In detail
Updated 10 August 2011 03:00 AM BST
Today's tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and their Arab neighbours date back to the early 20th century when Jews began migrating in significant numbers to Palestine, then under Turkish rule.
The ensuing struggle for land and self-determination by both peoples led to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, a series of Israeli-Arab wars, two lengthy Palestinian uprisings and waves of Palestinian refugees.
Although modern Zionism - the idea of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine - began in the late 19th century, the land of Israel has been central to Jewish consciousness since Jewish exile in biblical times. Small Jewish communities in Palestine have lived peacefully side by side with both Muslim and Christian Arabs for centuries.
But centuries of anti-Semitism in Europe, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews during World War Two, led to growing pressure for a Jewish homeland. In November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a plan to partition Palestine, then under British mandate, into Arab and Jewish states. In May 1948, Jews living in Palestine declared the establishment of the state of Israel.
Five countries invaded immediately, and in the ensuing conflict some 750,000 Palestinians fled the fighting or were forced to leave their homes. A similar number of Jews migrated to Israel from their homes in Arab states amid fears of a backlash against them.
Many Jews saw the creation of Israel as the embodiment of their long-held aspiration for a land of their own, but for Palestinians the events of 1948 became known as "Al Nakbar" - the catastrophe.
A second wave of Palestinians was displaced during the 1967 war that pitted Israel against Jordan, Egypt and Syria. In the six days of fighting, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. An estimated 500,000 Palestinians fled, according to the United Nations - mostly to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) began operations in 1950, initially as a temporary response to the humanitarian crisis created by the new refugees. Today, the agency is the main body meeting the needs of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria with basic services such as education, healthcare and social services.
The tents that made up the first refugee camps gradually gave way to the concrete buildings that make up today's camps as it became clear that no solution to their plight was in sight.
Since then, Palestinian refugee camps have grown upwards rather than out, with residents building new storeys to accommodate the new generations being born. Conditions are often overcrowded, with poor sanitation. There are high levels of unemployment, and increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The status of the refugees is a key issue in peace talks, with many Palestinians claiming the "right of return" - the right to go back to their homes in what is now Israel. Some still hold keys to the family homes they lost in 1948.
Israel fears that agreeing to this concession would spell disaster for the future Jewish state, largely because higher Palestinian birth rates mean Palestinian numbers would soon outstrip the Jewish population. Its own "law of return" allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to settle in Israel and take up citizenship. Under the citizenship rules, many Palestinians who marry Israelis are denied Israeli residency.
The two parts of the Palestinian territories are, in fact, two areas about 45 km (30 miles) apart. The West Bank is between Jerusalem - long claimed as a capital by both Palestinians and Israelis - and Jordan to the east, while Gaza is a tiny strip along Israel's western Mediterranean coast.
Intifada and security
In the wake of the 1967 war, successive Israeli governments began building Jewish settlements on the newly occupied land. Generally built on high ground, many settlements overlook Palestinian towns and villages, and there are tensions between the two communities. U.N. Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice have both declared the settlements illegal under international law.
But this ruling has been rejected by Israel, and its policy of settlement expansion continues.
In 1987, a Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, broke out in protest against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians vented their anger by throwing rocks at soldiers and tanks near their camps and homes; there were also roadside shootings at Israeli vehicles and assaults on settlers.
The Israeli military retaliated harshly with measures against the Palestinian population as a whole. They used a system of checkpoints to control the movement of people and goods around the West Bank and curfews were imposed at times of high security. Many Palestinians were also detained by the Israeli authorities.
Although groups of prisoners are periodically released as part of peace negotiations, large numbers remain in custody.
In 1993, following the Oslo Peace Accords, Israel agreed to establish limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian territories were divided into three zones: Area A under full Palestinian control; Area B under Palestinian civil authority and Israeli security control; and Area C under full Israeli control. Approximately 60 percent of the West Bank is in Area C.
The Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, was set up to run the new autonomous areas.
However in the years that followed, with little progress towards a final peace settlement, disillusionment set in.
