1936-1939 - Arab revolt in Palestine
- Popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against British mandate
- due to increasing flow of Jewish immigrants.
- Sparked by back and forth killings of two Jews by a Qassamite band,
- followed by the retaliatory killing of two Arab workers.
- First part of movement was seized upon by the urban and elitist Arab Higher Committee,
- which made the revolt focus on strikes and other political forms of protest.
- Second phase in 1937 lead to violent conflict between British Army
- and Palestine Police Force against the peasant-led resistance movement.
- Walid Khalidi estimates 19,792 casualties for the Arabs,
- with 5,032 dead, 3,832 killed by the British and 1,200 dead due to intracommunal terrorism, and 14,760 wounded.
- Several hundred Palestinian Jews were killed.
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1937 - The Peel Commission
- Published on July 7th, 1937
- First time declaration that Mandatory Palestine was becoming unworkable and needed to be partitioned.
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1944-1948 - Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine
- The Haganah, Irgun, Lehi all joined together to form the Jewish Resistance Movement.
- Insurgent activities in the area were in response to the proposed 1939 White Paper.
- On the 22nd of July, 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem,
- leading to the deaths of 91 people of various nationalities.
- This hotel was the headquarters for Mandatory Palestine.
- Was the deadliest attack against the British during the entire Mandate era (1920-1948)
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1947.11.29 - The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, or Resolution (II)
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The UN Partition Plan
- A four-part document, the Partition Plan, was attached, that provided for the termination of the Mandate,
- the withdrawal of British armed forces, and the delineation of boundaries between the two States and Jerusalem.
- The Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League rejected this proposal
- due to the fact that 56% of the land would be allocated to the Jewish state,
- despite the Palestinian Arab population numbering twice that of the Jewish population.
- The Jewish Agency for Palestine and most Zionist factions accepted.
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1948 - Palestine War
- Known to Israel as the War of Independence, and to the Palestinians as the Nakba
- Israel declares [independence](- Israel declares independence at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948.) at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948.
- War had two main phases, the first began on November 30th, 1947.
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- First phase mainly fought between Jewish and Palestinian Arab militias,
- supported by the Arab Liberation Army and the surrounding Arab states.
- Escalated at the end of March 1948, when Jews went on the offensive.
- After Arabs fled Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, the US pulled out of the Partition Plan
- while the British supported the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Transjordan.
- Funds raised by Golda Meir and Stalin's support allowed Israel to purchase weapons from Eastern Europe.
- May 14th, 1948, the last British troops and personnel departed Haifa, and the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of the state of Israel.
- Second phase of the war began in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli War, when invasion happens after Jewish leadership declares independence.
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- Invading countries were Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan and Syria,
- supported by the Arab Liberation Army and corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen
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- Forced expulsion and control of areas that extended beyond the proposed partition borders.
- Some (Zionists) claim that this was a defensive action to secure the future safety and borders of the new country, Israel,
- others claim this was purely an offensive territorial conquest aimed to ethnically cleanse the surrounding lands of Arabs
- to make it fertile for future Jews to settle.
- In 1949, Israel signed separate Armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to establish these temporary military borders.
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- Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and had a demilitarized zone around 'Uja al-Hafeer.
- Lebanon agreed to international boundary between Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine.
- Jordanian forces remained in East Jerusalem and other positions held by them.
- Also allowed to take over positions previously held by Iraqi forces.
- Syria maintained 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley, designated as DMZs.
- Iraq had no formal agreement as they withdrew their forces.
- The new military borders, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of Mandatory Palestine.
- Israel lost 6,373 people (4,000 soldiers), about 1% of its population.
- The exact number of Arab losses is estimated between 4,000 and 15,000.
- Over 700,000 displaced Palestinians that fled or were expelled from their land as a result.
- Over 700,000 Jews exodus from Arab and Muslim lands in the 3 years following the war, fleeing into Israel.
- Established Israel as an independent state (founded by David Ben-Gurion),
- recognized immediately by Truman (U.S.) and Stalin (USSR).
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1956.10.29-1956.11.07 - The Second Arab-Israeli War, or the Suez Crisis
- Suez Canal Company formed in 1858 by French Ferdinand de Lesseps
- to build the Suez Canal from 1859 to 1869, opening on 1869 to allow trade.
- Baghdad Pact in 1955, created compromising Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and the United Kingdom
- Tripartite Declaration was a way for the US, France and the UK
- to limit the amount of arms sales in the Middle East, hopefully preventing an arms race.
- Egypt was responsible for establishing multiple Palestinian fedayeen camps inside Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.
- Israel was willing to work with Egypt in direct negotiations in 1956,
- regardless of Egypt's aggressive demand to resettle Palestinian refugees and the annexation of the southern half of Israel.
- Nasser (leader of Egypt) built reputation of extreme anti-Zionism in attempt to unify and be the leader of the Arab states.
- On July 26th, 1956, Nasser nationalized and purchased all assets of the Suez Canal Company,
- closed the canal to Israeli shipping, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba.
- Contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 and most likely a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
- Different countries had different positions on what to do
- Eden from Great Britain wanted war, though opposition parties cautioned that
- doing so without UN approval would not be supported.
- Guy Mollet from France and the rest of the nation was eager for military action.
- Eiseinhower from DC did not really care.
- Canada didn't care.
- Australia kind of cared.
- New Zealand cared.
- Initial proposal would have allowed Egyptian "sovereignty" to be recognized
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- while maintaining an international operation of the Canal. Nasser rejected.
- British and French hungry for military intervention to solve potential Canal problems,
- despite Eisenhower's disapproval.
- Israel was interested in partaking in military conflicts.
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- Israel's interest in war was weakening a hostile state.
- Egypt-held Gaza Strip (+ surrounding countries, via Egyptian supported Palestinian Fedayeen)
- was responsible for attacks injuring approximately 1,300 civilians.
