ENTRI-KAS

Jugalbandi
Special Session– 49
Kerala PSC

By
Karthik Sajeev
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Israel- Palestine Conflict

2. Prelims Model Questions

3. Mains Model Questions

Karthik Sajeev Notes

 Israel-Palestine Conflict
● Context

● Calls grow to extend truce in Palestine-Israel conflict

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● Borders of Israel
● Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the territories of West Bank
and Gaza Strip

Karthik Sajeev Notes

Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Story of the Jews
● 2000-1800 BC: Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions
and is considered to be the original Abrahamic faith
● According to ‘Torah’, which is part of Tanakh/ Hebrew, Bible-
the God first revealed himself to a Hebrew man named
Abraham, who is known as the founder of Judaism and is
believed to have lived in Mesopotamia
● Jews believe that God made a special covenant with Abraham
and that he and his descendants were chosen people who
would create a great nation
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Throughout the history, Jewish people are believed to have
been persecuted for their religious beliefs
 1066 AD: Granada Massacre, a Muslim mob killed more than
1,000 Jewish families
 1096-1099: In the first crusade, a series of medieval holy wars
involving Christians and Muslims, thousands of Jews were
either killed or converted to Christianity
 1492: Spain’s rulers declared all Jews who refused to convert
to Christianity would be expelled
 1933-45: Nazi Germany murdered some 6 million Jews across
Karthik Sajeev Notes
German-occupied Europe
● The Ottoman empire ruled over much of West Asia (1517- 1917)

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● 1897: Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, Theodor Herzl,
propagated the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine for the
Jews, which came to be known as Zionism (nationalist
movement for Jewish homeland) and found many followers
among the Jews in Europe
● 1917: Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government
during the 1st World War announcing its support for the
establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in
Palestine
● 1922: As per League of Nations mandate, UK established a
colony in Palestine (Mandatory Palestine)
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● 1920-30: Following Balfour Declaration, the Jewish population
in Palestine increased, facilitated by the British and thus
tensions between Jewish and Arabs communities grew
● 1939- 45: During WW-II, many Jews escaping Europe from the
Holocaust immigrated to Palestine illegally
● 1947: ‘Partition Plan’ for Palestine was proposed by the United
Nations, which recommended a partition of ‘Mandatory
Palestine’ under British, partitioning Palestine into 2
independent states- one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish,
with Jerusalem internationalized
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Formation of Israel
● 1948: Establishment of the ‘State of Israel’, followed by the
Arab-Israeli War
 1949: On UN mediation, Israel concluded Armistice agreements
with Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon thus reaching an official
cessation of hostilities
 Over 7,00,000 Palestinians fled the region and became
refugees in neighbouring Arab countries
 Following this, West Bank was given to Jordan and Gaza Strip
became part of Egypt
Karthik Sajeev Notes
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● 1956: Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the
nationalization of the Suez Canal Company
● Israel invaded and occupied Sinai Peninsula during the Suez
Crisis after Egypt closed Straits of Tiran to Israeli vessels

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● 1964: Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was founded
by Arab League for achieving Palestinian self-determination
and securing the return of the refugees
● 1967: Six-Day War was fought between Israel and a coalition of
Arab states when Egypt announced that Straits of Tiran would
be closed again to Israeli vessels
 By the sixth day of the conflict, Israel occupied the entire Sinai
Peninsula, Golan Heights, West Bank & East Jerusalem and
the Gaza Strip
 After annexing east Jerusalem, Israel declared the entire city as
its capital Karthik Sajeev Notes
● 1973: The Yom Kippur War was an armed conflict between
Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria
 Majority of combat took place in the Sinai Peninsula and
the Golan Heights when Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed
their ceasefire lines to attack Israel from two sides
● 1978: Camp David Accords; Israel returned the entire Sinai
Peninsula to Egypt which led to the 1979 Egyptian–Israeli
Peace Treaty (mediated by the US)
● 1982: Israel invaded Lebanon and ejected PLO (1st Lebanon
War)
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● 1987 (First Palestinian Intifada): Violent riots carried out by
Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories
frustrated over Israel's military occupation of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip
● 1993-1995: Oslo Accords, signed between then Israel and PLO
 Israel accepted PLO as the representative of the Palestinians,
PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel's right to exist
in peace
 Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority would be
established Karthik Sajeev Notes
● 2000: Second Intifada/ the Al-Aqsa Intifada was a major
uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation in the
Palestinian territories
● 2006: 2nd Lebanon War between Israel and militant group
Hezbollah in Golan Heights
● Hamas, a Sunni Islamist militant group won the elections in
Palestine, defeating Fatah (a political group of PLO)
● 2014: Israel invaded the Gaza Strip, after attacks on them
● 2017: US formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Abraham Accords 2020: Bilateral agreements signed between
Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco to
normalize relations (mediated by US)
● 2021: Evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and clashes
at Al-Aqsa Mosque spark conflict between Israel and Hamas
● 2022: Uptick in violence
● October 7, 2023: Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise
attack on Israel, leading to an explosion of violence (More than
10,000 people had been killed in the conflicts)
Karthik Sajeev Notes
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Reasons for the Conflict
● Long-standing religious and territorial conflicts over Jerusalem,
West Bank and Gaza; which both Israel and Palestine claims
● Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has severely restricted the
movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza
● Security threat due to frequent rocket attacks into Israeli
territory by Hamas
● Increasing Israeli settlements in West Bank
● Political division among Palestinians (Hamas and Fatah)
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● How conflict affects India ?
● Disrupt the global connectivity projects and transport routes
● Affects India-Israel trade (Israel is a major defence partner)
● Disrupt the global supply chains and increase inflation due to
impacts on the oil production
● Safe evacuation of the Indian diaspora will be a huge challenge
(20,000 in Israel)

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● India’s stand on Israel-Palestine Conflict
● India wished negotiations leading to a Palestine state ‘living
within secure and recognised borders’, side-by-side at peace
with Israel
● De-hyphenation Policy: From 2018, India decided to deal with
both the countries, having adversarial relationship between
them, in an independent manner

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● Way Forward
● Address the specific borders of the two states involving land
swaps and border adjustments
● Ensure all-party consensus on establishing peace in the region
● Adhere to UNSC Resolution 2334 (removing illegal settlements)
● Additional Info

● Operation Ajay

● India’s mission to repatriate its citizens from Israel and

Palestine, who wish to return
Karthik Sajeev Notes
● Abrahamic Traditions

Karthik Sajeev Notes

● Operation Iron Sword

● Israel's retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas

● Two-state solution

● Proposed for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by

establishing two states for two peoples: Israel for the Jewish
people and Palestine for the Palestinian people

● Arab Peace Initiative 2002

● Arab leaders, presented principles for an agreement in the

Israeli-Arab conflict including the refugee problem
Karthik Sajeev Notes
 Prelims Model Questions
1. The term ‘two-state solution’, is sometimes mentioned in the news in the
context of the affairs of (CSE 2018)

(a) China
(b) Israel
(c) Iraq
(d) Yemen

Karthik Sajeev Notes

 Prelims Model Questions
2. Consider the following statements: (CSE 2023)
Statement-1: Israel has established diplomatic relations with some Arab
States
Statement-II: The ‘Arab Peace Initiative’ mediated by Saudi Arabia was
signed by Israel and Arab League
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the
correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not
the correct explanation for Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect butKarthik
Statement-II
Sajeev Notes is correct
 Mains Model Questions
1. Critically analyse the impacts of Israel-Arab conflict on India ? (5 marks)

Connect me via Telegram: t.me/karthiksajeev

THANK YOU