The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict in the Levant that dates back to the end of the nineteenth century. 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 began with the United Nations adoption of 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. 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. Over the following years, tensions rose in the region, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

The current Israeli-Palestinian status quo began following Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, known as the Palestinian territories. 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. 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 conflict has been marked by various attempts to resolve it as part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, alongside other efforts to resolve the broader Arab-Israeli conflict. The latest violence began with Israeli attacks on sites in the Gaza Strip, which its military said was in response to threats from a militant group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The ceasefire was mediated by Egypt, which has acted as an intermediary between Israel and Gaza in the past. The conflict has drawn in outside powers and destabilized the wider Middle East.