- Israel was also scared about Egypt's large procurement of weapons,
- and feared they'd forged a secret alliance with Jordan and Syria.
- Ben-Gurion's "grand plan" involved Israel taking territory north into Lebanon,
- having the West Bank run as a semi-autonomous state attached to Israel,
- and having Iraq claim everything on the East Bank because Israel believe Jordan to be an unstable state.
- They also encouraged the taking of the Sinai Penisula.
- The Protocol of Sèvres was agreed to by Israel, France and the UK.
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- On October 29th, Israel would invade the Sinai.
- On October 30th, Anglo-French ultimatum to demand both sides withdraw from canal zone.
- On October 31st, Britain and France would begin Revise.
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- Took place in Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim during the war,
- where Israel Border Police illegally killed Arab civilians returning from work during a curfew they were unaware of.
- 48 people died.
- The border policemen who were involved in the shooting were trialed and jailed for 7-17 years.
- All sentences were later reduced, with some of the convicted receiving presidential pardons.
- Every convicted person was eventually released by November 1959.
- Total casualties
- British 22 dead, 96 wounded
- French 10 dead, 33 wounded
- Israel 172 dead, 817 wounded
- Egypt 1,500-3,500 dead, 4,900 wounded,
- with 1,000 Egyptian civilians estimated dead
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- Eisenhower was very upset with Israel/Britain/France,
- because the US could not reasonably oppose Soviet actions in Hungary
- while remaining silent on European plans to seize territory from Egypt.
- 300,000 protestors in Pakistan chanting anti-British slogans.
- Syrian government blew up the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline to punish Iraq and Britain.
- Saudi Arabia imposed a total oil embargo on Britain and France.
- US calls for security council and UN meetings/resolutions
- Resolution 997, a call for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all forces behind the armistice lines,
- an arms embargo and the reopening of the Suez Canal, which was currently blocked.
- Passes with a vote of 64-5
- West Germany was furious with the US and supported France and Britain.
- Israel originally wanted to maintain indefinite control over the Sinai,
- but was eventually forced out due to international pressure lead heavily by Eisenhower.
- November 6th, 1956 British announced a ceasefire.
- Anglo-French Task Force was fully withdrawn by December 22nd, 1956.
- Israeli forces were fully withdrawn from the Sinai and Gaza in March of 1957 after destroying
- and stealing Egyptian infrastructure and villages on the way out.
- Eisenhower asked Congress for authorization to use military force
- and set aside $200 million to help Middle Eastern countries that desired aid from the US.
- The Soviet Union was given all the credit due to nuclear sabre rattling from Nasser,
- though it was almost assuredly US diplomatic and financial pressure that brought the conflict to a swift end.
- Jews had their civil liberties infringed upon in Egypt following the war,
- resulting in some 25,000 (almost half) of the Jewish population leaving Egypt.
- Final summary
- In 1956 Egyptian leader Nasser, driven by his desire to be neither a puppet to the US nor USSR,
- nationalized the Suez canal (in defiance of the Constantinople Convention of 1888)
- while simultaneously acquiring large amounts of weapons from the USSR.
- Worried that trade would be interrupted, Britain and France approached Israel,
- who was worried that the anti-Zionist Egypt was amassing a massive military,
- to devise a covert plan, the Protocol of Sèvres,
- in order to stage an Israeli military invasion that would be disrupted by Anglo-Franco forces,
- which would then give way to an international ownership of the Suez Canal.
- Despite military success by all three parties,
- intense international pressure, especially from the United States,
- pressure from revolting colonies, and intense domestic pressure at home,
- combined with nuclear sabre-rattling from the USSR,
- forced the Anglo-Franco forces to immediately withdraw,
- suffering an international humiliation.
- Israel would withdraw its forces sometime later,
- having re-established trade through the Straights of Tiran.
- Egypt, and namely, Nasser, would emerge feeling as though they had single-handedly defied European imperialistic aims,
- and saw itself as an emerging unaligned leader of the Arab World.
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1967-1970 - War of Attrition
- Ongoing border conflict between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and the PLO and their allies.
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- No territorial changes during this time.
- In 1968 the PLO deploys suicide bombers for the first time.
- Israel engaged in an air battle, Rimon 20,
- to directly target Soviet fighter pilots to drive the USSR from the conflict.
- In August of 1970, Israel, Jordan and Egypt agreed to an "in place" ceasefire under the Rogers Plan,
- though Egyptians and Soviet allies violated the agreement shortly thereafter.
- Battle of Karameh
-
- 1968 Battle of Karameh involved IDF forces crossing into Jordan to attack Karameh and the village of Safi,
- purportedly to eliminate PLO forces and fedayeen camps staging attacks against Israel,
- and to capture Yasser Arafat, including a school bus full of children running into a mine.
- Israel dropped leaflets to warn the Jordanian army not to intervene,
- but Jordan decided to assist the PLO regardless.
- In the aftermath, though Israel had achieved its tactical aims,
- they came at international political cost, with the US condemning Israel's actions.
- Nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan due to surging recruits after the psychological victory over the IDF.
- Iraq and Syria offered training programs for several thousand guerillas,
- the Persian Gulf States and Kuwait raised money through taxes on Palestinian workers,
- and a fund drive in Lebanon raised $500,000 from Beirut alone.
- The PLO began to guarantee a lifetime support for the families of guerillas killed in action.
- Fatah had branches in about 80 countries after the conflict.
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1967.06.05 - The Six-Day War, or the Third Arab-Israeli War
- Summary
-
- May 1967, Nasser mobilizes Egyptian military into defensive lines along the Israeli border
- and closes the shipping lanes through the Straits of Tiran to Israeli vessels,
- despite Israel warning this would be a casus belli.
- Nasser also orders the removal of all UNEF personnel.
