Legal Literacy - This article discusses Israel's acts of aggression from the perspective of international law, law enforcement by the UN, and Indonesia's role in handling the conflict.

A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in 1917, the Balfour Declaration which had a major shock effect on Palestine, where the content of the agreement was to “establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine” and facilitate the achievement of that goal. The increasing tensions led to an Arab revolt to protest British colonialism and the increasing Jewish immigration, lasting from 1936 to 1939. Britain deployed its troops in Palestine and collaborated with the Jewish community by forming armed groups and counter-rebellion.

The initial conflict point between Palestine and Israel was the result of the UN decision in 1947 to divide the Palestinian territory under British mandate into two countries, namely one Jewish state and one Arab state, following the destruction of most European Jews in the Holocaust. The 1949 armistice agreement was called the Nakba and led to the Arab-Israeli war. The first Palestinian Intifada was carried out in the Gaza Strip in December 1987, involved in armed resistance against Israel which ended with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, accompanied by the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. The second Intifada occurred on September 28, 2000, Israel caused damage to the Palestinian economy and infrastructure. In 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian elections, but this led to a civil war between Fatah-Hamas.

Israel imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007 and has launched four prolonged military offensives in Gaza, namely in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. Hamas' attack on Israel in 2023, by firing thousands of rockets into Israel. Israeli forces then responded by declaring a “state of war alert” and Israel's counterattack in the Gaza Strip turned the conflict into uncharted territory.