One Land

1914

Ottoman land

For four centuries Palestine belonged to the Ottoman Empire. The Peel Commission, a British body, wrote in 1937 that in 1919 there were about half a million Arabs and 65,000 Jews, and that by 1914 there were over 80,000 Jews, nearly 12,000 on the land in farming colonies. Its figure for the early Mandate years is higher: 589,000 Moslems, 83,000 Jews and 71,000 Christians. Edmond de Rothschild paid for several of the first colonies; his family’s foundation says he and his descendants supported 44 settlements. The Ottoman registers were not among the sources read.

589,000 · 83,000 · 71,000Moslems, Jews and Christians in Palestine in the early Mandate years, as the Peel Commission estimated

9 Jul 1902

Why a state, and Basel

Theodor Herzl wrote in 1896 that “the Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers”, and proposed a state in answer. The first Zionist Congress met in Basel in 1897. In July 1902 he gave evidence to a British royal commission on immigration; his diary says he meant to put the commission to a dilemma, free asylum or an unprotected native working class, and to offer a way out in a chartered company in Cyprus, and that he thought the hearing an off day. Arab answers to the idea come in later scenes.

2 Nov 1917

Three papers, one land

In October 1915 Sir Henry McMahon undertook to recognise Arab independence in letters to Hussein, Sharif of Mecca. Whether that covered Palestine was never settled: in 1939 the British government wrote that British and Arab delegates could not agree on the letters. In 1916 Britain and France agreed on an international administration for a “brown area” and gave Britain the ports of Haifa and Acre. In February 1917 Chaim Weizmann wrote that Zionist leaders told Sir Mark Sykes they wanted British protection, not an international regime; the Balfour letter of November promised a “national home” and, in the clause shown here, rights only to “existing non-Jewish communities”: civil and religious ones.

2 Nov 1917

A letter to Lord Rothschild

Balfour wrote to Walter, Lord Rothschild, and asked him to tell the Zionist Federation of the government’s declaration; Weizmann wrote that it was to Walter that the Declaration was addressed. Lloyd George wrote in 1938 that Weizmann won his support while solving, at his request, a wartime shortage for making cordite; Weizmann’s memoir confirms the acetone work, and a review of Jonathan Schneer’s study finds no conspiracy, only conflicting wartime pressures. AAP FactCheck rates false the claim that the Rothschild family created Israel; Suzanne Rutland calls it “utter nonsense”, and Anita Shapira credits Edmond de Rothschild’s funding of early settlements but says it is “far from establishing the state of Israel”.

24 Jul 1922

The Mandate

The League of Nations text of 1922 said “recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine”, made Britain responsible for “the establishment of the Jewish national home”, and also for “the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine”. Arabs read the same words differently: the Peel Commission recorded the Arab Higher Committee as saying its quarrel was “with the existence of the Mandate itself”, and that it denied the validity of the Balfour Declaration. Both the pledge to one people and the pledge to the other sit in one document.

1937

1929, 1936 and the Peel plan

In August 1929, the Peel Commission wrote, “murderous attacks were made on the Jews in various parts of the country”; over 60 Jews were killed at Hebron, including women and children, there was little retaliation, and most of the Arab dead were killed by troops and police. After the Arab strike and revolt of 1936 the commission named two causes, in its words: Arab desire for national independence, and Arab hatred and fear of the Jewish National Home. It put Arab losses in 1936 at about 1,000 killed and 80 Jews killed. It proposed partition and, “sooner or later”, a transfer of land and an exchange of population.

Jul 1947

The door narrows

In May 1939 Britain declared it was “not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State”, set 75,000 immigrants over five years, and aimed at an independent Palestine State within ten. In March 1945 the Arab League pact said Palestine’s independence could “no more be questioned” than that of any other Arab State. After the Holocaust an Anglo-American committee asked in April 1946 for 100,000 entry certificates for victims of Nazi and Fascist persecution, and Truman asked the same in October. In July 1947 British forces stopped the Exodus 1947, with over 4,500 survivors aboard, and the refugees were returned to camps in Germany.

100,000Entry certificates the Anglo-American Committee asked for in April 1946, for victims of Nazi and Fascist persecution

29 Nov 1947

The partition plan

On 29 November 1947 the UN General Assembly recommended independent Arab and Jewish states and an international regime for Jerusalem. The Declaration of Independence of May 1948 says the Jewish state was proclaimed “on the strength of the resolution”. The State Department’s history says the Palestinian Arabs refused the plan, which they regarded as favorable to the Jews and unfair to the Arab population who would remain in the Jewish state. Rashid Khalidi writes that at the start of 1948 Arabs were over two-thirds of the people and owned nearly 90 percent of the privately owned land; the proposed Arab state was never established.

