The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a protracted military and political struggle over land and self-determination in the area formerly known as Mandatory Palestine. Key issues at the heart of this conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, the expansion of Israeli settlements, borders, security concerns, water rights, restrictions on Palestinian movement, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The roots of this conflict trace back to the rise of Zionism in Europe, which led to the arrival of Jewish settlers in Ottoman Palestine starting in 1882. The local Arab population increasingly resisted this movement, fearing displacement and loss of their land. This tension escalated after the 1917 Balfour Declaration from Britain, which promised to establish a \"Jewish homeland\" in Palestine. Following World War I, Britain took control of the region, and the influx of Jewish immigrants heightened tensions, culminating in intercommunal violence. An Arab revolt in 1936 aimed at ending British support for Zionism was met with repression.

In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan that resulted in civil war. The 1948 Palestine War led to the displacement of over half of the Arab population, with Israel emerging as a state while Egypt and Jordan took control of Gaza and the West Bank, respectively. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has occupied these territories, which has sparked two major Palestinian uprisings, known as the intifadas, in 1987 and 2000.

Israel's prolonged military occupation, considered one of the longest in modern history, has involved establishing settlements deemed illegal under international law and creating systemic discrimination against Palestinians, often referred to as Israeli apartheid. This has drawn widespread international criticism regarding human rights violations.

Globally, there has been broad consensus—excluding the United States and Israel—supporting a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and addressing the rights of Palestinian refugees. However, support for this solution has waned in recent years, as Israeli policies increasingly focus on maintaining the occupation. In 2007, Israel intensified its blockade of the Gaza Strip, effectively isolating it from the West Bank. This approach has been challenged legally; in July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Palestinian territories form a single political unit and reaffirmed Israel's illegal occupation and violations of racial discrimination conventions.

Since 2006, hostilities between Hamas and Israel have escalated, resulting in five conflicts, with the most recent conflict commencing in 2023 and still ongoing.