A second Intifada broke out in 2000, following a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
Amid growing concerns about the number of suicide bombings against Israelis by Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas, the Israeli army re-occupied cities in the West Bank. It tightened up security measures around the Palestinian Territories, preventing thousands of Palestinians from going to work and trade in Israel.
In 2003, Israel made a unilateral decision to dismantle all Jewish settlements in Gaza and some settlements in the West Bank. In 2005, around 8,000 settlers were forcibly evicted from Gaza by the Israeli army, along with another 500 from the West Bank, and moved into alternative accommodation provided by the Israeli government.
Many of the settlers, some of whom believe Israel has a biblical claim on Gaza and the West Bank, felt betrayed.
The Gaza Strip came under Palestinian control. The area, 40 km long and 10 km wide, is home to around 1.6 million Palestinians and is one of the most densely populated places on earth.
In June 2007, a power struggle between Fatah and more militant Hamas spilled over into out-and-out fighting between armed factions on the streets of Gaza in which around 100 people died. Hamas declared control over Gaza, leading President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the Hamas-led unity government and set up an emergency, Fatah-based government in the West Bank.
Israel tightened border restrictions at its Gaza borders after the Hamas takeover.
Economic life has suffered and relief organisations have found it difficult to get aid to the Palestinian population.
The border crossing into Egypt at Rafah is theoretically run by the Palestinians under EU monitoring. But Egypt closed it after Hamas' takeover, except to allow food and medicine into Gaza, or to allow a few Gazans - including those seeking medical treatment or to study - into Egypt.
That changed in May 2011, when a new Egyptian government re-opened the border for people and eased visa restrictions on Palestinians.
Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement in May 2011, mediated by Egypt. The deal includes an agreement to form a unity government, and to hold presidential and legislative elections within a year. Israel said it would reject any government that included Hamas, and that would spell the end of peace talks.
Palestinian public opinion favours unity, but the main impetus for the two sides agreeing to a unity government were changes in neighbouring countries - particularly Egypt - caused by the Arab uprisings of 2010 and 2011, International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
Fatah lost a reliable ally when Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. And Hamas became more willing to work with Cairo after its parent organisation – Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood – looked likely to play a growing role in Egyptian politics.
Despite the agreement, years of bitter feuding has intensified rivalry between the two sides, ICG said.
Gaza offensive 2008
At the end of 2008 Israel launched its biggest offensive in Gaza in four decades. It said its aim was to stop militants firing rockets into the Jewish state.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 1,417 people including 926 civilians were killed during Israel's Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians in the fighting. Israel estimated 1,166 Palestinians were killed, 295 of them civilians.
The air raids damaged hospitals, water supply systems, the U.N. compound, mosques and government buildings as well as private homes. Israel accused Hamas of sheltering among the civilian population and using sites such as mosques and schools as military posts.
Israel was criticised for using white phosphorous - which can cause severe burns - in civilian areas.
The fighting triggered protests around the world, and there were calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, United States, European Union, Arab League, Russia and other countries.
Israeli government officials said Israel set several goals for the offensive, including weakening Hamas by killing its fighters and destroying its rocket arsenal. It also bombed a network of tunnels to Gaza from neighbouring Egypt, which had allowed Palestinians to smuggle in weapons.
Hamas unilaterally called off a six-month truce in December 2008 and stepped up rocket attacks, citing Israeli raids and the continuing blockade of the enclave.
In July 2010 Israel said it was taking steps to reduce the number of civilian casualties in future wars, and would restrict the use of white phosphorous.
West Bank barrier
In the West Bank, Israel continues to build a controversial "security barrier" it began in 2002, a 709 km construction which is part-wall, part-fence separating Israeli settlements from Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
The Palestinians, pointing to the barrier's frequent divergence from the 1949 Green Line and its siting on parts of the West Bank, call the construction a land grab.
Some West Bank farming villages lost agricultural land to the Israeli side and are subject to a system of permits and checkpoints before they can access their olive groves and orchards. Palestinian communities and aid agencies also say the restrictions on movement created by the barrier prevent people going to work, attending school and accessing health services.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an "advisory opinion" - a judgement with no legal force - declaring the barrier illegal. But Israel rejects the ruling, saying the barrier is key to its self-defence.
