Summary:
October 27, 2018 was a quiet Wednesday night for most Israelis. Many were heading back to their homes after a long day’s work and wanting to see their families. The Beyda family was just settling in for the night. Around 8 at night, the silence of their house was shattered by the sound of air raid sirens. A report indicated that more than 30 rockets had been launched into Israel with indeterminate locations. The Beydas began rushing toward their air raid bunker below their apartment. They took only the clothes on their back and a few precious items, not knowing whether or not their town would be struck. Hours crept by. By 8 the next morning, the all clear sign was given, and relieved families, including the Beydas, emerged from their shelters. Situations like these are not uncommon in Israel or Palestine, as the two have been in fierce conflict for decades.
Debate over land in the Middle East began during and soon after WWI when both the Zionist movement and the Arab nationalist movement were gaining influence. Zionists, of course, believed that Jewish people ought to return to their homeland of Israel and that the land should be granted back to them. At the same time, ethnic Muslims that were descendants of the populous who lived in ancient Palestine (hence Palestinians) also wanted claim to the area to create a new Palestine. Both ethnic groups were forced to coexist in British Palestine until 1948 when, after a failed UN resolution to create respective Jewish and Muslim states, Israel and its Jewish majority declared independence.
The several decades following Israel’s independence were marked by conflict between Israel and the major Arab nations in the region. In 1948 and through 1949, war broke out between the newly established Israel and a coalition of Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations over territory. The war ended in an armistice which divided Jerusalem into eastern and western, controlled by Israel and Jordan respectively. However, the Six Day War broke out in 1967 which saw Israel preemptively strike and seize key locations in the Lavant including the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. This led to considerable backlash from Arab states and Palestinians.
Over the course of a few decades, tensions mounted between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in the 1980s with the mission to create a free and independent Palestine from Israel. Conflict so erupted between the two when PLO forces began sending missile and mortar strikes into Israel. Israel began responding by firing missiles at PLO areas of operation and sending troops to PLO controlled areas as well. The most notable of these sites today is the Gaza Strip which has seen conflict between the PLO and Israel for several years now. Conflict continues and the UN is trying to reach a treaty between the two groups, although it is difficult under the extremely tenuous circumstances.