A military clash between Israel and Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization Hamas that lasted for 11 days.
The ceasefire was mediated by Egypt, but the underlying "Palestinian problem" remains unsolved.
Looking back on the history so far.
Q What is the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
The Palestinian issue is said to be the most difficult conflict in the world and has been in conflict for over 70 years.
The land of present-day Israel and Palestinians has long been inhabited by Arab Palestinians and Jews, but it became a major problem after the Jews founded Israel in May 1948.
Originally, Jews did not have a nation and lived scattered all over the world, but after the tragedy of the "Holocaust" during World War II, many people sought peace and their ancestors He moved to what is now Israel, which is considered to be the land.
The founding of the country was based on the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (adopted in 1947) to create a Jewish and Arab nation here, which triggered a long history of conflict.
Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan launched an attack against the founding of Israel, saying that it was an unjustified resolution ignoring the fact that Arabs make up the majority of the population, and the First Middle East War broke out. did.
However, the war ended in Israel's victory, leaving 700,000 Palestinians displaced.
May 15, the day Palestinian refugees were born, is called "Nakuba Day", which means catastrophe in Arabic, and is still remembered by the Palestinian people.
After that, the war between Israel and the Arab countries was repeated, but Israel had the military power to overwhelm the neighboring countries and occupied a lot of land in the war.
In particular, during the Six-Day War of 1967, it occupied the west bank of the Jordan River, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and expanded its territory more than four times.
The United Nations has often adopted resolutions calling for the withdrawal of Israel from war-occupied lands, but never put into action.
During this time, there was a popular uprising by the Palestinians, especially in the "First Intifada" in 1987 and the "Second Intifada" in 2000, which caused a large number of casualties on both sides.
Q Is peace negotiations progressing?
The international community, such as the United States and Japan, has supported the "two-state coexistence" between Jews and Arabs and has mediated peace negotiations.
In 1993, the "Oslo Accords" were signed under the mediation of the United States and Norway.
With this agreement, a certain degree of autonomy was granted to the Palestinian side, and the PLO = Palestine Liberation Organization established a provisional autonomous government.
Gradual autonomy by the interim autonomous government has begun in two separate areas, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, occupied by Israel during the war.
At the signing ceremony in Washington, the capital of the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands while President Clinton watched, and peace was seen to make great strides.
However, the Oslo Accords will resolve how both Judaism and Islam treat Jerusalem as a sanctuary, and what Palestinian refugees displaced by the 1948 war have the right to return to their former lands. It was left as an issue to be addressed.
In particular, how to treat East Jerusalem is still the biggest conflict.
East Jerusalem was temporarily ruled by neighboring Jordan, which is in a position to support Palestine, after Israel was founded.
However, after winning the Six-Day War, Israel occupied the area and unilaterally declared Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, an "eternal and inseparable capital."
On the other hand, Palestine has positioned East Jerusalem, where many Palestinians live, as the capital when the "Palestinian state" was born, and the conflict continues.
In addition, the settlement activities that Israel has been promoting in violation of international law in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1970s are also obstacles to peace.
Settlement is a move to build housing for the Jews in the occupied territories and make the occupation an established fact. It has been actively promoted as the right-wing power grows in Israeli politics.
Following the Oslo Accords, the Camp David Conference was held in 2000 with the help of the United States, where Israel and Palestinian discussed the remaining issues, but the negotiations broke down.
Peace talks have not been held since 2014.
Q What triggered this collision?
The trigger was an event in East Jerusalem, which has become a major issue in peace negotiations.
In mid-April, Israeli security officials set up a barricade at a gate called the "Damascus Gate," which Palestinians living in East Jerusalem pass through when going to the Old City, which triggered the clash.
The Old Town is in the heart of Jerusalem, home to three religious sanctuaries, and is home to the Haram Asharif, which is visited by many Muslims for worship.
April was also a time of religious spirit, which coincided with Ramadan, a fasting month in which Muslims cut off eating and drinking during the day.
The Palestinians were angry at the establishment of the barricade and developed into a skirmish with security forces.
In addition, a trial over the residence of East Jerusalem, which was scheduled to be decided at this time, also stimulated Palestinians.
In a district called Sheikh Jarraf in East Jerusalem, Jewish settlers were seeking eviction from Palestinians.