A 2011 report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) gives a summary of the humanitarian impact of the barrier.
The violence of the Intifada prompted Israel to punish suspected militants for attacks by demolishing their family homes. The Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem says Israel demolished 664 homes as punishment for suspected militant activities until the practice was officially ended in February 2005. It was resumed in January 2009.
The Israeli authorities have long pursued a policy of demolition for homeowners who they say lack the necessary building permits. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) says thousands of Palestinian houses have been demolished since 1967, leaving many families homeless.
The majority of house demolitions are carried out during military operations, says ICAHD.
The humanitarian picture
Restrictions on the movement of people and goods around the Palestinian Territories, created by the system of checkpoints, closures and curfews, affect every aspect of daily life for Palestinians.
Socioeconomic conditions are worst in Gaza, which is subject to more severe closures than the West Bank.
An international economic boycott of the Hamas-led government following its election win in January 2006 exacerbated the situation. Western donor nations, including the European Union, withheld direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although money was still channelled to the region through individuals or other organisations.
From March 2006, an estimated 140,000 Palestinian civil servants - the breadwinners for around a million people - went without their full wages for almost a year and a half. The situation was resolved when the Israeli authorities transferred tax revenues - which they had previously blocked - to the Palestinian Authority.
When Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel tightened its blockade on goods to Gaza.
Donors pledged billions of dollars in aid in a public show of support for Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas.
In June 2007, the EU resumed direct aid to the Palestinian Authority following the establishment of an emergency government by Abbas' Fatah party in the West Bank.
In June 2010, Israel partly relaxed its grip in response to international pressure, allowing in more trade goods. But it continued to ban cement and steel - both needed to help rebuild after Israel's 2008/9 Gaza offensive. Israel says such materials - unless for specific foreign-sponsored projects - could be used to make bunkers and weapons.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority has succeeded in connecting almost all residential areas to the electricity grid, and improved water and sanitation networks in areas under its control. However, the PA said it has been unable to get permits for several buildings in Area C - including a sewage treatment plant needed to serve people in Area A.
In Gaza, over 75 percent of people depend on aid, and almost all the water from Gaza's aquifer is undrinkable, according to the United Nations. The aquifer is the territory's only natural source of fresh water.
The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and UNRWA supply food aid, but chronic malnutrition and dietary-related diseases are on the rise, especially among children.
Basic healthcare is provided by the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA and other aid agencies, but health services are limited and fragmentary. Despite the use of mobile health clinics to reach cut-off villages in the West Bank, difficulties in getting through checkpoints mean many people don't get the treatment they need, especially in hospitals. Delays have led to some women giving birth at checkpoints, and relief agencies report growing concerns about pregnant women's access to services.
Gaza’s health system suffers from the Israeli blockade, but also from a lack of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas authorities in Gaza.
There is growing evidence of the effects of the conflict on mental health. Behavioural problems, particularly among adolescents, are on the rise.
Restrictions on movement prevent teachers and pupils getting to school, affecting education across the Palestinian Territories. According to the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, tens of thousands of children have their education regularly disrupted.
In Gaza, regular fuel shortages also bring public services to a grinding halt. The fuel crisis is partly caused by the Israeli blockade, but also by Palestinian armed attacks on the only border crossing where Israel permits fuel delivery.
A poverty survey carried out in Gaza by UNRWA in 2010 showed that the number of refugees living in abject poverty had tripled since Israel's tightening of its blockade in 2007.
UNRWA found that 300,000 Palestine refugees were living in conditions of abject poverty, up from 100,000 in 2007. These families were unable to secure access to food and lacked the means to purchase even the most basic items such as soap, school stationary and safe drinking water.
A coalition of British aid agencies published a report in March 2008 saying the blockade had created the worst humanitarian crisis in Gaza in 40 years, and that sanitation and health systems were on the point of collapse.
As Gaza has become a more risky place to work, several aid workers have been kidnapped by militant groups, although few have been held very long and there have been no abductions of late.
