Israt Jahan: Israel and Gaza are currently the two most talked about and criticized countries. However, they have been the focus of discussion around the world since 1948, not just now. Israel is a Jewish-majority country. Although there was a time when no country called Israel existed.

A review of the history of a hundred years ago shows that there was a land dispute between Jews and Muslims. Palestine is an area in the Middle East, which was formerly under the Ottoman Empire. The First World War was organized in 1920. And in this war, the Ottomans were defeated by Britain. At that time, the majority of the people living in Palestine were Arabs, and the Jewish community was small. Although no such problem was observed in the past, the problem arose after it came under British rule. The main reason was that the international community gave Britain the task of establishing a state in Palestine for the Jewish people, not for the majority, but the minorities. And there is a dispute over it.

The people of the Arab community began to oppose this proposal. And the Jews supported this proposal and began to claim Palestine as the land of their ancestors. Many Jews from Europe started moving to Palestine after the First World War. However, when World War II broke out in 1939, the Jewish community in Europe suffered. To save themselves, they started going to Palestine in groups and as a result, the number of Jews in Palestine increased. And then the only dream of them is to create a motherland for themselves. And they then decided that Palestine would be their motherland. Arabs and Jews resorted to violence over it. In 1948, the United Nations adopted a plan to end the violence. UN said that in one vote, Palestine will be divided into two separate Jewish and Arab states. Jerusalem will remain an international city. The Jewish leaders accepted the offer, but the Arab leaders rejected it. This plan of the UN has never been implemented.

Violence against British rule also gradually increased during this time. Unable to resolve the Arab-Jewish violence, the British left Palestine in 1948. Shortly afterward, Jewish leaders announced the establishment of the state of Israel. At that time, all but the Jews called themselves Palestinians. The Palestinians continued to protest against the announcement of the Jewish leaders and later they went to war. Soldiers from neighboring Arab countries also go to war wherever they go. The war forced thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes. Palestinians called the incident an "Al-Naqba" or "Catastrophe."

On November 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of Israel. At the same time, he declared himself prime minister of a state called Israel. But in those days this state had no borders, no full-fledged government, no territory, no definite population. On November 15, 33 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, recognized Israel`s declaration of independence as a result of the initiative of Andrei Gromyko, then-Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union.

In 1958, the Second Arab-Israeli War took place.  n this war, Israel occupied the Sinai region of Egypt. In 1967, the 6day Arab-Israeli War took place. In this war, Israel captured Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank of the Jordan River from Jordan, and East Jerusalem and the OldCity. Soon after, a miserable curse came down on the lives of Palestinians. They were expelled from their homeland. However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem has not been resolved. Israel now claims the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians, on the other hand, want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Only a handful of countries, including the United States, have recognized the whole of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Israeli tensions often escalate with Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. The extremist Palestinian group Hamas rules Gaza. They have fought many times with Israel. Tensions have been rising since the start of Ramadan this year. At that time, almost every night, the police clashed with the Palestinians. Israeli forces retaliated against Hamas. Israeli forces destroyed the Gaza Strip in airstrikes. Hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the bombings. The conflict lasted for 11 days. Hamas and Israel later agreed to a ceasefire on May 21.

Once again, Israel has carried out airstrikes targeting Hamas`s position in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Fire Service said, "Fire balloons were launched from Gaza on Tuesday. It has set fire to at least 20 crops in southern Israel. So in retaliation, they launched an airstrike on Wednesday. Confirming the Israeli attack, a Hamas spokesman said, "Hamas will continue to be courageous and resist in defending the Holy Mosque in Jerusalem." The BBC reports that no casualties were immediately reported.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled for the past 25 years. But no solution to the conflict has yet been found. Because neither side has so far agreed to any agreement that has been rejected by either side. Therefore, before any future peace agreement, the two sides must agree to resolve all complex issues. Otherwise, peace will never return to Palestine.

Author: Israt Jahan is a Columnist & student of National University.