Israel-Palestine: Understanding the Conflict in Fifteen Minutes

Why has this war lasted since 1948? Who are the actors? What changes with France's recognition of Palestine in 2025? A neutral, factual guide, without jargon. For those who finally want to understand.

On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian movement Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip that lasted two years, leaving more than 72,000 Palestinians dead, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Since then, you have seen these images every day. But do you understand what is at stake?

This article offers a chronological and neutral account of a conflict that has lasted 78 years. No partisanship. No jargon. Just the facts, in the order in which they happened, with their actors and their numbers.

The territory in question

It all begins with a strip of land of about 27,000 km² between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Slightly larger than Belgium. The region has carried several names through history and depending on who is speaking: Palestine, Holy Land, Eretz Israel, Southern Levant.

Three monotheistic religions have laid claim to its sacred sites for two millennia: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. But the modern conflict — the one we hear about today — is recent. It begins in the late 19th century.

At that time, two political movements emerged:

Zionism, formulated in 1896 by the Austrian Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl, which advocated the creation of a national home for Jews in Palestine, then a province of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was a response to the pogroms and anti-Semitism striking Central and Eastern Europe.
Palestinian Arab nationalism, which developed in parallel among local populations, opposed both Ottoman rule and, later, British colonization.

Both movements claimed the same land. That is the heart of the conflict.

1917-1948: The British Mandate

In 1917, Britain, about to conquer Palestine from the Ottoman Empire, issued the Balfour Declaration — named after the British Foreign Secretary. The text announced that the British government “viewed favourably” the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, while pledging to “protect the rights of non-Jewish communities.”

It was a promise many historians consider contradictory — granting one people a territory inhabited by another. But it became the legal foundation of everything that followed.

From 1920 to 1948, the League of Nations entrusted Britain with a mandate over Palestine. During this period:

The Jewish population of Palestine rose from 60,000 to 600,000, largely through European immigration fleeing persecution, including the Holocaust.
Several Arab revolts broke out (1929, 1936-39) against this immigration and against British authority.
Intercommunal tensions intensified.

After the Second World War and the revelation of the extermination of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany, international pressure for the creation of a Jewish state became overwhelming.

1947: The UN Partition Plan

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, proposing to divide Palestine into two states:

A Jewish state on 56 % of the territory
An Arab state on 44 % of the territory
A special international status for Jerusalem

Zionist leaders accepted the plan. Local Arab leaders and several neighbouring Arab states rejected it — they considered the partition unjust, given that the Jewish population of Palestine then represented only one-third of the inhabitants for two-thirds of the territory.

This was the tipping point. From then on, conflict became inevitable.

1948: The creation of Israel and the Nakba

On 14 May 1948, David Ben Gurion proclaimed the independence of the State of Israel. The country was immediately recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union.

The next day, the armies of five neighbouring Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq — declared war on Israel. This was the first Arab-Israeli war.

By the end of the war, the following facts were established:

Consequences of the 1948 war	Figure
Territory conquered by Israel (beyond the UN partition plan)	78 % of Mandatory Palestine
Palestinians fleeing or expelled (the Nakba)	about 700,000 people
Palestinian villages destroyed or emptied	more than 400
The West Bank passed under control of	Jordan
The Gaza Strip passed under control of	Egypt
Israeli soldiers killed	about 6,000
Arab soldiers killed	about 15,000

The Arabic word “Nakba” (catastrophe) designates, for Palestinians, this mass exodus. 15 May has since become their day of national commemoration. For Israelis, the same date marks the creation of a state on which they consider themselves historically founded to exist.

The Palestinian refugees of 1948 and their descendants now number around 6 million. UN Resolution 194, adopted in December 1948, called for their return or fair compensation. It has never been implemented.

Black-and-white archival photograph from 1948: soldiers watching over a group of seated people near a road during the Palestinian exodus. — Palestinian refugees gather near a barbed-wire fence, watched by soldiers, during the 1948 conflict following Israel's declaration of independence.

