Palestine History Timeline
The current conflict did not begin in October 2023. It is the latest chapter in a documented history stretching back over a century. Every entry below links to a primary source you can verify yourself.
Key Events
The Ideological Foundations
Theodor Herzl’s Der Judenstaat (1896) established the political case for a Jewish state. The 1917 Balfour Declaration committed Britain to supporting that project in Palestine — over the objections of the Arab population that made up more than 90% of the territory’s inhabitants at the time.
Source: UK National Archives — Balfour Declaration (1917)
The Nakba — 700,000+ Palestinians Displaced
The UN proposed partitioning Palestine, allocating 56% of the land to a Jewish state despite Jews owning approximately 7% of it. Zionist military forces implemented Plan Dalet — destroying more than 500 Palestinian villages, killing thousands, and expelling 700,000–800,000 Palestinians. This event is known in Arabic as the Nakba: the Catastrophe. Many of those expelled and their descendants remain in refugee camps today.
Sources: Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications, 2006. Morris, Benny. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 2004. UN Conciliation Commission records, 1950
Occupation Begins — West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem
In June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. UN Security Council Resolution 242, passed unanimously in November 1967, called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories. Israel has not withdrawn. The occupation is now in its 58th year — the longest military occupation of recognized territory in modern history.
The Intifadas — Two Uprisings Against Occupation
The First Intifada (1987–1993) was a largely civilian uprising — strikes, protests, stone-throwing. The Second Intifada (2000–2005) followed the collapse of Camp David negotiations. Both were met with military force. Between 2000 and 2005 alone, approximately 3,300 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed.
Source: B’Tselem fatality statistics — btselem.org
Oslo Accords — Mutual Recognition, Unresolved Questions
The Oslo Accords established the Palestinian Authority and outlined a phased process toward final-status negotiations. Those negotiations never concluded. The core issues — statehood, Jerusalem, the right of return for refugees, and Israeli settlements — remain unresolved more than 30 years later.
Source: Declaration of Principles (Oslo I), 1993 — peacemaker.un.org
The Gaza Blockade
Following Israel’s withdrawal of settlers from inside Gaza, Israel imposed a comprehensive land, air, and sea blockade. The UN has repeatedly condemned it as collective punishment, prohibited under international humanitarian law. Since 2008, Israel has conducted seven major military campaigns in Gaza, each resulting in mass civilian casualties.
Sources: UN OCHA — Gaza humanitarian situation. ICRC — Collective punishment, Geneva Convention IV
Operation Summer Camps — West Bank
Israel launched its largest West Bank military raids in decades, targeting refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Hebron. Dozens of Palestinians were killed and thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed.
Source: UN OCHA West Bank reports
Operation Iron Wall — Largest West Bank Displacement Since 1967
Israel escalated its military presence across the West Bank, displacing more than 40,000 Palestinians in Jenin, Nur Shams, and surrounding camps — the largest forced displacement in the West Bank since the 1967 occupation began.
Source: UN OCHA West Bank. B’Tselem — Settlements
Gaza War — The Deadliest Campaign in Gaza’s History
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack into southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians — more than half of them women and children — destroyed more than 70% of Gaza’s housing stock, and created a man-made famine. The International Court of Justice is adjudicating South Africa’s genocide case against Israel under the Genocide Convention.
Sources: UN OCHA Gaza reports. ICJ — South Africa v. Israel. WFP — Gaza famine data
Gaza Seizure Vote and Settlement Expansion
The Israeli Cabinet voted to reassert full military and civil control over Gaza, abandoning the two-state framework. Simultaneously, 22 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank were retroactively legalized, further fragmenting any prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
UN Two-State Conference
The UN hosted a global summit to revive the two-state solution, focusing on Palestinian Authority reform, disarmament of armed groups, and international recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. No binding agreement was reached.
Source: UN General Assembly records, July 2025