Words to know

Holding someone in prison without charge or trial, on secret evidence, for renewable periods of up to six months. Israel uses it widely against Palestinians and says it prevents attacks; rights groups say it denies basic justice.

When a state declares that land it controls is now officially part of its own country. Israel annexed East Jerusalem (1980) and the Golan Heights (1981). Some Israeli politicians want to annex all or part of the West Bank.

Hatred of, or discrimination against, Jews. It drove the persecution of Jews in Europe and the Holocaust. Criticising Israeli government policy is not in itself antisemitic, but attacks on Jews anywhere because of Israel's actions are.

A crime under international law: a system of domination by one racial group over another, named after South Africa's former regime.

• Palestinians and groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem: Israel's rule over Palestinians amounts to apartheid.
• Israel and its supporters: the label is a smear: Arab citizens of Israel have equal rights, and the situation in the West Bank is a security conflict, not a racial system.

The Oslo division of the West Bank. Area A (about 18%): Palestinian civil and police control. Area B (about 22%): Palestinian civil control, Israeli security control. Area C (about 60%): full Israeli control, including all settlements.

A 1917 letter in which the British government supported 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, as long as nothing harmed the rights of the 'existing non-Jewish communities' — who were about 90% of the population.

The tight limits Israel and Egypt placed on people and goods going in and out of Gaza from 2007, after Hamas took power.

• Israel: a necessary security measure to stop Hamas from getting weapons.
• Palestinians and UN officials: collective punishment of two million people, which turned Gaza into an 'open-air prison'.

A body chaired by US President Donald Trump, created by the US peace plan of September 2025 and endorsed by the UN Security Council, to oversee Gaza's transition and rebuilding until the end of 2027.

British rule over Palestine from 1920 to 1948, approved by the League of Nations (the forerunner of the UN). Britain promised to help build a 'national home for the Jewish people' while protecting the 'civil and religious rights' of the non-Jewish majority — without promising them self-government.

The eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites. Jordan held it from 1949 to 1967; Israel captured it in 1967 and annexed it. Most countries see it as occupied. Palestinians want it as their capital.

The most extreme level of hunger: at least 20% of households with extreme lack of food, 30% of children acutely malnourished, and people dying of hunger. The global hunger monitor, the IPC, confirmed famine in the Gaza City area in August 2025.

The largest party in the PLO, founded by Yasser Arafat. It leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. It is secular and supports a negotiated two-state solution, and is Hamas's main rival.

A narrow piece of land on the Mediterranean coast, between Israel and Egypt, about 41 km long. Egypt ruled it from 1949 to 1967. Israel occupied it from 1967; in 2005 it withdrew its settlers and soldiers but kept control of Gaza's coast, airspace and border with Israel, so the UN says the occupation continued. Hamas took control in 2007. Since the 2023–25 war, Israeli troops hold most of it.

Under the 1948 Genocide Convention: acts such as killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, committed with the intent to destroy that group in whole or in part. Proving the intent is the hardest part.

• Palestinians, a UN inquiry, major rights groups and many genocide scholars: Israel's war in Gaza meets this definition.
• Israel, the United States and other governments: the accusation is false: Israel was fighting Hamas in self-defence, warned civilians and let in aid. Some add that Hamas's own aims toward Jews are genocidal.
• Courts: the International Court of Justice is hearing the case; a final ruling is not expected before 2029.

A high plateau that Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. The United States recognised Israel's annexation in 2019; most countries did not.

The ceasefire lines of 1949 between Israel and its neighbours. They were the borders of Israel until 1967 and are the usual starting point for talks about a Palestinian state.

A Palestinian Islamist movement with an armed wing, founded in 1987. Its 1988 charter called for Israel's destruction and contained antisemitic language; a 2017 document accepted a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines as a 'national consensus', but still did not recognise Israel and called for the liberation of all of Palestine. It won the 2006 election and took control of Gaza in 2007; since the 2025 ceasefire it still controls the parts of Gaza not held by Israeli troops. The US, the EU, the UK, Canada and others list it as a terrorist organisation.

• Its supporters: a resistance movement against occupation, and a political party that won an election.
• Israel and its allies: a terrorist organisation whose aim is to destroy Israel, as 7 October showed.

A Lebanese Shia Islamist movement and militia backed by Iran. It fought Israel from 2023 to 2024 and again in 2026. Many countries list it as a terrorist organisation.

The murder of about six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies during the Second World War (1941–1945). It convinced many countries that the Jewish people needed a state of their own.

A person seized and held to force others to do something. On 7 October 2023, 251 people were taken from Israel to Gaza. Taking hostages is a war crime.

Using civilians to protect military targets from attack, which is a war crime. Hamas has fought from homes, hospitals and schools and from tunnels beneath them; the UN found rockets hidden in some of its own schools in Gaza in 2014. Israel says this makes Hamas responsible for civilian deaths; critics say it does not justify attacks that harm civilians excessively. Rights groups have also accused Israeli soldiers of forcing Palestinian detainees to walk ahead of them into dangerous buildings.

The Israel Defense Forces, Israel's army, navy and air force. Most Jewish Israelis serve in it at 18, so almost every family has someone in uniform.

The UN's top court in The Hague. It settles disputes between states, such as South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide, and gives legal opinions. It does not try individuals.

A court in The Hague that tries individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In 2024 it issued arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and former defence minister, and for a Hamas leader. Israel and the United States do not accept its authority in this case.

Arabic for 'shaking off' — a Palestinian uprising. The first (1987–1993) was mostly protests, strikes and stone-throwing. The second (2000–2005) was far deadlier, with suicide bombings in Israel and heavy Israeli military operations.