A six-ship flotilla carrying aid and activists to Gaza in May 2010 tried to break Israel's blockade. Nine activists died in clashes when Israeli marines intercepted the flotilla and boarded the ships.
Foreign businesses are encouraged to invest in the Palestinian Territories, although the blockade makes both Gaza and the West Bank difficult environments to operate in.
Peace process
There have been many attempts to resolve the conflict since the 1967 war.
Negotiations brokered in secret by the Norwegians in the early 1990s looked promising initially. The Oslo Peace Accords, sealed with an iconic handshake between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn in 1993, were hailed by many as the start of a peace process that would lead to a permanent end to the conflict.
Both sides made key concessions. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation recognised Israel's "right to exist in peace and security", while Israel promised that its troops would withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza in stages. A self-governing Palestinian Authority would be set up for a transitional five-year period, with a view to arriving at a final settlement.
But optimism faded as Palestinians continued to live under restrictions imposed by the Israeli military occupation, while Israelis despaired at attacks by militant Palestinians.
The most recent peace plan, the roadmap, was drawn up in 2003 by what is known as the Quartet - the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations. It put aside contentious issues such as the refugees' right to return, the status of Jerusalem, or the position of the borders of an eventual Palestinian state and set out a two-year timetable by which agreement on a final settlement might be reached.
During the first phase of the process, the Palestinians would commit to a crackdown on militants, while Israel would cease settlement building and act with military restraint.
But soon after the roadmap was agreed, violence on both sides brought an end to the incipient peace process. Israel's decision in 2003 to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank was a unilateral decision and not the result of formal negotiations. In the meantime, suicide bombings against Israeli citizens have continued, while life for ordinary Palestinians has deteriorated.
The construction of settlements and the "security barrier" led some experts to question the viability of the two-state solution. They argued that Israeli infrastructure in the Palestinian Territories is so well-established as to rule out a genuinely independent Palestine. However, it is not clear how the alternative - a one-state solution - would work, as the area's demographics mean that co-existence would inevitably involve a Jewish minority - an unacceptable prospect for most Israelis.
Although the roadmap was not formally abandoned, the peace process was effectively put on hold.
But global awareness of the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to events in Iraq, Lebanon and the "war on terror", along with concern about the emergence of two rival administrations within the Palestinian Territories, revived Western leaders' interest in diplomatic efforts to end the crisis.
In November 2007, their efforts bore fruit when, at a conference hosted by the United States in Annapolis, Maryland, Israeli and Palestinian leaders relaunched the first formal peace talks in seven years. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Abbas promised to try to reach agreement about the terms of a future Palestinian state. They failed.
In 2009, Israel's new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to negotiate with the Palestinians and accepted the prospect of a Palestinian state for the first time. He insisted on the "natural growth" of West Bank settlements to meet the needs of expanding populations, despite pressure from the U.S. administration to curb their expansion.
U.S.-mediated direct peace talks began in September 2010.
Key factions
Hamas
Hamas - an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement - emerged during the 1980s Palestinian uprising and led a suicide bombing campaign over the next decade as part of its stated aim of destroying Israel. The Gaza-based group built popular support through a social welfare programme providing healthcare, education and social services to the Palestinian population.
Hamas gained increasing popularity among Palestinians due to a perception that, in contrast to its rival party Fatah, it was free of corruption. It won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006, taking 76 out of 132 seats, and became the lead player in a Palestinian national unity government. Hamas is considered a "terrorist" organisation by the European Union and the United States, and its electoral win triggered an international aid boycott from western donor governments.
In June 2007, growing rivalry between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza led to street fighting which killed around 100 people. Hamas won the power struggle, effectively taking over the government of Gaza. As a result, the Palestinian president and leading Fatah politician Mahmoud Abbas sacked the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and set up a separate administration in the West Bank.
Fatah
Fatah, founded in 1965 by the late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Yasser Arafat, is the mainstream Palestinian nationalist movement. It has run the Palestinian Authority since 1994, when it took control of the Palestinian areas following the Oslo accords.