14 May 1948

April and May 1948

The State Department’s history says fighting began with attacks by Arab irregulars on Jewish cities, settlements and armed forces; the Jewish forces were the Haganah and two small groups, the Irgun and Lehi. On 9 April, five weeks before any state, Irgun and Lehi fighters attacked Deir Yassin; the U.S. consul reported 250 killed, Benny Morris counts 100 to 110. On 14 May Israel declared independence, “by virtue of our natural and historic right”, offering “peace and good neighborliness”; the State Department says Arab armies invaded, and records an Arab air attack on Tel Aviv, while Rashid Khalidi writes that only Egypt’s army made a serious incursion into the territory of the Jewish state. Morris notes that Israel lost about 1 percent of its people.

11 Dec 1948

How many became refugees

Avi Shlaim puts the whole 1948 flight at 700,000 to 750,000, almost half of Palestine’s Arab population, and Benny Morris also speaks of 700,000. On 16 September 1948 the UN Mediator, Folke Bernadotte, counted about 360,000 Arab refugees, and 7,000 Jewish refugees, “requiring aid”, and recommended that the right of the Arab refugees to return “be affirmed”. In December the General Assembly resolved that refugees wishing to return and live at peace “should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date”, with compensation for property of those who do not and for loss or damage to property of all. Nur Masalha writes that a Palestinian minority stayed, 13 percent of the population in 1949.

700,000–750,000Palestinians who became refugees in 1948, by Avi Shlaim's count

31 Oct 1948

What the archives show

Benny Morris, who worked in Israeli army archives, says Haganah units were ordered in April and May 1948 to uproot villagers, expel them and destroy the villages; that on 31 October 1948 the Northern Front commander ordered in writing the removal of the Arab population; and that the Lod expulsion order was signed by Yitzhak Rabin. He counts 24 massacres, about a dozen rapes, and about 800 killed in massacres and executions, and says the cases were hushed up. He also says, in a 2004 interview, that he finds no justification for rape or massacre, but that in his view the expulsions were not war crimes: “There was no choice but to expel that population.” Others dispute his reading, as the next section shows.

1948

Why they became refugees: historians differ

The older Israeli account said Arab leaders ordered the Palestinians out; Shlaim says Morris found no such calls, and Walid Khalidi calls the claim a lie. Morris finds no written Ben-Gurion order and no orderly policy, “but there is an atmosphere of [population] transfer”, and also finds Arab Higher Committee orders to move women, children and the elderly from villages.

1948

Plan D

Walid Khalidi reads the April 1948 operations of Plan D as one expulsion plan, and says Morris sees no link; Shlaim names Israeli pressure the single most important reason, and Nur Masalha points to “transfer” thinking. Efraim Karsh holds that the Israeli narrative sees a tragedy mainly self-inflicted, by rejecting the UN plan and by the Arab states’ attack; the Palestinian narrative, he writes, sees dispossession by a Zionist strategy. The record of expulsions is in the scene before; the dispute is about plan and about blame.

3 Apr 1949

Lines on a map

The armistice agreements of 1949 with Egypt and Jordan drew lines that, by their own texts, do not prejudice “rights, claims and positions” in a final settlement and were “dictated exclusively by military considerations”. Egypt kept Gaza and Jordan the West Bank until 1967. Rashid Khalidi writes that Israel now controlled about 77 percent of the territory of Mandatory Palestine. In the same years Jewish communities left Arab and other Muslim-majority countries, covered in the next section.

1951

Flight and expulsion of Jews from Arab countries

Israel’s Foreign Ministry counts a million Jews in Muslim countries in 1948 and 30,000 in 2020, marks the departure as an expulsion, and says more than 340,000 came to Israel by 1951. The U.S. Holocaust Museum calls the Baghdad mob violence of June 1941, the Farhud, a turning point for Iraq’s Jews. Of Iraq in 1950 and 1951, over 120,000 left; Moshe Gat, in Daniel Pipes’s review, finds no link between bombings and departures, while Ya’akov Meron, a former Israeli negotiator, argues that Arab states coordinated an expulsion. Historians differ country by country; the Arab governments’ own accounts were not read.

1,000,000 → 30,000Jews in Muslim countries in 1948 and in 2020, by Israel's Foreign Ministry

22 Nov 1967

June 1967

The State Department’s history says Soviet officials told Syria and Egypt on 13 May that Israel was massing troops on Syria’s border, a report it calls false; Egypt sent soldiers into the Sinai, demanded the UN force’s withdrawal and, on 22 May, announced closure of the Straits of Tiran; Jordan joined the Arab coalition, “heightening the pressure for an Israeli strike”. Between 5 and 10 June Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, the State Department’s word.

