.
When the war ended, the victorious nations France and England divided the territory of the Ottoman Empire between them, and France was given the mandate to govern Ottoman Syria, which included Lebanon. Britain was given the mandate over Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and Ottoman Palestine (which included Israel and modern Jordan).
At the beginning of the mandate, the British were receptive to Jewish immigration; but in the face of violent and hostile reactions from Palestinian Arabs, London began to limit and then ban the entry of Jews.
When Hitler came to power in Germany in the 1930s, the Nazis began to persecute, segregate, and exterminate the Jewish people. More and more European Jews tried to emigrate to the Land of Israel, but were prevented by the British. The vast majority of those who were forced to return to Europe ended up being murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
By 1946, Jews constituted more than a third of the population of British mandated Palestine. Unable to find a solution that would satisfy both Jews and Arabs, in 1947 Britain referred the issue to the United Nations for resolution.
What was the Partition of Palestine drawn up by the UN?
A United Nations committee decided that the best solution to the conflict in British Palestine would be to divide the territory into two states: one Jewish and one Arab. In 1947, the UN approved the Partition, which would have Jerusalem as an international city. This decision led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The Arabs, however, refused to accept the Partition, did not establish their own state, and did not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. The Arab nations decided to “throw the Jews into the sea” and prepared to wage the first war to eliminate the Jewish State.
What was the Israeli War of Independence (1948-49)?
Countries that fought against Israel: Egypt, Transjordan (later called Jordan), Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Some figures: While Israel had 140 men in its newly formed armed forces, the Arabs had more than 720 men: 300 Egyptians, 60 Transjordanians, 300 Syrians, 10 Iraqis and 50 Palestinian Arabs, without taking into account the support of Saudi Arabia and other Arab League allies.
Change of borders: By the end of the war, Israel had captured more than half of the territory that had been designated by the UN for the formation of a Palestinian state. Transjordan (Jordan) had captured the Old City of Jerusalem and the West Bank; Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip. Both territories had also been designated for the formation of a Palestinian state.
Summary of the Conflict: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel. The following day, shortly after the British left, regular armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon invaded the newly founded Jewish state. The conflict was an expansion of the fighting that had already been taking place among the Jews of Ishuv (Jewish community in British Palestine) and Palestinian Arabs, with the help of volunteers from various Arab countries.
The war was fought along all the country's borders: against Syria and Lebanon to the north; against Iraq and Transjordan to the east; against Egypt and Sudanese battalions to the south; and, in the interior of the country, against the Arab population. The superiority of the Arabs was undeniable, both in weaponry and in fighting forces.
Until the declaration of independence, Israel did not have a regular army, only paramilitary groups – the Haganah, the Palmach and others. After the declaration of statehood, all Jewish fighting forces were unified to form the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). They were in desperate need of weapons, equipment, ammunition and aircraft. However, Israel faced an international arms embargo that included all countries engaged in armed conflict. This embargo favored Arab countries that already had established – armed and trained – armies.
Czechoslovakia was the only country that ignored the embargo and sold weapons that enabled the newly created Israeli army to defend itself. The shortage of weapons would certainly have cost the Jews the existence of their state. And a defeat of the State of Israel would have meant its disappearance as a nation.
Contrary to all expectations and predictions, the Jews defeated the Arab armies. Their enemies did not count on one trump card that Israel had: the Jews knew that if they wanted to have a nation they had no other alternative than victory. The War of Independence ended in mid-1949 with armistices between Israel and each of the other countries involved, with the exception of Iraq. The Arab countries refused to sign a peace agreement with Israel. They once again swore that they would “throw the Jews into the sea” and destroy Israel.
After 15 months of fighting, Israel had not only secured its existence as the only Jewish state in the world, but had also taken control over an area that was five thousand km2 superior to that granted to it by the United Nations.
Have all Palestinian Arabs become refugees?