Jewish settlements have continued to take place in the region, raising caution among Palestinians that it could be an unfair decision, leading to further clashes.
After the worship service on Friday, May 7, Israeli security forces rushed into the sanctuary "Haram Asharif" and the situation was spread on SNS.
I bought more Palestinian anger.
Furthermore, on the 10th, Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist organization that effectively controls the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel with rockets, and exchanges began with the Israeli army.
A clash between Arabs, who make up 20% of the population in Israel, and Jews has finally made the situation out of control.
Q Why did the Gaza Strip become a stage for intense exchanges?
The Gaza Strip is one of the areas where the Palestinian side has been granted autonomy under the Oslo Accords, but after the conflict within Palestine, the Islamic fundamentalist organization "Hamas" has effectively controlled it since 2007. ..
Palestine has been ruled by the moderate political power "Fatah", who is also the mother of Abbas and Arafat, but Hamas made a leap forward in the 2006 Palestinian Authority election.
After an armed struggle with Fatah, Hamas came to take effective control of the Gaza Strip.
For this reason, Palestine is currently in a divided state, with Fatah and others governing the West Bank and Hamas governing the Gaza Strip.
Hamas had previously taken a strong position not to recognize Israel as a nation at all.
Currently, it has changed its policy to build a Palestinian state based on the boundaries before 1967, and indirectly acknowledges the existence of Israel.
However, it has been pointed out that the military sector is connected to Israel's nemesis Iran and is provided with weapons.
For this reason, in addition to Israel and the United States, the EU-European Union has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Israel has been hostile to Hamas and has frequently carried out air strikes, and Hamas has also shot rockets at the Israeli side, and the exchange of attacks has been repeated.
In 2008 and 2014, the exchange of attacks evolved into a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces.
Of these, more than 2,200 people, including civilians, were killed in the 2014 battle.
Israeli forces have described air strikes in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas executives and bases.
However, in the densely populated Gaza Strip, where about 60% of the land in the 23 wards of Tokyo is home to about 2 million people, a large number of citizens have died this time as well.
Q How is the world situation changing around the Palestinian issue?
This clash occurred in the midst of major changes in the situation in the Middle East.
Historically, Arab countries have been in a position to support their fellow Palestinians and have fought four wars with their hostile Israeli.
Positioned as the "Arab cause," it has become a common goal for uniting Arab countries.
In 1979 and 1994, Egypt and Jordan, which border Israel, formed diplomatic relations with Israel, respectively, but other countries were in the position of "no diplomatic relations with Israel without solving the Palestinian problem." I have been sticking to it.
But last year, that situation changed a lot.
Under the mediation of President Trump, UAE = United Arab Emirates announced in August that diplomatic relations with Israel would be normalized.
Bahrain and Morocco followed suit.
In recent years, Iran has become a new threat to Arab countries, which has contributed to its diplomatic relations with Israel.
In addition, the former Trump administration in the United States has relocated its embassy to Jerusalem, which has been a major confrontation in peace talks, and has frozen support for UN agencies that support Palestinian refugees, taking an extremely Israeli-friendly policy. I did.
During this time, relations between the United States and Palestine have reached the worst level ever.
The current President Biden has tried to correct the position of the former administration, which was closer to Israel, to some extent, such as by announcing the resumption of refugee assistance.
However, while successive US administrations have tried to mediate, they have avoided being deeply involved in the Palestinian issue, which has not yet reached a final solution.
This happened as Palestine became more isolated as the long-standing conflict remained unresolved.
The renewed military clash, which kills many citizens, is likely to force the international community, including the United States, to take this issue seriously once again.
chronology
1948
Israel founded, 1st Middle East War
1967
Israel occupies the west bank of the Jordan River, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, etc.
1987
1st Intifada
1993
Oslo agreement, Palestinian Provisional Autonomous Government established
2000 Year
Camp David Conference, 2nd Intifada
2006
Palestinian Authority Election Hamas Wins
2007
Hamas Effectively Controls Gaza Strip
2008
Israeli Army Invades Gaza
2014
Israeli Army Invades Gaza
2017
President Trump Jerusalem recognized as the capital of Israel
2020
UAE, Bahrain, etc. normalize diplomatic relations with Israel