22 Nov 1967

Khartoum and 242

In September the Khartoum summit said “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it, and insistence on the rights of the Palestinian people in their own country”, and chose to use oil pumping “as a positive weapon” rather than suspend it. In November, Resolution 242 emphasized “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and asked for Israeli withdrawal, an end to claims of belligerency and a just settlement of the refugee problem.

17 Sep 1978

October 1973, then Camp David

On 6 October 1973, Yom Kippur for Israelis, Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli forces; the U.S. resupplied Israel and the Arab oil producers answered with an embargo, the road told in The Oil Weapon, which began with the Khartoum debate above. Five years later Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin met President Carter at Camp David and agreed a framework; a peace treaty followed in March 1979. The framework also said talks on the West Bank and Gaza should lead to “transitional arrangements” of no more than five years.

15 Oct 2026

The West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967

The ICJ, which calls them the Occupied Palestinian Territory, summarized that Israel began settlements in 1967 and that by 2023 about 465,000 settlers lived in the West Bank and some 230,000 in East Jerusalem; it found settlements “in violation of international law”, and noted that Area C, over 60 per cent of the West Bank, is administered exclusively by Israel. B’Tselem counted 59 permanent checkpoints in the West Bank in 2010. OCHA reports that in two weeks of October 2026 five Palestinians were killed and over 240 injured by Israeli forces or settlers, 74 per cent of injuries in settler attacks, and 96 people displaced by demolitions; UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned of “ethnic cleansing” in Hebron. Israel’s written statement to the Court set out security concerns, and Judges Tomka, Abraham and Aurescu voted against several of the Court’s points.

465,000 · 230,000Settlers in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem in 2023, as reported to the ICJ

15 Nov 1988

Uprising and declarations

On 9 December 1987 a Palestinian uprising began in Gaza and spread to the West Bank; Israel’s Defense Ministry archive dates its end to 13 September 1993. The PLO’s Charter of 1968 had said “armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine”; Hamas’s Covenant of 18 August 1988 says “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it”, that Judgement will not come until Moslems fight “the Jews (killing the Jews)”, and that “so-called peaceful solutions” contradict its principles; a later Hamas document of 2017 was not read here. On 15 November 1988 the PLO proclaimed the State of Palestine, citing Resolution 181 as the grant of international legitimacy: “the right to sovereignty and national independence”.

4 Nov 1995

Oslo, and a shot in Tel Aviv

On 13 September 1993 Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the PLO’s Mahmoud Abbas signed the Declaration of Principles at the White House, with Rabin and Arafat speaking. In letters of 9 September, as the ICJ records, the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people; the State Department adds that “the PLO renounced terrorism”. Rabin was assassinated in November 1995 by Yigal Amir, an Israeli who opposed the Oslo Accords on religious grounds, and the State Department says his murder was followed by a string of attacks by Hamas. The two sides agreed to “recognize their mutual legitimate and political rights”; Israel and Jordan made peace in October 1994.

25 Jul 2000

Camp David, 2000: two accounts

The summit of July 2000 ended without a settlement; the State Department says accounts differ as to why, and that Clinton blamed Arafat, saying the Prime Minister “moved forward more from his initial position”. Dennis Ross answers Malley and Agha that Barak and Clinton are “Absolutely not” responsible, though Barak made tactical mistakes, “Absolutely”. Robert Malley and Hussein Agha, whom Ross calls a longtime adviser to the Palestinians, write that “strictly speaking, there never was an Israeli offer”, that the ideas, never in writing, had Israel annexing 9 percent of the West Bank for 1 percent in exchange, offered “a satisfactory solution” on refugees, and left Israeli sovereignty over much of Arab East Jerusalem; they also fault the Palestinian side. In December 2000 Clinton made his own proposals.

9 Jul 2004

The second uprising, and the wall

Riots followed a visit by Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount on 28 September 2000. From 29 September 2000 to 26 September 2010, B’Tselem counts 6,371 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, 2,996 of them known not to have taken part in hostilities, and 1,083 Israelis killed by Palestinians, 741 of them civilians; the decade includes the Gaza war of 2008 to 2009. Benny Morris says “the bombing of the buses and restaurants” shook him.

9 Jul 2004

The ICJ opinion

On 9 July 2004 the ICJ gave an advisory opinion: by 14 votes to 1 it found that the wall Israel was building in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with its associated régime, is contrary to international law, and that Israel must stop, dismantle it and make reparation; it also wrote that Israel “has the right, and indeed the duty, to respond” to violence against its civilians, “bound nonetheless” to act within international law. Israel’s ambassador had called the fence “wholly consistent” with self-defence.