During the War of Independence, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled their homes. It is estimated that about 70% of the Arab population living in the territory designated by the UN as part of a Jewish state took refuge in neighboring Arab countries. Some out of fear, most on the advice of neighboring Arab radio stations, and some were forced to leave. They believed the promises broadcast on the radio that the Jews would be defeated and that they would return victorious and take over the Jewish lands for themselves. When this did not happen, they settled in other Arab countries. Most of these countries always treated them not as “brothers” but as second-class citizens, with no possibility of absorption into their societies. Especially in Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza (under Egyptian rule), Palestinian refugees were settled in “provisional camps”. These camps, almost all along the border with Israel, became a political weapon to obtain political concessions and donations from the UN and many Western countries and organizations.
In contrast, the Arabs who remained in Israel became full citizens, with equal rights, and today represent 20% of the Israeli population.
History of control over the West Bank and Gaza
At the end of the War of Independence, the West Bank was under Jordanian rule, and Gaza was under Egyptian rule. The two territories, which were taken over by the two nations in 1948, were part of the area where, according to the 1947 Partition, an Arab state should have been created. The Palestinian refugees lived for almost 20 years, from 1948 to 1967, under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.
In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank, but the annexation was considered illegal by most of the international community, including the Arab League. Jordan granted citizenship to the residents of the West Bank, envisioning a “Greater Jordan” with territory east and west of the Jordan River. The annexation more than tripled the Jordanian population, from 400.000 to 1.300.000.
Egypt, which had conquered Gaza, did not consider the territory to be part of its country and did not allow refugees to become Egyptian citizens or to migrate to Egypt or other Arab countries where they could be integrated into the population. It is important to note that at no time did Egypt or Jordan consider creating a Palestinian state in these areas.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered these territories. At the end of the war, although Israel and Jordan were technically at war since no peace treaty had been signed, a policy known as “open bridges” was adopted. Jordan was confined to playing an active role in the administration of the West Bank, paying salaries and pensions to civil servants, helping with the education system and other services.
On July 28, 1988, King Hussein canceled a development program that planned to invest $1,3 billion in the West Bank. Jordanian administration of the West Bank ended when Jordan decided to sever ties on July 31, 1988 – during the First Intifada. King Hussein announced that all Palestinians living in Jordan would retain their Jordanian citizenship, while those living in the West Bank would be Palestinians.
What triggered the Suez Canal Crisis?
Countries involved: Great Britain, France and Israel fought against Egypt.
Summary of the Conflict: Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser persistently declared that, despite the armistice, his country was in a permanent state of war with Israel.
In 1956, Nasser nationalized control of the Suez Canal, which was administered by a Franco-British investment company, and blockaded the Straits of Tiran, Israel's only link to the Red Sea, through the Gulf of Aqaba.
At the same time, Israel suffered from constant attacks from Egypt, a country that allowed and encouraged groups of fedayeen – Arab guerrillas – attacking Israel from Gaza and Sinai. The fedayeen committed acts of terror and sabotage, assassinations and laid land mines. In retaliation, Israeli forces constantly attacked the border.
In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban warned: “We have recorded 1.339 cases of military confrontation provoked by Egypt, 435 instances of terrorist incursions into our territory and 172 acts of sabotage. As a result of Egyptian hostilities inside the State of Israel, 364 Israelis have been killed and 101 injured.”
Israel, France and Great Britain would join forces in a military operation aimed at recovering and securing the passage of ships through the Suez Canal and removing Nasser from power. On October 29, 1956, Israeli troops invaded the Sinai Peninsula. The operation was codenamed Musketeer, in reference to the novel “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas.
The United States criticized this military campaign and the Soviet Union threatened to enter the conflict to help Nasser. Faced with the position of the US and USSR, Great Britain, France and Israel decided to end the attack on November 7 of the same year. The Suez War lasted only a few days.
Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and Sinai for four months. The USSR and the United States forced Israel to withdraw from these territories, guaranteeing in exchange a demilitarized zone between Israel and Egypt. United Nations Emergency Forces (UNEF) would guarantee a 200 km buffer zone between the two countries, also ensuring that the Straits of Tiran would be open to Israeli ships.
After the Suez Crisis, Nasser expelled 25 Jews from Egypt and confiscated their property, persecuting those who remained in the country. He also nationalized English and French companies.