Fatah, whose strongest support base lies in the West Bank, recognises Israel's right to exist and is formally committed to peace talks with Israel. But growing disenchantment with the leadership among ordinary Palestinians led to the party losing Palestinian elections to Hamas in January 2006 and becoming part of a coalition government. Since June 2007, its authority has been confined to the West Bank.
Islamic Jihad
Emerging in Gaza in the 1970s, Islamic Jihad is a militant movement whose exact affiliations are unclear. Based in Syria, its funding is believed to come from Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. The group operates mainly in the West Bank and Gaza, and has claimed responsibility for many suicide bombings against Israelis, along with attacks in Lebanon. Like Hamas, its goal is the destruction of Israel.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Formed by disaffected young men after the second uprising erupted in 2000, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is often considered to be the armed, militant wing of Fatah. It has carried out many attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. However, it is not officially recognised by the party and it is a moot point how much control Fatah leaders have over its activities.
The Israeli authorities have often targeted the organisation's leadership, capturing and imprisoning Fatah's West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti - allegedly also the head of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - in 2002. Over recent years, many of the group's members have received amnesty from Israel in return for laying down their weapons.
Popular Resistance Committees
The Gaza-based PRC is a break-away militant group that emerged out of the second Intifada in 2000. It has been involved in numerous attacks on Israelis, often in joint operations with other groups.
Abu Rish Brigades
The Abu Rish Brigades is a splinter faction linked to Fatah, named after a Fatah militant commander killed by Israel. Based in southern Gaza, it has claimed responsibility for bomb and rocket attacks against Israelis. In 2004, it kidnapped four French aid workers.
The Army of Islam
This little-known, Gaza-based faction made headlines when it kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston in March 2007. The group follows al Qaeda-style principles. Other Palestinian militants such as Hamas deny any links.
The Army of Islam released Johnston after negotiations with Hamas.
Timeline
Updated 10 August 2011 03:00 AM BST
Creation of state of Israel
1897 - After centuries of European anti-Semitism, World Zionist Organisation established to try and create a Jewish state in Palestine
1918-1947 - Britain occupies Palestine and commits to help establish a national Jewish home in Palestine. Large number of Jews migrate to Palestine, creating tensions between the Arabs and Jews there. British recommendation of partition into Jewish and Arab states rejected by Palestinians who demand an end to Jewish migration. But many more Jews flee to Palestine because of Nazi Holocaust in Europe
1947 - U.N. General Assembly recommends partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem "internationalised"
May 1948 - Jewish settlers declare formation of state of Israel
Wars and Israeli expansion
1948 - Before May, Jewish forces fight Arab armies and occupy 77 percent of Palestine, according to U.N. figures. Immediately after the May declaration, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq invade but swiftly defeated. Egypt gains control of Gaza Strip
750,000 Palestinians flee fighting or expelled by Jewish troops, according to U.N.. Most move to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza Strip
Thousands of Jews flee Arab countries to Israel and refused right to return
1950 - Jordan annexes West Bank
1964 - Arab League of Arab States founds Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)
1967 - Six Day War after Israel launches what it calls pre-emptive strike on Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian forces. After brief fighting, Israel occupies West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Syrian Golan Heights and Egyptian Sinai Peninsula
500,000 Palestinians flee to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, according to U.N.. Israel starts building Jewish settlements in occupied territories
1973 - Egypt and Syria launch attacks to regain land lost in the 1967 war, but fail
1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiates peace process which results in 1982 withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied Sinai
1982 - Israel invades Lebanon, partly to expel PLO and establish a pro-Israeli government. PLO disperses to other Arab countries. Israeli troops end their conflict with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in 2000.