19 Sep 2007

Gaza, 2005 to 2023

In 2004 Israel announced a disengagement plan, and by 2005 had withdrawn its army and settlements from Gaza. In June 2007 Hamas took control, routing the Fatah forces of the Palestinian Authority. On 19 September 2007 Israel’s cabinet declared Gaza an “enemy entity” and tightened restrictions; Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel had withdrawn hoping for a Palestinian state and “what we got in return are terror attacks”, while Hamas called the decision a declaration of war. OHCHR later calls the closure “a strangulating 17-year blockade”; the ICJ concluded in 2024 that Israel “continued to exercise certain key elements of authority” over Gaza and that its withdrawal “has not entirely released it of its obligations under the law of occupation”.

7 Oct 2023

7 October 2023

The UN Commission of Inquiry (Israel did not respond to it) finds that members of Hamas’s military wing and other armed groups intentionally shot and killed residents of kibbutzim and other civilian locations, committing the war crime of murder; that rocket fire targeted civilians; that taking 252 people hostage to Gaza was a war crime; and that a pattern of sexual violence emerged, though it could not verify all reports of rape. According to Israeli sources, more than 1,200 people were killed, at least 809 of them civilians; the ICJ gives the same figure. Over 12,500 rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza by 26 May 2024. As of 21 May 2024, 128 hostages had been released or rescued and 128 remained.

1,200+Killed on 7 October 2023, according to Israeli sources reported by the UN Commission of Inquiry; the ICJ says "more than 1,200"

15 Oct 2026

The count, and aid

The Gaza Ministry of Health, which OCHA says operates under the de facto authorities, counted 34,535 killed to 30 April 2024. The UN Human Rights Office verified 8,119 of those deaths by 2 September 2024, using a method that needs three independent sources, so its figure is a floor, not a count. JTA reports that human rights groups and the UN long found the ministry’s data reliable, that Israel had not officially disputed the totals for some time, and that it claims two to three civilians killed per militant. OCHA counted 937 aid trucks manifested and 807 offloaded in two weeks of October 2026. In September 2025 the UN Commission of Inquiry’s Chair, Navi Pillay, said: “The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza.” Israel rejects the finding; it is a commission’s finding, and no court has so found.

34,535Killed in Gaza from 7 October 2023 to 30 April 2024, by the Gaza Ministry of Health as OHCHR reports it; OHCHR verified 8,119 by 2 September 2024

21 May 2026

South Africa v. Israel

South Africa asked the ICJ in December 2023 to find Israel in breach of the Genocide Convention. On 26 January 2024 the Court found some of the rights claimed “plausible” and indicated measures: 15 to 2 that Israel prevent genocidal acts and ensure its military commits none; 16 to 1, with Israel’s own judge ad hoc Barak in favour, to prevent and punish incitement and to enable aid. It called for the hostages’ release and did not order the ceasefire South Africa sought. Israel told the Court it acted “to defend itself, to terminate the threats against it and to rescue the hostages”. The Court “cannot at this stage make definitive findings of fact” and has not decided whether genocide occurred; orders followed in March and May 2024, and pleadings run to 2029.

19 Jul 2024

The Court’s opinion of July 2024

On 19 July 2024 the ICJ gave an advisory opinion, requested by the General Assembly. By 11 votes to 4 it said Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible; by 14 to 1, that Israel must cease new settlement and evacuate settlers, and make reparation. It found a breach of the anti-discrimination convention without calling it apartheid. Judges Tomka, Abraham and Aurescu voted against several points; Judge Sebutinde said the proceedings ignored the security threats to Israel. The question did not cover Israel’s conduct in Gaza after 7 October.

24 Apr 2025

The ICC warrants

On 21 November 2024 the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, finding reasonable grounds to believe each bears responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and for crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts; it could not determine that all elements of extermination were met. The same day it issued a warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, for murder, extermination, torture, rape and hostage-taking; proceedings ended in February 2025 after a reported death. The Chamber rejected Israel’s jurisdiction challenge as “premature”, without prejudice to later ones, and on 24 April 2025 the Appeals Chamber sent the question back. A warrant is not a finding after trial.

15 Oct 2026

The ceasefire

A ceasefire was announced on 10 October 2025 under a plan the Security Council endorsed on 17 November. The plan: all hostages returned within 72 hours; Hamas to have no role in governing Gaza; Israeli withdrawal tied to demilitarization. The ICRC says 20 living hostages came out in October and the last remains were recovered on 29 January 2026. OCHA’s report of 15 October 2026 records continuing strikes, 1,493 deaths since the ceasefire by the ministry’s count and 1,076 verified by the UN to July. These sources run to 26 October 2026; events continue.