A timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948

1948: A regional conflict develops amid the end of the British Mandate for Palestine and Israel’s declaration of independence in May 1948. A coalition of Arab states, allied with Palestinian factions, battle Israeli forces. Ultimately, Israel controls much of the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing or being driven from their land.

July 1956: Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, a vital trade route linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Israel invades Egypt, followed by British and French forces. A peace accord, backed by the United States and the Soviet Union, ends the fighting. But the canal was blocked by sunken ships and did not reopen until 1957.

June 1967: The “Six Day War” begins with Israeli warplanes striking Egyptian airfields and Israeli ground forces entering the Sinai Peninsula. The war erupted amid ongoing conflict, including Egypt’s continued blockade of shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan joins the fighting alongside Egypt, but Israeli forces have the upper hand after nearly wiping out Egyptian air power. Israel takes control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai, West Bank, Golan Heights and predominantly Arab East Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing or being displaced.

October 1973: A coalition of Arab nations, led by Egypt and Syria, launches a surprise attack on Israel. The Arab forces initially gained ground, but were driven back by an Israeli counteroffensive aided by supplies from allies, including the United States.

1978: A peace agreement between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, known as the Camp David Accords, was brokered on September 17, 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. Potential Palestinian peace proposals were discussed, but never carried out.

December 1987: A Palestinian uprising, or intifada, leads to clashes and protests in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. The unrest continued for years, leaving many dead or injured on both sides.

1993: The first of two pacts, known as the Oslo Accords, is signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, establishing a peace process based on previous UN resolutions. (A follow-up agreement was signed in 1995.) The agreements created the Palestinian Authority, responsible for overseeing most administrative affairs in the West Bank and Gaza. The PLO is recognized by Israel and the United States as a negotiating partner. Unresolved, however, are key issues such as Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem, which is seen by Palestinians as the capital of any future state.

2000: The second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, begins after riots erupt following a visit by right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon (and later prime minister) to a Jerusalem compound revered by Judaism, the Christianity and Islam. Clashes and other violence continued until 2005, killing hundreds on both sides.

2006: The Palestinian militant group Hamas wins the elections in Gaza, leading to political tensions with the more moderate Fatah party controlling the West Bank.

December 2008: Israel begins three weeks of attacks on Gaza after rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian militants, who are supplied through tunnels from Egypt. More than 1,110 Palestinians and at least 13 Israelis are killed.

November 2012: Israel kills Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari, triggering more than a week of rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes. At least 150 Palestinians and six Israelis are killed.

Summer 2014: Hamas militants kill three kidnapped Israeli teenagers near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, prompting an Israeli military response. Hamas responds with rocket attacks from Gaza. Seven-week conflict kills over 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza. In Israel, 67 soldiers and six civilians are killed.

December 2017: The Trump administration recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announces its intention to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv, sparking outrage among Palestinians.

2018: Demonstrations are taking place in Gaza along the fence with Israel, including protesters throwing rocks and petrol bombs through the fence. Israeli troops kill more than 170 demonstrators in several months. In November, Israel organizes a secret raid on Gaza. At least seven suspected Palestinian militants and a senior Israeli army officer are killed. From Gaza, hundreds of rockets are fired at Israel.

May 2021: After weeks of tension in Jerusalem that led Israeli police to attack al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, Hamas fired rockets at the city for the first time in years , prompting Israel to retaliate with airstrikes. The fighting, the fiercest since at least 2014, saw thousands of rockets fired from Gaza and hundreds of airstrikes into Palestinian territory, leaving more than 200 dead in Gaza and at least 10 killed in Israel.

Spring 2022: A wave of violence against Israelis by Palestinians marked the deadliest string of terror attacks in Israel in years – with 14 Israelis killed in a handful of individual Palestinian attacks between March 22 and April 8. In response, Israel cracked down on militants and activists, and launched the “Break the Wave” military operation in the West Bank. The operation helped make 2022 a particularly deadly year. Israeli forces have killed 146 Palestinians in the West Bank this year, the highest death toll in any year since the United Nations began keeping records in 2005. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Palestinians killed 29 Israelis that year.

December 2022: Benjamin Netanyahu has been sworn in as Israel’s prime minister again, after winning an election that gave him his sixth term and elevated a once fringe bloc of far-right politicians to powerful seats. He cobbled together the most far-right government in Israel’s history, which critics say has already begun to eliminate any prospect of a two-state solution.

January 2023: Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian city of Jenin in one of the deadliest operations in nearly two decades, engaging in a firefight and killing nine people, at least one civilian among them, on January 26. The following day, a Palestinian gunman killed seven people. , including children, during prayers in an East Jerusalem synagogue.