- Israel would capture the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip,
- the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
- Israel gave back the Sinai to Egypt.
- Military: 20,000 Arab deaths vs 1,000 Israeli deaths Civilian:
- 20 Israeli Civilians killed in Arab forces air strikes on Jerusalem,
- 15 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli strikes in the Sinai,
- and 34 US personnel killed in the USS Liberty incident.
- Background
-
- Following the 1956 Suez Crisis, Syria and Egypt signed a mutual defense agreement.
- PLO activity and attacks against Israel from Arab countries continued.
- In May, 1967, Nasser received bogus intel from the USSR that Israel was massing on the Syrian border,
- so he gathered troops in the Sinai Peninsula, ejected UNEF personnel,
- and once again denied passage of Israeli vessels through the Straits of Tiran.
- On the 30th of May, Jordan an Egypt signed a defense pact.
- Iraq and Egypt began deploying troops and armored units in Jordan.
- The United States did not believe at the time that Egypt was preparing for an offensive war against Israel,
- as per the Watch Committee.
- Nasser's speech towards the Arab Trade Unionists in May 26th, 1967,
- claimed "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel."
- Statements made by Nasser leading up to the war
- “The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel to face the challenge,
- while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation.
- This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived.
- We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations.” Gamal Abdel Nasser May 30th 1967
- Nasser May 26 "The Arab people wants to fight. We have been waiting for the right time when we will be completely ready.
- Recently we have felt that our strength has been sufficient and that if we make battle with Israel we shall be able,
- with the help of God, to conquer Sharm el-Sheikh implies a confrontation with Israel.
- Taking this step makes it imperative that we be ready to undertake a total war with Israel."
- Involved Forces
-
- Egypt amassing 100,000 troops in the Sinai.
- Syria deploying 75,000 along their border with Israel.
- Jordanian Armed Forces totaled 55,000 troops.
- 100 Iraqi tanks and an infantry division readied near the Jordanian border,
- along with two squadrons of Iraqi fighter-aircraft.
- Saudi Arabia mobilized a few forces for deployment to the Jordanian front.
- Arab air forces were also reinforced by aircraft from Libya, Algeria, Morocco,
- Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to make up for the first day losses of the war.
- Volunteer pilots also came from the Pakistan Air Force.
- Noteworthy Battle Things
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- Surprise attack on Egyptian airfield guaranteed all but certain victory in the Sinai for Israel.
- IDF originally was to avoid Gaza strip/city,
- but attacks from that area forced the IDF to take over that territory.
- Jordanian Army was instructed to lay a two-hour barrage against military
- and civilian settlements in central Israel itself.
- Eshkol promised Israel would not initiate any action against Jordan if it stayed out of the way, but King Hussein refused.
- Jordanian shelling of Jerusalem resulted in 20 dead and 1,000 wounded civilians.
- Dayan ordered troops not to capture the Old City
- due to potential international backlash plus potential outrage of being forced to give back holy sites after capturing them.
- After hearing about the impending UN ceasefire, he changed his mind and captured it.
- "Fearful that Israeli soldiers would exact retribution for the 1929 massacre of the city's Jewish community,
- Hebron's residents flew white sheets from their windows and rooftops.""
- Syria entered the war on the assumption that Israel was losing dramatically to Egyptian forces.
- Nasser exaggerated/lied about Egyptian victory.
- Dayan, after hearing of the Syrian acceptance of a cease-fire,
- clears an invasion/occupation on his own into the Golan Heights.
- Conclusion
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- Israel seizes the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt), the West Bank of the Jordan River,
- including East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria).
- Casualties - ~850 Israelis killed, 4,500 wounded.
- 10k-15k Egyptians killed, 4,300 capture.
- 700 Jordanian soldiers killed, 2,500 wounded.
- Syrians lost between 1k-2.5k, and about 450 captured.
- 1967 Palestinian exodus.
- 280k-325k Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,
- mostly resettled in Jordan, the other 700k remained.
- 100k fled in the Golan Heights.
- Israel granted full citizenship only to those in East Jerusalem (1967) and the Golan Heights (1981).
- Most Palestinians in territories declined to take citizenship.
- Jews immigrating en masse out of the Soviet Union,
- and Jews leaving en masse from Arab countries (continued from 1948),
- and Jews leaving en masse from other Communist countries.
- Extra links
2017.05.17 - The Secret Transcripts of the Six-Day War, Part I
2017.06.07 - Israeli Security Cabinet Secret Transcripts Part II, The Accidental Occupation
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1970.10.01 - Black September, or the Jordanian Civil War
- Background
- Jordan's population right now consisted 2/3rds of Palestinians, and only 1/3rd of Jordanians.
- Nasser's political support also strengthened the Palestinians position.
- Palestinian fedayeen enclaves in Jordan began to set up "independent republics"
- where they attempted to set up checkpoints and tax citizens.
- In September of 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London.
- Explosives were used to destroy the empty planes for the press.
- King Hussein saw this as the last straw, and threat to his rule,
- and decided to take action against the PLO presence in Jordan.
- Jordan allowed the fedayeen to relocate to Lebanon via Syria,
- where four years later they would become involved in the Lebanese Civil War.
- The Palestinian Black September Organization was founded afterwards to punish Jordan for its expulsion,
- resulting in the assassination of Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal in 1971
- due to his command of the military during operations against the fedayeen.
- This organization also carried out a terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany,
- with 8 members killing 11 Israeli coaches and athletes, as well as 1 West German police officer.
- By 1970, different factions within the PLO called for the overthrow of Jordan's king, Hussein.
- Hussein attempted to appease the fedayeen with an edict, and with the support of Nasser,
- though this failed and the fedayeen continued to grow in opposition.
- Libya, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait openly supported the fedayeen.
- Israel guaranteed Jordan that they would not push territorial boundaries
- if Jordan withdraw troops from the border for a PLO confrontation.
