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8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2023 ISRAEL - HAMAS WAR The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine The Great Palestinian Revolt was a popular na- tionalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandato- ry Palestine against the British administration of the Palestine Mandate, demanding Arab independence and the end of the policy of open-ended Jewish im- migration and land purchases with the stated goal of establishing a "Jewish National Home". The upris- ing coincided with a peak in the influx of immigrant Jews, some 60,000 that year – the Jewish population having grown under British auspices from 57,000 to 320,000 in 1935 – and with the growing plight of the rural fellahin rendered landless, who as they moved to metropolitan centres to escape their abject pover- ty found themselves socially marginalised. 1948 Arab Israeli war After the State of Israel was sanctioned in what was then the British Mandatory of Palestine, by the Unit- ed Nations (1947) war broke out between Palestin- ians and Jewish militias led by the Haganah, which later became the Israel Defence Forces. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Transjordan (later Jordan) de- clared war on Israel on May 15, 1948, a day after it declared its independence. The war formally ended almost a year later leaving Israel controlling much of the former British Mandate, Egypt in control of Gaza, Jordan in control of the West Bank, and several hundred thousand Palestinians displaced. 1956 Suez Crisis After Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nation- alised the Suez Canal, Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula on October 29 together with France and Britain, who sought control of the trade passing through the Suze. The attack was brought to a halt under US and Soviet pressure. 1967 Six Day War In the wake of regional tensions as Israel confronted assaults by Palestinian militants based in Syria, Leba- non and Jordan, on June 5, Israel launched pre-emp- tive attacks on Egypt, Syria and Jordan in response to a build-up of force in the Sinai and the closure of the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping. Israel won a crushing victory by June 10, leaving it in control of Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights as well as more than 1 million Palestinians in the newly occu- pied territories. 1973 Yom Kippur War Israel was caught out in a surprise offensive on Oc- tober 6 by Egypt and Syria on the eastern banks of the Suez Canal. Saudi Arabia led an oil boycott in support of the war effort. Israel retained control of the Sinai peninsula, but the war led to negotiations and the signing of the Camp David peace accords in 1979. 1978 invasion of Lebanon Following attacks by the Palestine Liberation Or- ganisation – which had relocated to Lebanon from Jordan after taking part in a civil war there - Israel invaded southern Lebanon in March. It withdrew in a week after forcing the PLO away from the border. 1982 invasion of Lebanon Israel invaded Lebanon again after cross-border clashes with the PLO. The invasion led to the siege of Beirut and the exile of the PLO's leadership to Tu- nisia. Israel then occupied southern Lebanon for al- most two decades. 1987 Palestinian Intifada In what was described as Israel's biggest intelli- gence failure since the 1973 war, protests broke out across the West Bank and Gaza that developed into a Timeline: The Arab Israeli conflict Photo: Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question Aerial view of two of the vessels scuttled by the Egyptians in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal in order to prevent any shipping movements. On the right, a British vessel specially equipped for refloating operations Fighting in the Golan Heights Israel financed, armed and commanded the South Lebanon Army A woman struggles with an Israeli soldier in a scene from Lebanon Photo: Modern War Institute The soldiers of allied Arab Legion forces fire on fighters of the Haganah, the Jewish Agency self-defence force, in March 1948