As a result of the conflict and his political victory, Nasser strengthened his hold on power, becoming the hero of the Arab world. Egypt's alignment with the Soviet Union ensured the supply of tons of weapons and hundreds of Soviet tanks and fighter planes that would be used in its future wars against Israel.
What was the PLO?
In 1964, the Palestinians created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its goal was to destroy Israel and establish a Palestinian state in place of the Jewish state. The PLO's terrorism and violence led to conflicts not only with Israel but also with other Arab states that repudiated it.
During the 1960s, Jordan served as a major base for Palestinian terrorists. In September 1970, King Hussein ordered the PLO guerrillas to leave Jordan. When they refused, the Jordanian army opened fire on the guerrillas, defeating the PLO after massacring thousands of people.
After being expelled from Jordan, the PLO moved to southern Lebanon from where it continued to launch attacks against Israel. The organization frequently attacked kibbutzim e moshavim, as well as schools and roads. It was responsible for the horrific massacre of the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, carried out by the Black September organization. In response, Israel attacked PLO bases in Lebanon and elsewhere.
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon with the aim of destroying PLO forces in the country. As a result of this war, Yasser Arafat and the PLO leadership were expelled from Lebanon.
Years later, in 1988, Arafat declared that the PLO had supposedly renounced terrorism and finally accepted Israel's right to exist, calling for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1993, Arafat signed the Oslo Accords with Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, and Bill Clinton, President of the United States.
But the “renunciation” of terrorism did not last. During the Second Intifada, members of the PLO claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israelis. The PLO was sued in the United States for killing and wounding Americans during a series of terrorist attacks in Israel between 2001 and 2004. It was ordered to pay a $655,5 million judgment. The verdict was overturned on appeal because the U.S. lacked federal jurisdiction over actions committed abroad.
What was the Six-Day War (1967)?
Countries involved: In 1967, Israel carried out a preemptive strike against Egypt and Syria. Jordan also entered the war.
Some figures: The Egyptian army had 210 men, 100 of them in Sinai. To the north, Syria had 63 men, and to the east, Jordan had 55 soldiers. After the mobilization of the reservists, Israel had 250 fighters. The enemy had more than twice as many tanks and 682 combat aircraft. The Israeli Air Force had 202 aircraft.
Changing borders: In the Six-Day War Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula, most of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Old City of Jerusalem.
Summary of the Conflict: In the mid-1960s, 2,5 million Israelis lived surrounded by 122 million Arabs. By 1967, the concentration of enemy forces along Israel's borders was increasing.
After 1949, there were no effective borders between Israel, Syria, Egypt and Jordan, but only armistice lines, drawn when the fighting ceased and using the positions of the armed forces of Israel and the Arabs as the sole parameter. Egypt controlled the Straits of Tiran and the Gaza Strip. Syria controlled the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of water, and the Golan Heights. Jordan owned the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem, which it had taken militarily and governed since 1948, contrary to the 1947 United Nations Partition determination that the city would be international.
Israel's fragile borders after the War of Independence were hardly defensible. Surrounded by enemies, the Jewish state was 15 km wide and any sudden attack could tear the country apart.
In the weeks leading up to the conflict, Israel was surrounded by armies from Egypt, Jordan and Syria, with support from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Sudan, stationed along the armistice lines. If they attacked simultaneously, the IDF would have to fight on three fronts, having to divide its forces when it barely had the men and weapons needed to confront Egypt.
Despite the armistice between Israel and its neighbors, Arab terrorists – the fedayeen – attacked Israeli borders, killing civilians. In May 1967, Egyptian President Nasser again ordered the blockade of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Emboldened by Soviet support, he began to provoke Israel by saying that he intended to “destroy Israel.” In May 1967, he declared that “we will not enter Palestine (Israel) with its soil covered in sand; we will enter it with its soil saturated in blood.”
On May 16 of that year, Nasser ordered the United Nations troops – who had been securing a demilitarized zone between Israel and Egypt – to leave Egypt. The UN complied with the order, and three days later UNEF forces left their positions. Egyptian troops immediately advanced, taking up positions along the Israeli border. By May 20, 100 Egyptian troops and more than XNUMX tanks were in Sinai.