- On the 7th of June, Hussein's motorcade came under heavy fire
- by fedayeen soldiers while attempting to visit the mukhabarat headquarters.
- A ceasefire was attempted to be called after retaliation,
- though the PFLP did not abide by it and instead held 68 foreign nationals hostage in two Amman hotels,
- threatening to blow them up if Jordan did not dismiss their Special Forces and some military leaders.
- By August, Arafat seemed to have wanted to stage a revolution in Jordan.
- The PFLP began hijacking planes to bring attention to the Palestinian problem.
- In September, Hussein begins to capture his capital and
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- attempts to push the fedayeen out of Jordanian cities and refugee camps.
- Syrian forces, 10,000 strong, with PLA markings marched towards Irbid to support the fedayeen.
- 17,000 Iraqi troops remained in Jordan after the 6-day war, causing concern that they may intervene.
- The US stationed a navy fleet to be positioned off the coast of Israel, near Jordan.
- Israel mobilized troops to begin to support Jordan, readying its air force to discourage Syrian troops with sonic booms.
- Arafat and Hussein signed a peace deal on the 27th of September, brokered by Nasser.
- Iranian leftist guerilla organizations sided with the PLO during the conflict,
- bombing the Jordanian embassy in Tehran during King Hussein's state visit in revenge of the events of Black September.
- Casualties
- Palestinians between 2,000-3,4000,
- Syrians with 600 casualties,
- and Jordanian Armed Forces with 537 dead.
- In 1972, the 3 surviving PLO terrorists from the Munich massacre were traded
- in exchange of the hostages taken on the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.
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1973 - The Yom Kippur War, or the Ramadan War, or the October War, or the Fourth Arab-Israeli War
- Lead-up
-
- After the 1967 6-day war, the Israeli government voted to return captured territory to Syria and Egypt
- in exchange for peace and demilitarization,
- but these proposals were never proven to have been transmitted to either Arab state.
- In the Khartoum Arab Summit, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait and Sudan
- all agreed to the "three no's," no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel.
- The War of Attrition takes place from 1967-1970, across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders,
- including both their militaries and the PLO, with Arafat coming to the head of the PLO in 1969.
- in December of 1970 in an article to the New York Times,
- Anwar Sadat agreed to recognize Israel as an independent state
- in exchange for a full withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula along with other occupied Arab territories.
- Golda Meir put together a committee to examine the Egyptian peace proposal,
- but rejected said proposal feeling as though it would not ensure Israel's security,
- despite the committee unanimously concluding that Israel's interests would be served.
- US was supplying Israel with military force since the 1960's and considered it an ally during the Cold War.
- Resolution 242 called for Israel to abandon all of its 6-day war territorial gains
- and for every state in the region to have an official recognition of their boundaries and right to exist.
- In October of 1972, facing mounting domestic pressure,
- Sadat declared his intention to go to war against Israel, even absent Soviet support.
- In February of 1973, Sadat made a final peace overture towards Israel via Kissinger,
- which Meir rejected, most likely with the understanding that war was invetiable.
- Israel did not think war was coming, despite multiple repeated credible warnings,
- including a warning from King Hussein himself.
- Israeli Preparation
-
- Meir, the Chief of General Staff, opted not to attack Syria hours before the war began
- because he recognized the importance for not being blamed as starting any conflict
- in order to recruit American or other international assistance.
- Kissinger and Nixon warned Meir not to begin a pre-emptive war.
- Battle in the Sinai
-
- October 6th was the initial attacks from Egyptian aircraft.
- The US held back on supplies for Israel in order to encourage them to accept a ceasefire
- once hostilities began, but Sadat refused.
- The Soviets began supplying arms to Egypt and Syria while the US then resumed supplying arms to Israel.
- Israel refrained from attacking economic and strategic infrastructure
- in response to Egyptian threats to fire Scud missiles onto Israeli cities.
- Israel managed to set up bridges and break through to the other end of the Suez canal, pushing into Egypt.
- Ceasefire
-
- On October 22nd, 1973, the UNSC passed a 14-0 resolution calling for a ceasefire,
- negotiated mainly between the US and the USSR.
- For the first time, three Scud Missiles were fired at Israeli targets
- by either Egyptian forces or Soviet personnel in Egypt,
- which was the first combat use of Scud Missiles.
- All three targets were in the Sinai.
- Ceasefire claims to have been broken by both sides during the night,
- and Israel capitalized on the ceasefire break to advance beyond the UNSC ceasefire lines.
- Egypt's Third Army
-
- The US, seeing an opportunity to bring Egypt closer to its sphere of influence,
- exerted heavy pressure on Israel to refrain from destroying the trapped Third Army.
- Kissinger told the Israeli ambassador, Simcha Dinitz,
- that the destroying of the Egyptian Third Army "is an option that does not exist."
- Post-war Battles
-
- The ceasefire wasn't followed closely by either side,
- with the fighting not stopping until January 18th, 1974.
- The Israeli Army was 100 km from Cairo after their advancement from the west bank.
- Initial Syrian Attacks
-
- The Syrians began their attacks with an airstrike against Israeli positions in the Golan Heights.
- Syrians pushed Israeli military lines back to the Southern Golan Heights.
- Dayan discussed the possible arming of nuclear weapons in response to Syrian military gains.
- Meir rejected this option.
- Syrian mechanized brigades did not advance into Israel as they had feared an Israel nuclear response.
- Missiles from Syrian offensive lines struck civilian settlements in Israel,
- and in retaliation, seven Israeli F-4 Phantoms flew into Syria
- and attacked the Syrian General Staff Headquarters in Damascus.
- Israeli Advance towards Damascus
-
- Israeli troops advanced towards Damascus
- and began shelling the outskirts of the city from 30km away.