1967: The occupied territories

In June 1967, in six days, Israel won a lightning war against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The country took possession of:

The West Bank (Palestinian territory until then administered by Jordan)
East Jerusalem (home to the main Jewish and Muslim holy sites)
The Gaza Strip (until then administered by Egypt)
The Golan Heights (Syrian)
The Sinai (Egyptian, returned in 1979)

This is what is called the “Six-Day War.” And it is from this moment that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip became what the UN calls the “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted that same year, called on Israel to withdraw from these territories in exchange for peace. It has never been fully implemented.

From 1967 onward, Israel's settlement policy began: Israeli citizens started settling in the occupied West Bank. Today, around 700,000 settlers live across more than 250 settlements. The Fourth Geneva Convention, however, prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own population into an occupied territory.

1987-1993: Intifadas and Oslo

In the late 1980s, Palestinians in the occupied territories rose up against the occupation. This first intifada (uprising, in Arabic) lasted from 1987 to 1993. It was marked by demonstrations, strikes and stone-throwing, and left around 2,200 dead, the vast majority Palestinian.

It was in this context that Hamas was founded in 1987 — a Palestinian Islamist movement distinct from the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 and led by Yasser Arafat). Hamas refuses any recognition of Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

In 1993, the PLO and Israel formally recognized each other. This was the moment of the Oslo Accords, signed in Washington in the presence of US President Bill Clinton:

The PLO renounced armed struggle and recognized Israel's existence
Israel recognized the PLO as the “legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”
A Palestinian Authority was created to gradually administer certain zones in the West Bank and Gaza
The final status (definitive borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements) was deferred to later negotiations

Those later negotiations never reached a conclusion.

The actors involved

To understand what follows, one must clearly identify who speaks for whom. This is probably the most misunderstood point of the conflict in international press coverage.

On the Israeli side

The State of Israel: parliamentary democracy founded in 1948. Capital claimed: Jerusalem (status internationally contested). Population: about 9.9 million in 2026.
The government: since 2022, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party (right). His coalition includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.
Tsahal (Israel Defense Forces): conscription army. Almost all Israelis (Jewish and Druze) serve from age 18.

On the Palestinian side

It is more complex — because there is no single Palestinian interlocutor.

The Palestinian Authority (PA): created in 1994 by the Oslo Accords. Administers part of the West Bank. Chaired by Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah) since 2005. His mandate was due to expire in 2009. Recognizes Israel.
Fatah: secular political party founded in 1959, long led by Yasser Arafat until his death in 2004. Dominates the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. Recognizes Israel.
Hamas: Islamist movement founded in 1987. Has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Israel. Does not recognize Israel.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad: another Islamist armed group. Allied with Hamas. Also classified as a terrorist organization.

Actor	Territory controlled	Recognizes Israel?
Palestinian Authority (Fatah)	West Bank (partial)	Yes, since 1993
Hamas	Gaza Strip (2007-2025)	No
PLO	Diplomatic representation	Yes, since 1988

This internal Palestinian division is central to understanding what follows. When people talk about “Palestine,” they are not referring to a single coherent political entity.

2007-2023: Gaza, the blockade, the wars

In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections. It was unexpected. And it was the start of an internal crisis within the Palestinian camp.

In June 2007, after several months of clashes, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip by force. Fatah retreated to the West Bank. Since then, Palestinians have had two distinct governments: Fatah in Ramallah, Hamas in Gaza.

In response to the Hamas takeover, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip: restrictions on goods, people and construction materials. This blockade has been in place since 2007.

Between 2007 and 2023, four wars opposed Israel and Hamas in Gaza:

Conflict	Year	Palestinian toll	Israeli toll
Operation “Cast Lead”	2008-2009	about 1,400 killed	13 killed
Operation “Pillar of Defense”	2012	about 170 killed	6 killed
Operation “Protective Edge”	2014	about 2,200 killed	73 killed
May 2021 conflict	2021	about 260 killed	13 killed

Each time, the script was similar: Hamas rocket fire into Israel, Israeli military retaliation on Gaza, Egyptian or Qatari mediation, return to the previous status quo. Without resolution.