Nasser signed a military pact with Jordan and supported Syrian attacks on the Jewish state. It was clear that the Arab countries, led by Nasser, were preparing an imminent attack on Israel. In the words of Iraqi President Abdul Rahman Arif, “The Arab world was united by a common denominator – to wipe Israel off the map.”
The Arab media announced an imminent attack. In Sinai, Egyptian forces were already on the Israeli border; the Iraqi army was preparing to reinforce the Jordanian eastern front, and Syria was aiming its artillery from the Golan Heights. Cairo TV broadcast images of crowds chanting “Death to the Jews,” and an Egyptian radio station, “The Voice of Thunder,” repeated threats such as “Pack your bags before you are killed.”
On June 5, 1967, certain that an Egyptian attack was imminent, the Israelis attacked Egypt and Syria. Within hours, Israeli aviation had destroyed the air forces of both countries. This preemptive air strike – and in self-defense – was a decision made after weeks of agonizing indecision and was instrumental in reducing the overwhelming Arab numerical superiority in both soldiers, aircraft and tanks.
Within six days, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and conquered the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and, most importantly, the Old City of Jerusalem. The capture of large swathes of territory from neighboring Arab states tripled the size of its territory, creating an important defensive zone for Israel. But the greatest achievement of all was the reunification of Jerusalem, the Eternal Capital of the Jewish People, after two thousand years.
On June 10, Israel accepted the armistice. The overwhelming victory achieved in just six days changed the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. Israel ceased to be a state fighting only for its survival and emerged as a regional and military power.
The conquest of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would have profound geopolitical implications for the Jewish State.
What was the so-called War of Attrition (1967-1970)?
Country that fought against Israel: Egypt.
The end of the Six-Day War in 1967 and Israel's stunning military victory left the entire Sinai Peninsula up to the eastern bank of the Suez Canal under Israeli occupation. But a ceasefire with Egypt kept the peace along the Suez Canal quiet for only a few weeks.
Three months after the ceasefire, unhappy with the defeat, the Arab states formulated the Khartoum Resolution, which ended up becoming known as the “Three No’s”: no to peace, no to recognition of the State of Israel and no to negotiations with Israel.
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's strategy for the coming conflict with Israel called for attrition in a war of attrition aimed at draining Israel's manpower and economy. Nasser believed that because most of the Israeli army was made up of reservists, it could not withstand a long war of attrition. He believed that Israel would be unable to bear the economic burden and that constant casualties would undermine Israeli morale. Nasser therefore ordered sporadic attacks so as not to provoke an all-out war in response.
The War of Attrition, or War of Attrition, as it became known, lasted three years and took a heavy toll in terms of lives and economics. The Israeli death toll between June 15, 1967 and August 8, 1970 – when a ceasefire was declared – was 1.424 soldiers and more than 100 civilians. Two thousand soldiers and 700 civilians were wounded.
The war was a harbinger that Egypt and Syria were reorganizing militarily and that, when Egypt felt ready, having recovered its air force, a new confrontation would occur.
What was the Yom Kippur War (1973)?
Countries that fought against Israel: Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Sudan and Tunisia.
Some figures: At the start of the conflict, Israel's enemies managed to mobilize the equivalent of the total forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) along Israel's borders.
At the beginning of the war, in the Golan Heights, some 180 Israeli tanks faced approximately 1.400 Syrian tanks. Some 1.350 tanks, 14.000 military vehicles and 100.000 Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal. To repel the Egyptian attack, along a border hundreds of kilometers long, Israel had only 488 soldiers, most of them reservists of the Etzioni Brigade, and 291 tanks.
In total, nine Arab states participated in the war effort. An Iraqi division of 18 men and hundreds of tanks deployed to the central Golan Heights attacked Israeli positions. The Iraqi air force also operated in the Golan Heights. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait provided financial support and sent troops. Libya sent Mirage aircraft; Sudan, about 150 men; Algeria, three squadrons of fighter and bomber aircraft, as well as an armored brigade and XNUMX tanks; and Tunisia, between XNUMX and XNUMX soldiers.