- Arab Military Intervention
-
- Syria and Iraq sent expeditionary forces into Syria
- to defend from further Israeli military advancement.
- Israel was able to launch strikes all across Syria,
- attacking power plants, petrol supplies, bridges and main roads.
- Ceasefire
-
- On the 22nd of October, UNSC Resolution 338 called for a ceasefire.
- The war would finally come to a close on the 26th of October.
- Israel and Egypt signed a formal ceasefire on 11th of November,
- and the disengagement agreement happened on the 18th of January, 1974.
- There was a secret agreement that Jordan and Israel would not heavily engage with each other.
- Hussein was pressured to enter the war to maintain his position of leadership and respect in the Arab world.
- Naval Operations
-
- Egyptian missile boats bombarded Israeli positions on the Sinai coast on the first day of the war.
- Israeli missile boats decisively won these battles at sea.
- Two Egyptian destroyers enforced a blockade,
- preventing oil from Iran being shipped to Israel through the straights of Bab-el-Mandeb.
- Participation by other states
-
- The US intelligence community, including the CIA,
- failed to predict the Egyptian-Syrian attack on Israel.
- Most officials in the Defense and Statement Departments opposed financing Israel,
- but Kissinger argued heavily in favor of supporting Israel so they would confirm to American views in postwar diplomacy.
- Meir authorized the assembly of thirteen 20-kiloton-TNT tactical nuclear weapons for Jericho missiles,
- done in an easily detectable way to signal to the United States.
- This was done on the 8-9th of October after previously rejecting this idea on the 7th.
- On the 9th of October, after Kissinger learned of the nuclear alert,
- Nixon ordered the beginning of Operation Nickel Grass.
- The US, over 32 days, airlifted 22,325 tons of tanks, artillery and ammunition to Israel.
- In later interviews, Kissinger, Schlesinger and William Quandt
- suggested that the nuclear aspect was not a major factor influencing re-supply.
- They cite Soviet re-supply efforts and Sadat's rejection of early ceasefires as being the primary motivators.
- The Soviet Union supplied around 80,000 tons of supplies, mainly to Syria, and also to Egypt.
- Soviet advisors were reportedly involved in all areas of the war.
- 2,000 personnel in Syria, with 1,000 serving in Syrian air defense units.
- They also repaired damaged tanks, SAMs and radar equipment and assembled fighter jets.
- Soviet in advisors were reportedly present in all areas of Syrian command posts.
- Israel may have captured and traded Soviet officers who were captured from the Syrian front,
- though Israel and the USSR denies this.
- In Syria, a Soviet cultural center in Damascus and a merchant ship, Ilya Mechnikov, was sunk by the Israeli Navy.
- This all occurred during the apex of the Watergate Scandal.
- Nixon was so agitated and discomposed that there were times with Kissinger
- and Haif didn't bother to wake him for consultation.
- Arab countries added up to 100,000 troops to Egypt and Syria's frontline ranks.
- Algeria, East Germany, North Korean, Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia,
- Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Sudan all sent forces, ammo, tanks, pilots, etc...
- Response in Israel
-
- Israel was shaken due to initial military difficulties
- and how unprepared they were in the beginning of the conflict.
- Golda Meir resign along with her entire cabinet, including Dayan.
- Response in Egypt
-
- General Shazly angered Sadat for advocating the withdrawal of Egyptian forces from Sinai and was kicked out of the army,
- would go into political exile and then was placed under house arrest upon his return.
- The commanders of the Second and Third Armies, Khalil and Wasel, were also dismissed from the army.
- Response in Syria
-
- In Syria, Colonel Rafik Halawi, the Druze commander of an infantry brigade, was executed for his military performance.
- Response from Soviet Union
-
- They mad, gave lots of stuff to the Arabs and were upset that they still lost.
- Arab Oil Embargo
-
- Saudi Arabia declared an embargo against the US,
- later joined by other oil exporters and extended against the Netherlands and other countries,
- causing the 1973 energy crisis.
- Casualties
- Israel - 2,521-2,800 KIA, 7,250-8,800 wounded, 293 captured
- Arab casualties - 8,000-18,500 killed, ~35,000 wounded? Official numbers never released.
- Syrian atrocities
-
- Many Israeli POWs were tortured or killed.
- Syrian Defense Minster Mustafa Tlass addressed the National Assembly in 1973
- stating that he had awarded one solder the Medal of the Republic
- for killing 28 Israeli prisoners with an axe,
- decapitating three of them and eating the flesh of one of his victims. (Did this actually happen???)
- 3 with an axe and devoured the flesh of one of them in hand to hand combat.
- A soldier from the Moroccan contingent fighting with Syrian forces
- was found to be carrying a sack filled with the body parts of Israeli soldiers which he intended to take home as souvenirs.
- Syrian soldiers removed dog tags from bodies.
- Syria did not even officially acknowledge holding any prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- Egyptian atrocities
-
- Multiple Israeli claims of prisoners being shot and killed.
- Photographic evidence of the torture/killings of Israeli POWs also exists.
- The order to kill Israeli prisoners came from General Shazly,
- who, in a pamphlet distributed to Egyptian soldiers immediately before the war,
- advised his troops to kill Israeli soldiers even if they surrendered.
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1978 - Camp David Accords
-
- Carter's goal was to rejuvenate the Middle East peace process.
- The Egyptians and Israelis secretly worked towards bilateral talks.
-
- Carter met with Sadat of Egypt, Hussein of Jordan, Hafez al-Assad of Syria, and Rabin of Israel.
- Only Sadat and Rabin were interested in negotiations.
-
- Sadat seemed eager to make peace with Israel,
- even traveling to Jerusalem and speaking in front of the Knesset about potential peace.
- Egypt wanted to secure a future more in line with its own interests,
- rather than fixating on being part of the broader Arab collection of countries.