First Palestinian Intifada
1987 - The first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, begins against growing number of Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
Peace talks
1991 - U.S. holds international summit with Israel, Syria and joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. Washington organises bilateral talks after the summit, with little progress
1993 - Secret Norwegian-brokered negotiations begin, culminating in Israel's military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip - except areas surrounding Jewish settlements - and from Jericho in the West Bank
1994 - Exiled PLO leader Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza for first time and heads the Palestinian National Authority set up to run newly autonomous areas
1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by an Israeli extremist. Benjamin Netanyahu takes office in 1996 and Oslo peace talks begin to unravel
2000 - Peace talks end with failed Camp David summit
Second Palestinian Intifada
2000 - Palestinian militants begin series of suicide attacks. Israel responds with increased number of air strikes, incursions into Palestinian areas and killing militant leaders. Many Palestinian cities isolated and kept under curfew for lengthy periods
2002 - Israel re-occupies West Bank cities and begins building 600 km-long (370 miles) barrier separating West Bank from rest of Israel
2003 - Attempts to revive peace process fail. The roadmap, a peace plan drawn up by the Quartet - European Union, Russian Federation, U.N. and U.S., is signed by Palestinians and Israel, but quickly derails
Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories
Israel announces policy of "unilateral disengagement" from Gaza Strip
2004 - Arafat dies, replaced by former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas
2005
Feb - Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declare informal ceasefire. Palestinian militant groups say not bound by pledges, but agree to observe de facto truce
Aug-Sep - Israeli soldiers remove 9,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip and West Bank and formally withdraw military bases in September, ending 38 years of occupation
2006
Jan - Sharon suffers massive stroke. Ehud Olmert becomes interim prime minister, saying will talk to Palestinians, but only if they disarm
Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating Fatah. U.S. and EU brand Hamas a terrorist group
Mar - Major international donors, including U.S. and EU, suspend direct aid to Hamas-led government
Olmert elected prime minister and rejects negotiations with Palestinians. Promises Israelis "permanent" eastern borders - including within the West Bank- by 2010
May - Mounting violence in Gaza fuelled by power struggle between Fatah and Hamas loyalists
Jun - Palestinian militants capture Israeli soldier, triggering major Israeli incursion into Gaza. Israel arrests most Hamas cabinet members
Jul - Israel begins air and land offensive against Lebanon after fighters from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah seize two Israeli soldiers and kill eight in cross-border raid
Aug - Ceasefire declared and Israeli forces begin withdrawing from Lebanon. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis killed during fighting. U.N. peacekeeping force deploys along southern border
Oct - Negotiations on Palestinian unity government collapse. Relations between Fatah and Hamas continue to deteriorate. Israeli incursions into Gaza intensify
Nov - Fragile Gaza ceasefire takes hold
Dec - Abbas tries to break deadlock over unity government by calling for early elections. Hamas declares any new election would be a "coup" attempt and unconstitutional
Israel announces plans for first new West Bank settlement since 1992, and agrees to release $100m of Palestinian tax revenues
2007
Jan - Assassinations and clashes between Hamas and Fatah reach unprecedented levels. Both sides agree to another ceasefire
Feb - Hamas-Fatah fighting intensifies in Gaza, with Hamas overrunning compounds used by Abbas' security forces and Fatah setting Islamic University ablaze
Mar - New Palestinian unity government sworn in, cabinet comprising Fatah, Hamas, independent and left-wing MPs
May - Fatah and Hamas battle for control of Gaza
Jun - Hamas defeats Fatah militarily in Gaza. Abbas disbands unity government and declares state of emergency
Nov - Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree at conference hosted by U.S. President George Bush in Annapolis to begin talks to reach full agreement on a future Palestinian state by the end of 2008
Dec - $7.4 billion in aid pledged at donor conference in Paris
2008
Jan - Negotiators start first formal peace talks in seven years
Gunmen in Gaza destroy large sections of Gaza-Egypt border wall. Hundreds of thousands cross to buy food, supplies
Mar - At least 110 people killed in Israeli aerial and ground assault in Hamas-ruled Gaza, described by U.N. as "disproportionate use of force" and by Israel as an operation to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel
Major aid agencies say humanitarian situation is worst since 1967