Conflict Summary:On the afternoon of Yom KippurOn October 6, 1973, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel—Syria in the Golan Heights and Egypt in the Sinai. The Arab forces took the Jewish state by surprise and found the country unprepared. By the beginning of the war, Israel had already lost a fifth of its air force and many of its tanks. Surprised and having to fight on two fronts, the country initially faced great difficulties and much fear.
In the first 48 hours, the enemy armies made significant advances. Israel was on the defensive. It had lost control of almost all of the areas it had captured in 1967 and faced the imminent threat of an invasion of its territory. However, less than three weeks later, in one of the most stunning reversals in military history, its armies were on the way to Cairo and Damascus. The Israeli victory in the war was not more overwhelming only because the Soviet Union threatened to enter the conflict and use nuclear weapons to defend the Arab countries. Although Israel emerged victorious, it was a bitter victory. The cost in lives was enormous—2.800 dead and 8.800 wounded. Israeli casualties were greater than the combined total of those killed in the wars of 1956, 1967, and the War of Attrition.
The Yom Kippur War was a defining moment in the history of the Middle East. Not only did Israel emerge victorious from the conflict, but the war planted the seeds for a future peace agreement with Egypt.
It was during the Yom Kippur War that, for the first time in the 20th century, Arab oil-producing countries decided to use oil as a political instrument. Threatening to reduce production and increase prices, they imposed an embargo on countries that supported Israel. This was the so-called first oil shock, which greatly affected the world economy.
This war also represented the last conflict in which Israel found itself at war with other countries and their regular armed forces. From then on, the Arab strategy changed, and Israel began to face terrorist groups infiltrating and camouflaging themselves among civilians, and a war of defamation.
What was the Camp David Accords (1979)?
According to experts, it was after the defeat of the Arabs in the Yom Kippur War that Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat realized that he could not obtain concessions from the Israelis through armed conflict, but only through negotiations.
In 1977, Sadat surprised the world by announcing that he was willing to travel to Israel to make peace with the Jewish state. Invited by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Sadat went to Jerusalem and addressed the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
In 1978, they signed the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab country, the so-called Camp David Accord, ratified in 1979 through the Camp David Treaty. Under the agreement, Israel would return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for peace and diplomatic recognition.
Arab leaders condemned Sadat, claiming that he had betrayed the Arab cause by making peace with Israel. Sadat paid for the peace with his life, assassinated in a 1981 assassination attempt by Muslim radicals who opposed peace with Israel.
Why did Israel enter Lebanon in 1982?
On June 6, 1982, in the midst of the Lebanese civil war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with the support of Lebanese Christian militias, invaded southern Lebanon and reached Beirut. The IDF fought against the PLO and, for a short time, against Syrian army forces.
Israel's goal was to end the PLO's terrorist attacks by destroying the organization's military infrastructure in Lebanon and undermining it as a political entity. After two months of intense Israeli bombing, the PLO's withdrawal from Lebanon was negotiated. Another goal was to enable a Lebanese government led by pro-Israeli Maronite Christians and ensure decades of peace between the countries.
Israeli forces withdrew from Beirut but continued to occupy territory on the southern border of Lebanon for 18 years – only fully withdrawing in 2000 – operating mainly south of the Awali River. The aim was to create a buffer zone that would guarantee the safety of the residents of northern Israel.
However, with the disappearance of the PLO from Lebanon, the area has become the focus of a new conflict between the Israeli army and the newly emerged Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah. Founded by militants from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah is actively supported by Iran – with weapons, training and money – and is its closest ally.
Hezbollah established itself in the predominantly Shia areas of the Bekaa Valley, east of Beirut. Throughout the 1980s, the organization carried out increasingly sophisticated attacks against Israel and actively participated in the civil war in Lebanon.
What was the First Intifada? What were its consequences?