- There was also a belief that a bilateral peace agreement with Israel would cause a cascade of other peace agreements to happen in following.
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- Carter pushed both leaders in Camp David for a broad peace agreement between the two.
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- The first part of the agreement focused on UN Resolution 242.
- Wanted to establish self-governing authorities in the West Bank and Gaza strip.
- Deliberately left out talks about Jerusalem, and neglected the Golan Heights, Syria or Lebanon.
- The second part of the agreement dealt with Egyptian-Israeli relations.
- A 5 year plan was given to have the West Bank and Gaza rule themselves autonomously.
- Again, Jerusalem was not mentioned nor was the Palestinian Right of Return.
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- The UN General Assembly rejected the Framework for Peace in the Middle East due to lack of participation of the UN and PLO.
- It did not comply with the Palestinian right of return,
- of self-determination and to national independence and sovereignty.
- The part of the Camp David accords regarding the Palestinian future and all similar ones were declared invalid.
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1982 - The 1st Lebanon War
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1987.12.08-1993.09.13 - The First Palestinian Intifada
- General Causes
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- Israel opened up low and semi-skilled labor markets to Palestinians in occupied territory.
- By the time of the Intifada, over 40% of Palestinian workers were working in Israel daily.
- Palestinian populations were growing, but work and other opportunities were heavily restricted in the occupied territories.
- The Jewish settler population in the West Bank grew from 35,000 in 1984 to 130,000 by the mid 1990's.
- The occupied Palestinians likely felt themselves humiliated in a variety of ways as indefinite occupation by Israel continued.
- Background
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- Two potential causes that sparked the Intifada
- The army tank transporter truck incident in which 4 Palestinians were killed by an Israel truck crashing into them.
- The IDF failure in late November 1987 to stop a Palestinian guerrilla operation,
- the Night of the Gliders, in which six Israeli soldiers were killed.
- Mass demonstrations occurred a year earlier after 2 Gaza students were shot by Israeli soldiers on campus on December 4th, 1986.
- The Arab summit in Amman in November of 1987 focuses heavily on the Iran-Iraq war,
- sidelining the Palestinian issue for the first time in years.
- Leadership and Aims
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- The Intifada was mainly lead by independent community councils
- and advocated for a non-violent approach so that the Palestinians would not lose support from liberal Israelis.
- For the first time Palestinians are calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
- notably departing from the standard rhetorical calls for the "liberation" of all of Palestine.
- The Intifada
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- Israel had assumed that its oppressive actions against the Palestinians would cause their resistance to collapse early,
- though this was a mistaken assumption.
- On December 8th, 1987, an Israeli army tank transporter crashed into a row of cars, killing four Palestinians.
- They were residents of the Jabalya refugee camp, the largest of the eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.
- 7 others were seriously injured.
- Assumptions about the crash lead to demonstrations,
- which caused back and forth violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
- In the beginning of the Intifada, no Israeli settlements were attacked nor were there any Israeli fatalities.
- The IDF used every crowd control measure available,
- though disturbances continued to gain momentum.
- Israel engaged in mass arrests and the closure of Palestinian schools and businesses,
- utilities and confinement to homes, as well as damage to farms and blockage from selling agricultural produce.
- Settlers also engaged in private violence against Palestinians.
- Casualties
- ~1,200 Palestinians killed, 57k-120k arrested, 481 deported, 2,532 houses destroyed.
- 179-200 Israelis killed, 3,100 Israelis (1,700 soldiers vs 1,400 civilians) suffered injuries.
- Between 1988 and 1992, intra-Palestinian violence claimed the lives of nearly 1,000,
- mainly due to the PLO killings of suspected collaborators.
- The UN (including the US) drafted a resolution condemning alleged Israeli violations of human rights.
- Israel declared it would not abide by SCR672 because it did not pay attention to attacks on Jewish worshippers.
- Israel also blocked a delegation of the Secretary-General for investigating Israeli violence.
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- The Intifada broke the image of Jerusalem as a united city,
- and the increase in international coverage was heavily critical of Israel.
- Arafat and his followers moderated their political programme;
- at the meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers in November of 1988,
- Arafat won a majority for the historic decision to recognize Israel's legitimacy,
- to accept all relevant UN resolutions going back November 29th, 1947,
- and to adopt the principle of a two-state solution.
- Arafat's support for Sadam Hussein's invasion into Kuwait
- essentially lead to a mass exodus of 300,000+ Palestinians fleeing Kuwait, mostly to return to Jordan.
- It also lead to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia cutting off financial support to the PLO.
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1993 - Oslo I Accord
- Secretly conducted in Oslo, Norway.
- Israel and the PLO reached a mutual peaceful agreement
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- This called for the withdrawal of the IDF from parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank
- Remaining issues needed to be settled,
- including Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, security and borders.
- Letters of Mutual Recognition between the Israeli Government and the PLO were signed.
- Israel recognized the PLO as the governing body of the Palestinians,
- the PLO renounced terrorism and other violence and its desire for the destruction of the state of Israel.
- Reactions
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- In the Knesset a strong debate emerged between the left and right wing over support for the Oslo accords.
- Fatah, the Palestinians present at the negotiations, accepted the accords,
- but Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), all objected to the accords.
- Israelis were nervous that this peace process would simply be a part of the PLO's Ten Point Program,
- which essentially calls for escalating steps until all of historic Palestine is liberated from Israel.
- Palestinians feared that Israel was not serious about dismantling their settlements in the West Bank, especially around Jerusalem.
- The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
- Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.
- Netanyahu, in a secret recording, claims that his plan was to define "specified military locations"
- in the broadest possible sense according to the Oslo Accords,
- which could theoretically encompass the entirety of the Jordan Valley.
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2000 - Camp David Summit
- A Summit meeting between Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, and Yasser Arafat.
- This summit failed to produce any actual agreements.
