The Arab-Israeli Wars were a series of major conflicts in the Middle East between the armed forces of Israel and various Arab states and political groups. The main conflicts occurred in 1948–49, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. However, fighting between these groups is ongoing.

Background

The Middle Eastern region known as Palestine was the ancient home of the Jewish people. It became part of the Muslim world in the 7th century AD. From 1923 to 1948, the British ruled in the region. During this time, a large number of Jewish immigrants from various European countries settled there. These immigrants came into conflict with the native Palestinian Arabs, since both groups wanted to make Palestine their own country.

The War of 1948–49

When Britain agreed to give up its rule in Palestine, the United Nations (UN) tried to divide the region between the Jewish people and the Arabs. The plan gave each group the same amount of land. However, the Jews were to get land already owned by Arab Palestinians, as well as many of the important cities in Palestine. Because of this and religious conflicts that go back for centuries, minutes after the State of Israel was announced on May 14, 1948, Arab Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries declared war on Israel.

After bitter fighting, the war ended in 1949 with the Israelis defeating the Arab Palestinians and their allies. Arab forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon occupied the areas in southern and eastern Palestine not given to the Jews by the UN. The forces of Transjordan also captured the small Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. However, Israel ended up with more land than the UN agreement originally gave them.

Between February and July 1949 Israel signed agreements with each Arab state establishing the borders between the countries. No peace treaty was signed between the two sides, however. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had left their homes during the fighting were not allowed to return. Many Palestinians ended up in refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries, where they remain today.

The October War

An uneasy peace lasted until October of 1956, when Israel became concerned by the growing power of Egypt's military under that country's new president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. The French and British governments were also worried about Nasser, who had taken over the Suez Canal, an important waterway through Egypt that was partially owned by France and Great Britain. In a secret alliance with the British and French, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula to destroy Arab military bases. In five days the Israeli army captured thousands of prisoners and occupied most of the peninsula east of the Suez Canal. In December of that year UN troops were stationed in the area, and Israeli forces withdrew in March 1957.

The Six-Day War

Arab and Israeli forces clashed for the third time in June 1967, in what came to be called the Six-Day War. In early 1967, Syria bombarded Israeli villages near the border between the two countries. When the Israeli Air Force shot down six Syrian air force jets in retaliation, Egypt gathered its forces near Israel's border. Israel then launched an air strike and eliminated the Egyptian air force while it was still on the ground. In the six days that followed, Israel seized the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River (known as the West Bank), and the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border.

The Yom Kippur War

The occasional fighting that followed the Six-Day War developed into a full-scale war in October 1973. On the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur Egypt attacked Israel across the Suez Canal. At the same time, Syria attacked Israel on the Golan Heights. The Arab armies were stronger than in the previous wars, and Israel lost soldiers and territory. However, the Israeli army pushed into Syrian territory. In addition, they surrounded the Egyptian army by crossing the Suez Canal and establishing forces on its west bank.

Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November, and on January 18, 1974, the two countries concluded peace agreements. On May 31, 1974, Israel and Syria also signed a cease-fire agreement. In both cases, the UN established a buffer zone between the opposing troops.

The invasion of Lebanon

On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty that ended the state of war that had existed between the two countries for 30 years. Tensions continued, however, between Israel and other Arab communities. Palestinian groups, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a group fighting to establish a Palestinian homeland, had camps in southern Lebanon. They attacked Israel from these bases. On June 5, 1982, Israel responded by sending jets to bomb Lebanon's capital, Beirut, and southern Lebanon. Israeli troops then invaded Lebanon and surrounded Beirut. Eventually the PLO evacuated the city, and Israeli troops withdrew from West Beirut. By June 1985, Israel had withdrawn from all but a small strip of Lebanese territory separating the two countries. It withdrew completely from this land in early 2000.

Later developments

In the late 1970s, Israel began to build settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 1987, the growth of these settlements caused Gaza Strip and West Bank Palestinians to protest. These demonstrations and riots—known as the intifada, or “uprising”—continued for years. Despite efforts to establish peace in the region, violence continued off and on into the 21st century.