Frequently Asked Questions

At its core, it is a conflict over land and self-determination. In 1948, the State of Israel was established on land that was, at the time, home to a majority Arab Palestinian population. More than 750,000 Palestinians were displaced in the process. Since 1967, Israel has militarily occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians seek an end to occupation, the right of return for refugees, and self-determination. The conflict spans over a century and involves questions of land, displacement, military occupation, and international law.

No. October 7, 2023 was a significant escalation, but the conflict's roots go back to 1948 (the Nakba) and 1967 (the start of the occupation). Gaza had been under a total blockade since 2007, and the West Bank has been under military occupation since 1967. Understanding October 7 and Israel's subsequent military campaign requires understanding this longer history. See The History for a full sourced timeline.

The Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) refers to the events of 1947-1949, when more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and more than 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed during the establishment of the State of Israel. Palestinian refugees and their descendants -- now numbering over 7 million -- have never been permitted to return, despite UN Resolution 194 (1948) affirming their right to do so.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that it is plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa, and ordered Israel to take provisional measures to prevent genocidal acts and allow humanitarian aid. In September 2025, a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that four of the five acts defined as genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention had been committed. These are findings from the world's highest court and an official UN body, not characterizations by advocacy groups alone.

Two major independent human rights organizations have concluded yes. Amnesty International (2022) and Human Rights Watch (2021), in separate, independent, multi-year investigations, both concluded that Israel's system of control over Palestinians meets the legal definition of apartheid under international law. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, reached the same conclusion in 2021.

No. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory. Over 700,000 Israeli settlers currently live in West Bank settlements built on land occupied since 1967. The international community, including the UN, considers these settlements illegal under international law.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both described Israel's 17-year blockade of Gaza as a form of collective punishment of an entire civilian population, which is explicitly prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The two-state solution proposes an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, generally based on pre-1967 borders. Decades of negotiations, including the 1993 Oslo Accords, have failed to implement this. A major obstacle is continued Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, which has fragmented Palestinian territory to the point where many analysts question whether a geographically viable Palestinian state remains possible.

The U.S. provides Israel with approximately $3.8 billion in military aid annually -- the largest amount of U.S. military aid given to any country. This relationship is reinforced by AIPAC, one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in Washington, which has spent over $100 million in a single election cycle to support pro-Israel candidates and defeat critics of Israeli policy. See U.S. Influence for the full picture, including how to verify these figures yourself.

No. Criticizing the policies of the Israeli government or Zionism as a political ideology is not the same as hatred of Jewish people or Judaism as a religion. Many Jewish people and organizations -- including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow -- are themselves vocal critics of Israeli government policy and the occupation. Conflating criticism of a state's actions with bigotry against an entire religious or ethnic group is a separate claim that requires its own evidence.

Three things make a real difference: (1) Donate to verified humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza -- see our Support & Donations page. (2) Contact your elected representatives about U.S. military aid to Israel and ceasefire votes -- see Take Action Now for scripts and contact tools. (3) Share accurate, sourced information -- the kind found throughout this site and GotIsrael.com -- to counter misinformation in your own networks.

BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions -- a Palestinian-led nonviolent movement calling for economic and political pressure on Israel until it complies with international law, modeled on the campaign against South African apartheid. The movement has led to documented divestment decisions by universities, pension funds, and companies. See bdsmovement.net for current campaigns and target lists.

The primary sources are the Gaza Ministry of Health (whose figures the UN has stated are credible) and UN OCHA, which publishes regular situation reports with casualty and displacement data. The World Health Organization also tracks attacks on healthcare infrastructure. We recommend cross-referencing any figure you see against these sources directly.