7 October 2023: The rupture

On the morning of Saturday 7 October 2023, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, fighters from Hamas and other Palestinian factions crossed the security barrier between Gaza and Israel at multiple points. They simultaneously attacked:

The Nova music festival (near Kibbutz Re'im)
Several kibbutzim (Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, etc.)
Several military bases

The toll, confirmed by Israeli authorities:

The attackers also took 240 hostages back to Gaza. Men, women, children, the elderly, foreigners. It was a mass hostage-taking without precedent in the recent history of the Middle East.

Israel declared war on Hamas the same day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a military operation aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.

2023-2025: The Gaza war

The Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip lasted two years. By its scale, intensity and civilian toll, it stands as one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century.

Here are the figures at the moment of the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the most consensual sources:

Indicator	Toll
Palestinians killed (Palestinian Ministry of Health)	about 65,000
Palestinians wounded	more than 165,000
Population displaced inside Gaza	1.9 million (out of 2.3 million)
Housing destroyed	about 70 % of the stock
Functioning hospitals (out of 36 before the war)	fewer than 10
Israeli soldiers killed in combat	about 400
Israeli hostages released	about 150 (alive or deceased)
Hostages still held in Gaza by end of 2025	48

Several stages marked these two years of war:

October-December 2023: ground invasion of northern Gaza
January-May 2024: operation in the south, in Khan Younis then Rafah
2024: declaration of famine in northern Gaza by the IPC classification system, chronic underfunding of humanitarian aid
January 2025: first ceasefire, hostages released, broken in March 2025
September 2025: the International Court of Justice is seized by South Africa to qualify Israel's actions as genocide. The proceedings are ongoing.
22 September 2025: France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and several other countries officially recognize the State of Palestine

The question of genocide

This word is probably the one that triggers the most controversy in the coverage of the conflict. Here is what the facts say.

Genocide is legally defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) as the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

In December 2023, South Africa filed a complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide. The proceedings are ongoing.

In January 2024, the ICJ issued a preliminary order finding that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and ordered Israel to take measures to prevent any genocidal acts. This order is a provisional measure, not a final ruling on the merits.

In September 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories concluded that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. Israel categorically rejects this designation.

To this day, no court has issued a definitive judgment on the matter. The legal debate is open. The political debate is fierce.

10 October 2025: The ceasefire, but...

On 10 October 2025, after two years of war, a ceasefire entered into force. It was negotiated under the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the United States — at the initiative of US President Donald Trump, elected in November 2024 and inaugurated on 20 January 2025.

The plan, in twenty points, provides for:

The release of all surviving Israeli hostages
A release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel
The gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, in three phases
The full delivery of humanitarian aid
Transitional governance of Gaza by an international authority, without Hamas
Reconstruction funded by the Gulf states
The progressive disarmament of Hamas

Six months after it took effect, the assessment is bleak. In April 2026, five major humanitarian NGOs (Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International, Save the Children) released a joint report describing the ceasefire as a “failure.”

The cumulative toll of the war, by the end of April 2026, now exceeds 72,000 Palestinians killed and 172,000 wounded. Humanitarian aid still trickles in. Targeted bombings continue, described by Israel as “responses to terrorist activities,” by NGOs as “ceasefire violations.”

On 28 April 2026, the Gaza government media office counted 2,400 ceasefire violations by Israel since October 2025.

Loading of a humanitarian cargo with assistance supplies for the people of Gaza. — Cargo containers filled with humanitarian aid are unloaded from an aircraft, highlighting ongoing relief efforts amid the conflict.

The recognition of Palestine

The other major diplomatic event of 2025 is the recognition of the State of Palestine by about a dozen Western countries.

On 22 September 2025, at the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron officially announced that France recognizes the State of Palestine. He was joined by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Andorra and San Marino.