Apr - Quartet envoy Tony Blair gives Israel a list of West Bank roadblocks he would like removed
Reuters cameraman killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza
A growing fuel crisis in Gaza leads UNRWA to suspend food distribution for several days
Palestinian factions agree to an Egyptian proposal for a truce with Israel
May - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says he has secured $1.4bn of new investments in business projects in West Bank and Gaza
Jun - Hamas and Israel agree a ceasefire to stop rockets being fired into Israel and halt Israeli incursions into Gaza
Sep - The Palestinian government receives new aid pledges of $300 million
Archbishop Desmond Tutu tells U.N. Human Rights Council that Israeli shelling in 2006 of northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, an area used by militants as a staging point for rocket attacks on Israel, may constitute a war crime
Oct - EU envoy Tony Blair says Gaza banks near collapse. Heavy flooding in Gaza damages homes and sewage systems. After weeks of talks, Egypt releases draft proposal to end Hamas-Fatah rift
Nov - New round of Gaza violence threatens June ceasefire. U.N. officials warn of a humanitarian crisis as essential supplies run low
Dec - Hamas calls off truce. Israel pounds Gaza with bombs and missiles in biggest offensive in four decades, with the declared aim of stopping Hamas firing rockets into Israel
2009
Jan - Israel sends in tanks and troops. Palestinians say more than 1000 killed and thousands injured
Feb - Hamas and Fatah leaders hold first in a series of reconciliation talks in Cairo
Mar - Netanyahu sworn in as prime minister, head of new coalition government. Pledges to negotiate with Palestinians
May - U.S. President Barack Obama meets Netanyahu and calls for Palestinian statehood and a curb on West Bank settlements
Jun - Netanyahu accepts prospect of Palestinian state for first time, but insists on growth of West Bank settlements and other conditions rejected by Palestinian Authority officials
ICRC says Israeli blockade is preventing reconstruction of Gaza. Israeli officials say easing of blockade depends on progress towards release of Israeli soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip since 2006
Jul - U.N. says will take a year to clear half a million tonnes of rubble left over from Dec/Jan Israeli offensive in Gaza. Israel allows first shipment of building materials into Gaza since the offensive
Aug - First Fatah congress since 1989. Hamas clashes with Islamist group Jund Ansar Allah
Sep - Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas meet in New York
Oct - Hamas refuses to allow elections in Gaza without Hamas-Fatah reconciliation
Nov - Abbas says will not stand for re-election. U.N. General Assembly accuses Israel and Hama of war crimes in Dec/Jan Israeli offensive in Gaza
2010
Mar - U.S.-Israel tensions rise when, during visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Israel announces plan to build new homes in East Jerusalem. Middle East Quartet calls on Israel to freeze settlement expansion.
May - U.S.-mediated indirect talks between Palestinian Authority and Israel
Nine people die when Israeli soldiers board ships carrying aid and activists to Gaza
Jun - Israel allows a wider range of goods into Gaza
Aug - Israel says it will cooperate with U.N. investigation into May's deadly raid on aid shipments to Gaza
Sep - U.S.-mediated direct peace talks begin. Netanyahu refuses to extend moratorium on settlement expansions, putting peace talks at risk. Hamas threatens attacks against Israel. United Nations says Israel violated international law in May's raid on aid shipments to Gaza
Oct – Abbas says direct peace talks will collapse unless U.S. persuades Israel to end settlement building within one month. Palestinians reject Israeli offer to freeze settlement building if Palestinians recognise Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people
Nov – Israel passes law requiring two-thirds Knesset majority or national referendum for withdrawal from East Jerusalem or Golan Heights
U.N. says life for Gazans has not improved since Israel eased its blockade
Dec - U.S. formally abandons efforts to make settlement freeze a basis for peace talks, and says will pursue proximity talks
Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia recognise independent Palestinian state "on the 1967 lines". Israel eases ban on exports from Gaza but not to Israel
2011
Apr – Israel says Palestinian Authority cannot have peace with both Israel and Hamas
May – Hundreds wounded and some killed by Israeli gunfire, as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters mark Nakba along Israeli borders with Gaza, Syria and Lebanon
Fatah, Hamas sign reconciliation deal, agreeing to form unity government and hold elections within a year. Netanyahu calls the unity pact a "tremendous blow to peace"
Egypt opens Rafah border crossing with Gaza
Jun - Talks on formation of Palestinian unity government postponed. Palestinian Authority votes to seek U.N. recognition of Palestinian state in September
U.N. report says Gaza unemployment has spiralled and wages fallen since the start of Israeli sanctions in 2006
