The history of Israel and Palestine is complex and dates back to the late 19th century. The roots of the conflict can be traced to the rise of national movements, including Zionism and Arab nationalism. Zionists sought to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 endorsed the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, leading to an influx of Jewish immigrants to the region. Following World War II and the Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel in 1948. The establishment of Israel, and the war that followed and preceded it, led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who became refugees, sparking a decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people.

The conflict intensified with the United Nations adoption of Resolution 181 in 1947, 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. The war ended in 1949 with Israels victory, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip. After the war, Israel gained territorial control over the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt; the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan; and the Golan Heights from Syria. In the 1967 war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which was subsequently annexed by Israel. The war brought about a second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at half a million.

The conflict has continued to this day, with both Israelis and Palestinians seeking to control their own futures and live in peace, freedom, and security. The Palestinians seek to establish their own independent state in at least a part of historic Palestine. The conflict has been rooted in national, political, territorial, cultural, and religious factors.