- Israel was offering in 10-25 years 91% of the current West Bank
- along with a 1% land swap (from the Negev),
- maintaining an enclave of settlers in Kiryat Arba (near Hebron), linked with a bypass road.
- The West Bank would be split by an Israeli controlled road from Jerusalem to the Dead See,
- with free passage for Palestinians, with Israeli right to road closure.
- An elevated railroad and highway running through the Negev would link the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- Airspace would still be controlled exclusively by Israel.
- US claim about what was offered - http://www.mideastweb.org/lastmaps.htm
- Palestinians claim they were offered Bantustans,
- a loaded word coming from South African apartheid divisions.
- East Jerusalem was the center-focus for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
- Israel refuses the broad Right of Return for Palestinian peoples to the country of Israel,
- but proposes instead a maximum of 100,000 refugees be allowed to return to Israel
- on the basis of humanitarian consideration or family reunification,
- while also contributing to a $30b fund to compensate Palestinian refugees for property lost.
- Israel wanted to push for an aggressive security arrangement that would heavily favor Israeli security concerns,
- including access to all Palestinian airspace,
- troop presence on the Jordanian border,
- the demilitarization of Palestine,
- and Israeli radar installations within Palestine.
- Negotiations continued through the Clinton Parameters, though no final agreement was reached,
- despite both sides claiming they were closer than they ever had been after the Taba negotiations in January of 2001.
- Responsibility for failure
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- The Americans, including Clinton and several observers,
- claim that the failure of the talks hinged on Arafat
- and the Palestinians refusal to give up on future negotiations relating to the Right of Return,
- which the Americans believed would ultimately result in the Palestinians fighting
- for a return to a one state solution in Historic Palestine.
- A Clinton special advisor complains that Israel was not willing to concede a reasonable amount to the Palestinians,
- considering how much they were already willing to give up,
- including Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and trading favorable parts of the West Bank to Israel.
- Some argue that the lack of religious consideration hindered discussion around Jerusalem.
- Finkelstein argues that Israel really was giving up nothing at all that made the Palestinian concessions worth considering.
- Polling data around the time from Palestinians and their attitude towards Israel.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110607135527/http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/polls/2000/p1a.html
- More reading
Lost in the Woods: A Camp David Retrospective
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2000.09.28-2005.02.08 - The Second Intifada
- Background
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- Violence continued on both sides after the Oslo accords were signed in 1993.
- Israel engaged in regimental level exercises that were in preparation for peace talks to fail,
- so it could conquer towns in Area C.
- The failure of the Camp David Summit lead to a significant fracturing of the PLO
- as many Fatah factions abandoned it to join Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
- Netanyahu's government pushed for the construction of a new neighborhood, Har Homa, in East Jerusalem,
- and continued construction within existing Israeli settlements.
- Construction in the years following the Oslo Accords was still significantly less than prior, however.
- Barak secured an agreement for the dismantling of 12 new outposts in 1998,
- but continued expansion was occurring in existing settlements in the West Bank.
- This continued to hurt the Palestinian peace process.
- Sharon visits the Temple Mount on September 28th, 2000.
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- Sharon visits the Temple Mount, without stepping inside,
- but this still angers local Palestinians living in Jerusalem.
- Violence breaks out.
- Multiple senior Palestinian officials encouraged Sharon not to visit.
- Sharon was determined to make a show of Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
- In 1982, the Kahan Commission found that Ariel Sharon was found to bear personal responsibility for the Sabra
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- and Shatila massacre that occurred against Palestinians in the Lebanese Civil War.
- Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount 10 days after the annual memorial day for said massacre
- is said to have been the inciting moment for the beginning of the Second Intifada.
- First days of the intifada
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- Violence broke out heavily in the days following,
- with losses on the Palestinian side far outweighing Israeli losses.
- The broadcasted killing of Muhammad al-Durrah, caught by a French news crew,
- was initially assumed to be the responsibility of the IDF, which they promptly apologized for,
- though much controversy remains over who actually shot and killed the boy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUz55tLLXUg&t=1019s
- The October 2000 events
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- Several clashes occurred within Israel and the Gaza Strip, followed by a general strike,
- more escalations with police, thousands of Jews participating in violent acts in Tel Aviv,
- and a recommendation from the Or Commission to dismiss Shlomo Ben-Ami from Minister of Public Security.
- The Ramallah lynching
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- The PA police arrested two Israeli reservists who had accidentally entered Ramallah,
- where a hundred Palestinians had been killed in the preceding weeks.
- An Italian television crew captured and broadcasted the killings, where both soldiers were beaten,
- stabbed and disembowelled, with one body being set on fire.
- November and December
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- Israel settlements in Gilo come under Palestinian heavy machine gun fire from Beit Jala.
- Palestinian deaths continue to outnumber Israeli deaths.
- 2001
-
- The Taba Summit failed to produce results by the end of January.
- On January 17th, an Israeli teenager, Ofir Rahum,
- was murdered after being lured into Ramallah by a 24-year-old Palestinian,
- a member of Fatah's Tanzim, after an online relationship had sparked.
- After Sharon's election in 2001 over Barak, he refuses to meet with Yasser Arafat.
- More violence occurs through March, with 8 Israelis and 26 Palestinians dying.
- In Hebron, a Palestinian sniper is reported by the IDF
- to have intentionally targeted and shot/killed a 10 month old Israeli baby.
- In May of 2001, the IDF captured a vessel carrying $10m of weapons from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
- which was destined for the Gaza coast.
- On June 1st a suicide bombing killing 21 Israeli civilians, most high schoolers, by the Islamic Jihad,
- hampered the American attempts to negotiate a cease-fire.
- 2002
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- The IDF captured Karine A, a freighter carrying weapons from Iran,
- believed to be intended for Palestinian militant use against Israel.
- It was claimed that top officials in the PA were involved in the smuggling.