It is a major diplomatic shift. In concrete terms:

Indicator	Before Sept. 2025	After Sept. 2025
States recognizing Palestine	about 145	158 of 193
Permanent UN Security Council members	3 of 5 (Russia, China, France)	4 of 5
G7 countries recognizing Palestine	0	3 (France, UK, Canada)

The United States remains the only permanent member of the Security Council not to recognize Palestine. This means that, in practice, the full admission of Palestine as a UN member state remains blocked by the US veto.

Recognition has more political and diplomatic weight than legal. But it changes the equation: the so-called “two-state solution” (an Israeli state and a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully) once again becomes the official horizon for a majority of the international community.

The questions that remain

For lasting peace to be conceivable, several questions must find an answer. None has been resolved by previous agreements.

1. Borders. Which ones? Those of pre-1967 (which the UN and the majority of the international community consider as the reference baseline)? With or without the Israeli settlements built in the West Bank since?

2. Jerusalem. Both peoples claim the city as their capital. The international status envisaged by the UN in 1947 has never been implemented. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, without international recognition.

3. The refugees. What to do with the 6 million descendants of Palestinians expelled in 1948? Israel refuses their return, which it argues would mean ending the Jewish character of the state.

4. Hamas. The Trump plan provides for its disarmament and exclusion from any future governance. But the movement remains popular within part of Palestinian society, and its actual disarmament is far from secured.

5. Israeli settlements in the West Bank. 700,000 settlers live there. Their dismantling, foreseen by the Oslo Accords, has never been implemented. On the contrary, their expansion has accelerated since 2023.

6. Israel's security. How can it be guaranteed that no attack like that of 7 October 2023 could ever happen again?

7. The reconstruction of Gaza. Estimated at more than $80 billion, over a minimum of ten years.

How to read news about the conflict

A few useful markers to decode what you read or see:

Palestinian toll: almost always provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (based in Gaza). Figures are deemed reliable by the WHO and most international NGOs, even if some Israeli observers contest them. The civilian/combatant distinction is not always systematically established.
Israeli toll: provided by the Israeli authorities or the IDF. The military/civilian distinction is always established.
Humanitarian sources: OCHA (UN humanitarian coordination), MSF, ICRC, UNRWA, WHO.
Legal sources: International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Criminal Court (ICC), UN commissions of inquiry.
Reliable Israeli media: Haaretz, Times of Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth.
Reliable Palestinian media: Al Jazeera English, Al-Quds, Wafa.
International media to cross-check: BBC, Le Monde, The Guardian, Reuters, AP.

Our advice: always cross-reference at least three sources with different editorial sensibilities before forming an opinion.

To go further

This article is an entry-level guide. For deeper reading, here are some resources known for their seriousness:

Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine (Palestinian-American historian at Columbia)
Tom Segev, 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East (Israeli historian)
Le Monde diplomatique in English: thematic dossiers, partial open access
Al Jazeera English: documentaries on the conflict's history
Lectures from the Collège de France (Henry Laurens, chair of contemporary history of the Arab world)
NGO reports: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B'Tselem (Israeli), Al-Haq (Palestinian)

None of these sources is neutral — each has its own angle. But they are rigorous. And it is by reading all of them that one begins to understand.

The real question

Israel and Palestine have been disputing for 78 years a land that two peoples consider their own, for historical, religious and political reasons all legitimate from each side's perspective.

The raw figures speak of an asymmetric violence. The lives lost — 1,200 Israelis on 7 October, more than 72,000 Palestinians since — are not numerically comparable. But they all carry the same human value. That is precisely what every international convention reminds us: the life of an Israeli civilian and that of a Palestinian civilian are worth exactly the same.

Understanding this conflict does not mean choosing a side. It means refusing the comfort of simplification. It means accepting that history is complex, that wrongs are shared, that suffering is real on both sides.

And it means asking ourselves, as 158 of 193 states have begun to do: how, concretely, do we make sure that, in the end, two peoples can live side by side?

History tells us the answer is not military. It is diplomatic. And, to this day, it remains to be written.

Main sources

This article will be updated as the situation evolves. If you feel a point should be nuanced or completed, write to us at hello@kero.media.

Israel-Palestine: Understanding the Conflict in Fifteen Minutes