The violence occurred after a month, during which tensions grew. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been going on for decades.
Great Britain took control of the area known as Palestine after the Ottoman Empire, which ruled this part of the Middle East, was defeated in World War I.
The area was inhabited by a Jewish minority and an Arab majority.
Tensions began to rise when the international community tasked Britain with establishing a “national home” for Jews in Palestine.
The Jews considered the area their ancestral homeland. Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed the establishment of a “national home”.
Between the twenties and forties of the 20th century, an increasing number of Jews arrived. Many were fleeing persecution in Europe. They were looking for a homeland after the Holocaust in World War II.
There was more and more violence between Jews and Arabs, as well as attacks on the British administration.
In 1947, the United Nations (UN) voted to divide Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab, and Jerusalem became an international city.
The plan was accepted by the Jewish leaders, but the Arab side rejected it and the plan was never implemented.
Having failed to solve the problem, the British left in 1948. Jewish leaders proclaimed the creation of the state of Israel.
Many Palestinians objected and the war began.
The armies of neighboring Arab countries also participated.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled or been driven from their homes during this conflict.
The Palestinians call this event Al Nakba or “The Catastrophe”.
By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled most of the territory.
Jordan occupied the territory that became known as the West Bank, and Egypt occupied Gaza.
Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the west and Jordanian forces in the east.
As there was never a peace agreement – each side blamed the other – the decades that followed brought new wars and conflicts.
In the 1967 war, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as most of Syria’s Golan Heights, Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Most Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in the neighboring states of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Israel did not allow them or their descendants to return home. Israeli authorities claim that this would overwhelm the country and threaten its existence.
Israel still occupies the West Bank. Although the army has withdrawn from Gaza, the UN still considers this area part of the occupied territory.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as their capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The United States of America is one of only a handful of countries that have recognized Israel’s claims to the entire city.
In the last 50 years, Israel has built settlements in these areas. Now, over 600,000 Jews live there.
Palestinians say the settlements are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace. Israel denies this.
Tensions often run high between Israel and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.
Gaza is ruled by the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas. Hamas has been fighting Israel for years.
Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza’s borders to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank claim they are suffering because of Israeli actions and numerous restrictions.
The Israeli government says it is only acting to protect the state from Palestinian violence.
The situation has intensified since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in mid-April. There are numerous clashes between the police and the Palestinians.
The threat of evicting certain Palestinian families from East Jerusalem has also led to rising tensions.
There are several issues on which Israel and the Palestinians cannot agree.
They concern the fate of Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, and how the two sides should share Jerusalem.
Yet perhaps the most tough question of all is whether a Palestinian state should be created alongside Israel.
Peace talks have been going on intermittently for over 25 years. So far, they have not led to a permanent solution to the conflict.
In short, the situation will not be resolved soon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the latest peace plan, prepared by the United States of America while Donald Trump was president, “the deal of the century.”
However, the Palestinians rejected it as one-sided and it never took off.
Both sides will need to agree on any future peace deal to resolve complex issues.
Until that happens, the conflicts will continue.