- On the 28th of March the Arab Peace Initiative, endorsed by Arafat,
- encourages a two state solution,
- with Israel withdrawing all troops to the pre 1967 borders,
- with a full Right of Return for every Arab Palestinian.
- On the 29th of March, Operation Defensive Shield has the IDF making incursions throughout the West Bank.
- The UN estimates 497 Palestinians killed and 1,447 wounded, with 4,258 arrested.
- In April, the Battle of Jenin takes place.
- This was a huge battle seeing fierce urban combat by the IDF to clear out the refugee camp of the city of Jenin.
- 2003
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- Israeli intelligence report claimed Arafat had paid $20,000 to the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
- US pressure caused the PA to appoint Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian prime minister.
- Mahmoud Abbas has a thesis that the early Zionist leaders and Nazi leaders collaborated
- to encourage Jewish migration to Mandatory Palestine.
- On June of 2003, a temporary armistice was unilaterally declared by Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
- Fighting continues.
- After an August 19th Hamas suicide bus attack,
- the IDF were ordered to kill or capture all Hamas leadership in Hebron and the Gaza Strip,
- with at least all of the bus suicide bombing plotters being captured or killed,
- and Hamas leadership in Hebron being badly damaged.
- In later 2003, the Israeli West Bank barrier is constructed.
- Israel claims its necessary to prevent terrorists from entering Israeli cities,
- while Palestinians claim it separates their communities and acts as a de facto annexation of their territory.
- 2004
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- The IDF operates heavily in Rafah,
- to search and destroy smuggling tunnels used by militants to obtain a variety of weapons and supplies.
- Between 2000-2004, 90 tunnels connecting Egypt and the Gaza Strip were found and destroyed.
- 16,000 Palestinians are displaced as the IDF demolishes what they are claim are empty or militant homes.
- In February, Ariel Sharon announced a plan to withdraw all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
- Yossi Beilin, a peace advocate and the architect of the Oslo Accords and the Geneva Accord,
- rejected the proposed withdrawal plan and claimed that without a peace agreement in place, it would reward terror.
- After announcing the declaration plan, two subsequent Hamas leaders, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,
- and his successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi were killed.
- 2005
-
- Palestinian presidential elections were held on the 9th of January,
- with Mahmoud Abbas winning the election.
- Abbas was a platform of peaceful negotiation with Israel and non-violence to achieve Palestinian objectives.
- Sharon froze all diplomatic and security contacts with the PNA
- until Abbas shows a real effort to stop the terror.
- Abbas ordered Palestinian police to deploy in northern Gaza
- to prevent Qassam rocket and mortar shelling over Israeli settlements.
- Attacks would decrease sharply soon after.
- On February 8th, Sharon and Abbas declared a mutual truce.
- Hamas and Islamic Jihad said the truce doesn't affect them.
- 25-50 Qassam rockets and mortar shells were fired into an Israeli Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim.
- Abbas ordered the PA security forces to stop such attacks in the future,
- and fired senior commanders in the PA security apparatus.
- IDF forces arrested Maharan Omar Shucat Abu Hamis, a Palestinian resident of Nablus,
- who was about to launch a suicide bus attack in the French Hill in Jerusalem.
- On February 13th, Abbas engages Islamic Jihad and Hamas in talks to respect the truce.
- Ismail Haniyah, a senior leader of the group Hamas, s
- aid its position will remain unchanged and Israel will bear responsibility for any new violation of aggression.
- Palestinian factions continued to attack settlements in Gaza and cities in Israel,
- until July 15th, when Israel resumed its targeted killing policy.
- Hamas militants are battling PA policemen in the streets.
- Aftermath
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- On February 8th, 2005, Sharon and Abbas reach a truce, with Sharon releasing 900 Palestinian prisoners,
- withdrawing from West Bank towns, and finishing the Gaza withdrawal.
- Abbas reached an agreement 5 days later with Hamas and the PIJ to ensure the truce remains as long as Israeli violations did not happen.
- A number of people from Hamas leadership and a former military commander of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- all claim that Arafat had pre-planned the Second Intifada
- after realizing he would not get the concessions he wanted in the Camp David Accords.
- His widowed wife, Suha Arafat also claimed the same.
- Israeli's unilateral pullout from Lebanon was seen by the PLO as "optimistic",
- and an "example for other Arabs seeking to regain their rights."
- Israeli's military response in 2001 destroyed much infrastructure that was involved in the arming of Palestinian forces;
- some 90 paramilitary camps had been set up to train Palestinian youths in armed conflict.
- Some 40,000 armed and trained Palestinians existed in the occupied territories.
- Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the Fatah Tanzim,
- claimed he was attempting to instigate a second intifada leading up to the al-Aqsa visit by Sharon,
- contacting all Palestinian factions throughout Palestine.
- He also claimed that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was a factor which contributed to the Intifada.
- Casualties
- 1,053 Israelis were killed,
- 4,745 Palestinians were killed by the IDF,
- and 44 by Israeli civilians, and 577 by Palestinians.
- 69% of Israeli fatalities were male, while over 95% of Palestinian fatalities were male.
- More Aftermath
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- On January 25th, 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian elections
- with an unexpected majority of 74 seats, compared to 45 for Fatah.
- In the 2001 and 2002 Arab League Summits, the Arab states pledged support for the Second Intifada
- just as they had pledged support for the First Intifada in two consecutive summits in the late 1980s.
- Noteworthy things for modern conflict
- History of huge employment of suicide bombers explicitly targeting civilians.
- History of shipments of weapons via ocean into Gaza Strip.
- History of hiding militants inside "refugee" camps/cities.
- History of one-sided military capability of Israel vs the Palestinians.
- History of Israel denying UN or Human Rights groups to investigate after battles.
- Israeli government explicit support for settler camps and refusal to remove them (Netenyahu and Sharon).
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