UK will recognize Palestine unless Israel commits to ceasefire in Gaza

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the United Kingdom will recognize Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel agrees to uphold a ceasefire in Gaza and commit to a two-state solution. The announcement came a day after an emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza was held on July 29.

This decision follows growing domestic pressure over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. According to a UN-backed hunger monitoring system, the region could soon experience a "worst-case scenario of famine."

Back in October 2023, the attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israeli soldiers and civilians shocked the world. And so, too, has the Israeli response.

Sadly, this latest conflict represents yet another tragic episode in the long and bitter feud between Arabs and Israelis. But what are the origins of this seemingly endless hostility that's killed thousands of people and displaced millions?

Click through for a better understanding of the current Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The Balfour Declaration was a statement issued by the British government on November 2, 1917, declaring its favor of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."

Read without prejudice

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The letter's contents also revealed the government's wish that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

First Zionist Congress

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

But calls for a Jewish homeland had been voiced as far back as the late 19th century. Indeed, the newly formed Zionist movement demanded as much during the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.

Mandate for Palestine

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan. It was created in 1922 following the defeat of Ottoman forces at the end of the First World War. Pictured are British troops marching in Palestine.

Jewish settlements

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The British began confiscating land owned by Palestinians and handing it over to Jewish settlers. The kibbutz movement, established as early as 1910, flourished.

The Arab Revolt

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

Matters came to a head in 1936 with the so-called Arab Revolt, a populist national uprising against the British administration of the Palestine mandate.

Demonstrating dissatisfaction

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

Palestinians took to the streets demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish immigration and land purchases. A general strike was launched. Thousands of Arabs died, with many more arrested (pictured). The main form of collective punishment employed by the British forces was destruction of property. The revolt was finally quelled in 1939.

Resolution 181

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The Second World War diverted attention away from the Palestine issue, but in 1947 the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan.

First Arab-Israeli War

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

On May 14, 1948, the British mandate expired. On the same day, the State of Israel was created. The following day, May 15, the first Arab-Israeli War broke out.

Zionist ambition

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

But even before the commencement of hostilities, Zionist paramilitaries were already embarking on a military operation to destroy Palestinian towns and villages in an effort to expand the borders of the soon-to-be-born State of Israel.

A divided territory

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The ending of the war saw the territory divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. Thus began decades of regional tension, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

The Six-Day War

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

The Six-Day War began on June 5, 1967, with a preemptive Israeli air assault in Egypt and Syria in response to a series of military maneuvers by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser.

A short but decisive conflict

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

A short but decisive conflict, by June 10 the war was over with Israel having captured and occupied the rest of historic Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Pictured is David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin leading a group of soldiers past the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem.

The peace deal that died

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

On September 13, 1993, US President Bill Clinton hosted the historic meeting between PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin and Arafat shook hands for the first time after Israel and the PLO signed an agreement on Palestinian autonomy in the occupied territories. Tragically, Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an Israeli ultranationalist named Yigal Amir, radically opposed to the prime minister's peace initiative, particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.

Second Intifada

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

Hamas spearheaded the Second Intifada in September 2000, which lasted five years (the first having occurred between December 1987 and 1993). The uprising was fueled by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial visit to the al-Aqsa mosque—the third holiest site in Islam.

Israel–Hamas war

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, Read without prejudice, First Zionist Congress, Mandate for Palestine, Jewish settlements, The Arab Revolt, Demonstrating dissatisfaction, Resolution 181, First Arab-Israeli War, Zionist ambition, A divided territory, The Six-Day War, A short but decisive conflict, The peace deal that died, Second Intifada, Israel–Hamas war

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack in Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Israel retaliated with a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, leading to a war that resulted in the death of over 58,400 Palestinians, with many more missing or displaced.

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