Between 1987 and 1991, Palestinian youths protested and threw sticks and stones at Israeli soldiers and civilians in the territories of Gaza and the West Bank, in what became known as the First Intifada. In 1988, a year after the outbreak of this Intifada, King Hussein relinquished all legal and administrative responsibility in the West Bank.
This First Intifada led to the creation of Hamas.
What were the Oslo Accords (1993)?
In September 1993, at a ceremony at the White House, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, along with US President Bill Clinton, exchanged handshakes to seal the first of the Oslo Accords. The Accords offered hope for peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict that, unfortunately, never materialized.
The initial agreement consisted of a declaration of principles that envisaged a final settlement within five years, but it did not specify the details of a final treaty or address the most controversial issues. The Oslo Accords initiated the creation of an autonomous Palestinian government—the PLO became the Palestinian Authority—and Israel would gradually hand over control of Gaza and parts of the West Bank to this Palestinian-created and -run government. Israel would no longer govern the Palestinians, and would withdraw from the major cities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The creation of a Palestinian state, as envisaged by the agreements, was eroded by successive acts of violence.
Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty (1994)
The peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, signed in October 1994, promotes security and economic cooperation and recognizes Israel's sovereignty and right to exist. Although they have been at war since the declaration of the State of Israel, Israel and Jordan have maintained secret contacts and mutually beneficial agreements throughout this period.
Jordan has become the second Arab country, after Egypt, to normalize relations with Israel.
What was the Second Intifada (2000-2005)?
Between 2000 and 2005, the Second Intifada and its suicide bombings swept across the Jewish state, killing around 1.000 Israelis, more than 120 of them minors, and injuring thousands more. Suicide attacks in bars, restaurants, buses and public places were frequent.
The Second Intifada led to the construction of the defensive fence – by Israel – separating the West Bank from the Jewish state. The construction of the fence was controversial, but effective in preventing the infiltration of West Bank terrorists into Israel. In 1996, a wall had already been erected separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.
Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip (2005)
In 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, believing that the territory would be a barrier to a possible Egyptian attack on the center of the country. In 2005, in a unilateral decision, Israel decided to withdraw all its military and civilian personnel from Gaza. No Jews remained there.
What was the Second Lebanon War (2006)?
In 2006, Hezbollah militants attacked two Israeli jeeps patrolling the country's northern border, triggering the Second Lebanon War. Of the seven soldiers on patrol, three were killed, two were wounded, and two were kidnapped alive. Israel responded with airstrikes against Hezbollah targets and a naval blockade of Lebanon, followed by a ground invasion.
Once again, Israel was fighting a terrorist group in another asymmetric war. There were 34 days of fighting – predominantly in southern Lebanon – among the civilian population.
The war ended with a ceasefire and a UN resolution providing for the deployment of 15.000 peacekeepers to reinforce the UN mission (UNIFIL) to maintain peace and security along the southern Lebanese border, with the assistance of Lebanese army troops.
The bodies of the two kidnapped soldiers were returned two years later in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah.
Wars and Conflicts with Hamas
In 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections and, in 2007, took control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority, with great violence. Since then, no elections have been held.
Since Hamas came to power in 2007, it has launched tens of thousands of rockets at Israeli cities. Israel has managed to avoid further damage to its cities and people by investing heavily in missile shelters and the construction of the Iron Dome, a sophisticated missile defense system that destroys enemy rockets in mid-flight.
In response to the constant barrage of thousands of medium and long-range rockets and incendiary balloons against Israeli territory, as well as terrorist attacks, conflicts broke out between Gaza and the State of Israel in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
In response to these constant attacks, Israel attempted to impose a land, sea, and air blockade on the enclave as a way to prevent Hamas from importing weapons. The events of October 7, 2023, demonstrated that this blockade was ineffective. Hamas proved to be very well trained and heavily armed.
What are the Abraham Accords (2020)?
The Abraham Accords were the peace agreements signed in 2020 between Israel and four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. A diplomatic initiative by the US government of Donald Trump, it paved the way for peace and economic, scientific and military cooperation between Israel and these countries. Since 2020, Jewish life has been resurgent in these countries.
