A Century of Dispute: Territory, Identity, and the Roots of the Gaza Conflict

The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict run deep, shaped by historic events, wars, and decisions that still echo in the lives and memories of those caught on both sides.
 

Origins of How it Began

The Gaza conflict is part of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict rooted in late 19th-century Zionism and Arab resistance over Palestine. In 1948, following the UN partition plan, Israel was established; neighboring Arab countries and Palestinians rejected the plan, leading to the first Arab-Israeli war. Gaza was controlled by Egypt until 1967, when Israel occupied the territory during the Six-Day War. Hamas emerged in Gaza during the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, opposing Israel and engaging in armed resistance. Israel withdrew settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a blockade after Hamas took control in 2007. Since then, repeated conflicts have occurred, including major wars in 2008-09, 2012, 2014, and 2021. The latest conflict escalated on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a blockade on Gaza, launching a military operation that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread destruction. Key events since then include ground offensives, hospital sieges, humanitarian crises, ceasefires, and resumed fighting through 2024 and 2025. Other regional actors like Hezbollah and Iran-backed groups have been involved, increasing regional instability. The conflict remains unresolved, characterized by ongoing violence, severe humanitarian distress, and complex political challenges.

Sources of Tension

The Gaza conflict started primarily due to long-standing historical, territorial, political, and nationalistic reasons. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the rise of Zionism, a Jewish nationalist movement aiming to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, which provoked fears and resistance from the indigenous Arab Palestinian population. British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, expressed in the 1917 Balfour Declaration, alongside conflicting promises made to Arabs, heightened tensions and violence. The 1947 UN Partition Plan proposed separate Jewish and Arab states but was accepted only by the Jews and rejected by Arabs, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the displacement of large numbers of Palestinians in the Nakba, and Egyptian control of Gaza. Israel occupied Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War. The first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, began in 1987 amid frustration over Israeli occupation, settlement expansion, and restrictions. Hamas was founded that same year in Gaza as an Islamist militant group rejecting Israel's existence and seeking to end occupation. Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a blockade after Hamas took control in 2007, resulting in severe humanitarian and political tension. Since then, recurring violence has stemmed from unresolved disputes over land, sovereignty, security, rights, and national identity. The immediate trigger for the most recent escalation came in October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, prompting Israel's military response in Gaza. At its core, the conflict remains driven by competing claims over land, self-determination, recognition, and security rooted in decades of mutual distrust and historical grievances.

Mandatory Palestine from a Political Lens

Mandatory Palestine, under British rule from 1920 to 1948, experienced significant demographic and political changes that set the stage for later conflict. The population grew from about 757,000 in 1922—comprising roughly 78% Muslims, 11% Jews, and 10% Christians—to around 1.76 million by 1945, with Muslims numbering over one million, Christians around 135,000, and Jews increasing to over half a million. Most of the Arab population growth came from high birth rates, while the Jewish population grew primarily due to immigration, especially from Europe in the 1930s, causing the Jewish population to increase tenfold during the Mandate. This rapid increase in Jewish immigration and land acquisition heightened Arab fears for their independence and status, worsening tensions between the communities. Jews and Arabs mostly lived separately in rural villages, towns, and cities, with Jewish settlements expanding notably by the late 1930s, leading to strained land ownership patterns and communal divisions.

Politically, the British Mandate created a distinct entity after centuries of Ottoman control, carrying forward the Balfour Declaration that endorsed a Jewish homeland while promising civil and religious rights to non-Jewish inhabitants. Palestinian Arabs increasingly opposed British policies and Jewish immigration, protesting through riots such as the Jaffa Riots of 1921 and a major Arab revolt between 1936 and 1939. Both Jewish and Arab communities developed political activism and resistance, with Jews forming parallel governing and defense institutions and Arabs facing internal divisions under British rule. These demographic shifts and political antagonisms deeply polarized the population, escalating mutual distrust and setting the stage for the 1948 war and subsequent developments.

How did the 1948 war, the establishment of Israel, and the displacement of Palestinians (the Nakba) shape the political consciousness of both sides?

The 1948 war, Israel’s establishment, and the Palestinian Nakba profoundly reshaped the political consciousness of both Israelis and Palestinians in enduring ways. For Israelis, the war and creation of the state fostered a strong sense of survival and collective achievement, reinforcing the need for unity and democratic institutions to secure the new nation amid adversity. Leaders like David Ben-Gurion emphasized civic and political responsibility as essential to national security, viewing democracy as a source of collective strength rather than just individual freedoms. The victory against regional opposition, combined with the experience of many Israeli refugees from Europe, cultivated a political identity rooted in resilience, state-building, and the legitimacy of self-determination on ancestral land. The war became a foundational narrative in Israel, known as the “War of Independence,” solidifying Zionist ideals focused on defense, immigration, and political integration of diverse Jewish groups.

On the Palestinian side, the Nakba—meaning “catastrophe”—led to the collapse of society, mass displacement, and persistent statelessness, generating a deep collective sense of loss, injustice, and dispossession. Commemoration of the Nakba became central to Palestinian national identity, with ongoing calls for the right of return and resistance woven into their cultural and political life. The trauma of displacement and refugee status fostered a collective memory of erasure and injustice, embedding victimhood and resistance at the heart of Palestinian consciousness. This experience led to political fragmentation, marginalization, and skepticism toward peace negotiations, often seen as perpetuating the loss rather than resolving it. Palestinians’ ongoing statelessness fueled cycles of resistance, self-assertion, and a focus on collective rights despite internal challenges. Ultimately, these events created two deeply divergent narratives: Israelis celebrate 1948 as independence and survival, while Palestinians mourn it as the origin of statelessness and resistance, shaping their respective political cultures to this day.