The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing military and political conflict in the Levant that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced many millions of people. The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile region against Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own. The conflict has its roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the birth of major nationalist movements among the Jews and among the Arabs, both geared towards attaining sovereignty for their people in the Middle East. The following are some of the key events that have contributed to the conflict:

• 1947: The United Nations adopted Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan, which sought to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was created, sparking the first Arab-Israeli War.

• 1967: In a war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza, and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in neighboring Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

• 2005: Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza, though it retained control over its airspace, shared border, and shoreline. The UN still considers the territory to be occupied by Israel.

The conflict has been marked by violence and warfare, with both Israelis and Palestinians resorting to violent means to achieve their goals. Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians and military forces by Palestinian militants is referred to as terrorism by Israel, the United States, and the European Union. The most recent peace plan, prepared by the US when Donald Trump was president, was called "the deal of the century" by Prime Minister Netanyahu, but was dismissed by the Palestinians as one-sided and never got off the ground.