Violence between Israel and Palestine

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years ago

Much of the news about Israel and Palestine involves the conflicts and violence that occur on almost a daily basis. There are often attacks and skirmishes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians. This violence stems from many issues, but is mainly a fight for the land and the sovereignty of their home. Israel and Palestine have been in conflicts with each other since the very creation of Israel. The conflict has become one long cycle of retaliation, in which one side provokes the other into violence and then they retaliate back. Violence and conflict permeate the lives of the people in Israel and Palestine.

In Palestine, there has been increasing violence between the two major political organizations, Hamas and Fatah. This conflict started after the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. His death in 2004 has led to a fight between the two groups to decide who will be in power. Both groups believe that Palestine should be a free state, but differ in their beliefs about how this should occur. Hamas believes that "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad," while Fatah has begun to search for Palestinian independence through more diplomatic means.

The majority of the violence has occurred since 2006, after Palestinian security forces fired on a Hamas rally. Since then there have been several rounds of fighting, to the point that this is being considered a Palestinian civil war. During the fighting Hamas has taken over parts of the Gaza strip, while Fatah has responded by declaring a state of emergency and increasing power in the West Bank. The violence ongoing and will not end until one group rises to power above the other or they come to some sort of compromise.