The Israeli-Palestinian 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 claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced many millions of people. The following are some of the key events that led to the conflict:

• British Mandate of Palestine: Following World War I, the Mandate for Palestine included a binding obligation for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". During that period, the British facilitated mass Jewish immigration – many of the new residents were fleeing Nazism in Europe – and they also supported Arab nationalism.

• United Nations Partition Plan: In 1947, the UN adopted Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan, which sought to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The plan was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs, who felt that it was unfair.

• Israeli Declaration of Independence: On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was created, sparking the first Arab-Israeli War. The war ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into three parts.

• Six-Day War: In 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive defensive war against Jordan, Egypt, and Syria, as they appeared to be preparing to invade. The attack caught Arab governments by surprise and saw Israel achieve rapid victories, including seizing the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan.

• Palestinian Refugees: An estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes during the 1948 Nakba, or the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Today, their descendants live as six million refugees in 58 squalid camps throughout Palestine and in the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.

The conflict has been marked by violence, including wars, terrorist attacks, and military confrontations. The issues that the two sides cannot agree on include the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the future of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.