Gaza Strip – the epicenter of decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine

Palestinian protesters face tear gas from the Israeli army at the border between Israel and Gaza on May 14.

The boundary between Gaza and Israel has once again become a focal point for clashes between protesters and the Israeli army, as Palestinians demand to return to where they were expelled by Israel.

Kingdom of Israel (1030 – 930 BC).

The Jewish Kingdom of Israel was established around the 11th century BC.

Zionism emerged in 1881 when Jewish communities in exile longed to return to the `Land of Israel` and sought to establish a Jewish state.

After World War I ended, Britain defeated the Ottomans and they called the area `Mandate Palestine`.

In 1947, the United Nations approved a plan to divide the `Mandate of Palestine` into two separate Jewish (Israel) and Arab (Palestine) states.

United Nations Partition Plan 1947. Graphic: Washington Post.

The Jewish side agreed to this plan and established the State of Israel in May 1948.

While the original plan allocated 55% of the `Mandate Palestine` to Israel and 45% to the Palestinians, the 1948 war gave Israel control of 78% of the land.

Three-quarters of a million Palestinians have fled or been expelled from their homes in lands Israel has controlled since 1948, during what they call `al-Nakba` (The Catastrophe).

Gaza was under Egyptian military control until the Suez Crisis in 1956, when Egypt nationalized the main shipping route to confront Britain and France, preventing Israeli ships from passing through the canal.

Partition 1948 – 1967. Graphic: Washington Post.

6 day war

In 1967, the Six-Day War broke out between Arab countries and Israel.

Israel stationed troops in Gaza and established settlements in the newly occupied land, despite international law prohibiting the occupier from bringing its people to live in the occupied land.

In 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed the Oslo Peace Accords.

Status after 1967. Graphic: Washington Post.

In 2006, Hamas established its own government in Gaza.

Attacks and rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza have been responded to by Israel with a number of bombing campaigns and land attacks.

This year, Hamas directed a protest called the `Great March of Return`, thousands of Palestinian protesters gathered at the Gaza border with Israel to demand to return to their homeland,