The agreements promoted regional stability and represented a significant change in the dynamics of the Middle East. The rapprochement is largely due to the Iranian threat. A country with a Persian and Shiite majority, Iran seeks regional supremacy and positions itself as a threat to countries with an Arab and Sunni majority, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
The Abraham Accords also serve as a model for potential future agreements between Israel and other Arab and Muslim majority countries.
What was the October 7th Massacre (2023)?
On October 7, 2023, about three thousand heavily armed men from the terrorist group Hamas broke through the fence separating the Gaza Strip and invaded southern Israel. A few kilometers away, they invaded the Supernova Music Festival, which was attended by thousands of young people, and killed 347 participants. They destroyed 21 kibbutzim and small towns, burning down houses, destroying property, committing rapes and murdering entire families, regardless of age or gender. They mutilated and raped their victims in front of their friends and family, burned a baby in an oven, beheaded people and cut a baby from its mother's womb. They entered with cars, motorcycles and paragliders, followed by a crowd of civilian Gazans, including teenagers and children. They took the entire country by surprise on that Shabbat of Simchat Torah.
This terrorist attack was the largest act of violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust and resulted in more than 1.200 deaths and 13 injuries. 251 hostages were taken to Gaza, including 36 young people from the Supernova Festival, a nine-month-old baby, children and elderly people over 80 years old.
The perpetrators of this savagery recorded the exquisite atrocities with cameras they themselves brought or, in many cases, with the victims' own cell phones, and broadcast them live, with great pride, through social media.
Victims who survived the attacks face mental health issues, with some even taking their own lives as they cannot live with the level of violence they suffered and the memories of the violent acts they witnessed.
Once again, the country is at war. Israel’s military response is aimed at rescuing the hostages and defeating the terrorist group responsible for the massacre. Israel is once again fighting an asymmetric war, facing terrorists and militiamen hiding among the civilian population; and a war in the media. Images from Gaza are used to undermine Israel’s image, and Jews around the world have suffered and witnessed levels of anti-Semitism not seen since the Holocaust.
War with Hezbollah
Before the 2024 war with Israel, Hezbollah was estimated to be one of the most heavily armed terrorist groups in the world. According to experts, the group had as many as 50 fighters – 20 full-time – but the organization claims to have twice that number.
The organization had 100 to 200 thousand missiles and rockets, including ballistic missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv, short and long-range unguided rockets, as well as immense underground tunnels, drones, anti-aircraft missiles, among others.
The day after October 7, Hezbollah began launching missiles and rockets into northern Israel from its base in Lebanon, supporting its ally Hamas. Since then, the terrorist group has fired more than 13 projectiles from Lebanon. Many feared that Hezbollah would simultaneously launch an all-out war against Israel, forcing it to fight on two fronts. But the initial attacks remained moderate and steady.
The fighting escalated steadily over the months until it changed dramatically in July, after a rocket fired from Lebanon killed 12 children. Israel then began a new offensive combining highly effective intelligence operations with targeted strikes and ground incursions into Lebanon. In September, Israel launched surprise attacks by detonating pagers e walkie-talkies of Hezbollah. Within a few weeks Israel had eliminated the entire top leadership of Hezbollah, including Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the group's longtime head.
The aim of the military offensive is to allow 60 Israelis, who were evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks, to return to their homes in northern Israel.
The victories achieved by Israel on the battlefield and in the field of intelligence symbolize the courage and audacity of a people who have the extraordinary ability to overcome the greatest difficulties, even in the face of the most difficult circumstances. The war waged since that fateful October 7, 2023 is yet another proof of the sacrifice of its young people, who, in the darkest hours of Israel's history, defended the homeland with bravery and absolute sacrifice, and of a country that will not return to the fullness of its existence until its 101 hostages, who are still in Gaza, are rescued.
1 In 1988, the Arab League recognized the proclamation of the Palestinian State. Palestine is not officially recognized as a state by many nations, including the United States, France, Germany, England and Japan.
2 It is one of the oldest dynasties in the world, and its lineage dates back to the Prophet Muhammad. The current king of Jordan belongs to this dynasty.