The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is an enduring military and political struggle located in the Levant, commencing in the mid-20th century and persisting as one of the lengthiest conflicts globally.
Numerous endeavors have been undertaken to address this conflict within the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, in conjunction with broader attempts to settle the overarching Arab–Israeli conflict.
Public affirmations asserting a Jewish homeland in Palestine, notably events like the First Zionist Congress in 1897 and the Balfour Declaration in 1917, triggered early tensions in the area due to substantial Jewish immigration waves. After World War I, the Mandate for Palestine included a firm commitment for the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
These tensions escalated into an open sectarian strife between Jewish and Arab populations. The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, although never put into action, ignited the 1947–1949 Palestine War.
The existing Israeli-Palestinian status quo traces its origins to the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, leading to the current Palestinian territories scenario.