Describes a political movement that wants government and society to follow Islamic law and values. It is not the same as 'Muslim': most Muslims are not Islamists.

The Jewish-majority state founded in 1948. It is a parliamentary democracy of about 10 million people, about one fifth of them Arab citizens.

A small Israeli village where land and work were traditionally shared. Several kibbutzim near Gaza, such as Be'eri, Kfar Aza and Nir Oz, were among the places hit hardest on 7 October 2023.

Arabic for 'catastrophe'. Palestinians use it for the loss of their homeland in 1948, when about 700,000 fled or were driven out and were not allowed to return. Palestinians mark it every year on 15 May.

• Palestinians: the central injustice of their history — an expulsion that, they say, has never ended.
• Many Israelis: a tragedy caused mainly by the war the Arab side started, not by a plan to expel; some Israeli historians disagree.

In international law, when an army controls territory outside its own country. The UN and the International Court of Justice consider the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza to be occupied by Israel since 1967. In a 2024 advisory opinion, which is not binding, the court said the occupation is unlawful and should end as soon as possible.

• The Israeli government: the West Bank is 'disputed', not occupied, because it was never a sovereign Palestinian state and Jews have deep historical ties to it; Gaza was not occupied after Israel left in 2005.
• Palestinians: a military occupation that controls every part of their lives, and the root of the conflict.

The idea of a single state for everyone between the river and the sea. Some imagine equal citizenship for all; others imagine Israeli control with limited Palestinian rights. Most Israelis reject the first version; Palestinians reject the second.

Agreements signed in 1993 and 1995 in which Israel and the PLO recognised each other and created the Palestinian Authority. The hardest questions were left for later, and a final deal was never reached.

Small settlements built without Israeli government approval, so illegal even under Israeli law. Governments have often approved them later.

The Palestinian self-government created by the Oslo Accords in 1994. It runs Palestinian cities in parts of the West Bank, led since 2005 by President Mahmoud Abbas. It lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.

A smaller armed Islamist group in Gaza and the West Bank, close to Iran. It took part in the 7 October attack and is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and others.

Arab people whose families come from the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Most are Muslim, some are Christian. About 15 million live in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and around the world.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 as the umbrella body of Palestinian groups. Long led by Yasser Arafat. It recognised Israel in 1993 and is the official Palestinian partner in talks.

A rule of the laws of war: an attack is illegal if the harm expected to civilians is excessive compared with the military advantage expected. Much of the debate about Gaza turns on how this rule was applied.

Areas set up for Palestinian refugees after 1948. Today most are crowded town neighbourhoods with concrete buildings, not tents — though since 2023 most people in Gaza live in tents again.

The Palestinian demand that refugees from 1948 and their descendants may return to their former homes, now in Israel.

• Palestinians: a basic right, supported by UN Resolution 194 (1948).
• Most Israelis: impossible to accept, because millions of returnees would end Israel's Jewish majority; refugees should settle in a Palestinian state or where they live now.

A fence-and-wall system Israel began building in 2002, during the second intifada, to stop attackers. Israel credits it with cutting suicide bombings. About 85% of its route runs inside the West Bank, and in 2004 the International Court of Justice said those parts break international law.

Israeli towns and villages built on land Israel captured in 1967, mainly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Most countries and the UN consider them illegal under international law, which forbids moving your own population into occupied land. Israel disputes this.

The June 1967 war in which Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and took Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

A hilltop in Jerusalem's Old City. For Jews it is the holiest place, where their ancient Temples stood. For Muslims it is the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif), home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the third-holiest site in Islam. Its status is one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict.

Violence against civilians to achieve political goals. Many states call Hamas's attacks terrorism. Many Palestinians call armed struggle against occupation 'resistance'. Under the laws of war, deliberately attacking civilians is a crime whoever does it and whatever the cause.

The idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem living next to Israel, roughly along the 1967 lines with land swaps. It is the official goal of the UN and most governments.

The United Nations' 1947 plan to divide Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state and an international zone around Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted it; Arab leaders rejected it. It was never carried out.

The UN agency created in 1949 to help Palestine refugees. It runs schools, clinics and aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. A UN inquiry found that nine of its staff may have taken part in the 7 October attack, and they were fired. Israel says Hamas infiltrated the agency and banned it in 2025; the US stopped funding it. The UN and most other donors say its work is essential.

A serious breach of the laws of war, such as deliberately attacking civilians, taking hostages, torture, or using starvation as a weapon. These rules apply to every side, whatever the cause of the war.

The name most Israelis use for the 1948 war. About 6,000 Israelis — roughly 1% of the Jewish population — were killed.

• Most Israelis: the war in which their new state survived an attack by neighbouring Arab armies, three years after the Holocaust.
• Palestinians: the same events are the Nakba, when they lost most of their homeland.

Land west of the Jordan River. Jordan ruled it from 1949 to 1967; Israel has occupied it since 1967. About 3.4 million Palestinians and over 700,000 Israeli settlers live there (counting East Jerusalem). Many Israelis call it by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria.

The line inside Gaza to which Israeli troops withdrew under the October 2025 ceasefire, marked on the ground with yellow concrete blocks. It first gave Israel about 53% of Gaza; it has since moved west.

The movement, born in Europe in the late 1800s, to create a Jewish national home in the Land of Israel, where Jews trace their origins. 'Zion' is a biblical name for Jerusalem.

• Most Israelis: the national liberation movement of a persecuted people returning to its ancient homeland.
• Most Palestinians: a settler-colonial movement that took their land and pushed them out.