Timeline: Shrinking space in Israel-Palestine

On 14 May 1948, David-Ben Gurion, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, proclaims the State of Israel. In the context of the war that follows, Israel declares a “State of Emergency” that lasts to the present day. Palestinians refer to Israel’s establishment and the associated experiences of mass displacement and loss of their historic homeland as the “Nakba” (“catastrophe” in Arabic).

Map based on Annex A to United Nations General ASsembly Resolution 181 (II).

Palestinian citizens of Israel are subjected to military rule and tried before military courts. The Emergency Regulations are one of the “enforcement mechanisms” used by the military government to curtail civil liberties and impose severe restrictions on citizens’ daily life.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are subjected to military rule and tried before military courts. The Emergency Regulations are one of the “enforcement mechanisms” used by the military government to curtail civil liberties and impose severe restrictions on citizens’ daily life.

Israel conquers the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza in June 1967. It annexes East Jerusalem and extends the application of its domestic law to the area.

Israeli forces intervene in the Lebanese civil war (1975–1990) to expel the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other Palestinian groups from Lebanon. The military takes control of Beirut’s surroundings and does not prevent combatants of its allied Phalange militia from entering the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, where they kill at least 800 civilians. 

The First Intifada, a popular uprising against the military occupation, takes place in the oPt and in Israel. Like previous instances of political mobilization, demonstrations are met with violent repression, Israeli soldiers having been instructed by Defence Minister Yitzhak Rabin to “break the arms and legs” of protesters. According to estimates, the Israeli authorities arrest and detain around 100,000 Palestinians during the course of the uprising.  

The Oslo process collapses following the unsuccessful Camp David II summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. Against the backdrop of “shattered dreams of peace”, the visit of Likud politician Ariel Sharon – “father of the settler movement” and former Defence Minister deemed indirectly responsible for the 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirut – to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in September 2000 triggers the Second Intifada.  

The second Palestinian uprising is characterized by greater violence than the first, including terrorist attacks in major Israeli cities, and at its height sees the Israeli army reoccupying parts of the West Bank that it had withdrawn from pursuant to the Oslo Accords. Over 3,000 Palestinians are killed and thousands more arrested. Israeli authorities also erect a “separation barrier” between Israel and the occupied West Bank, which in part deviates from Israel’s internationally recognized pre-1967 borders (the “Green Line”) and infringes upon the right to self-determination of Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. The Intifada comes to an end with the February 2005 Sharm El Sheikh summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 

Israel unilaterally withdraws its ground troops from the Gaza Strip in summer 2005; existing Israeli settlements are dismantled. Pursuant to the Israeli government’s “Disengagement Plan”, Israel nonetheless continues to “guard and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip”, to “maintain exclusive authority in Gaza air space”, and to “exercise security activity in the sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip”. 

On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the “principal judicial organ of the United Nations” – renders its Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Wall Advisory Opinion) concerning the legality of the “separation barrier”. The Court finds, inter alia, that the wall – which is partly located deep within the West Bank beyond the “Green Line” – infringes upon the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and calls upon Israel “to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall” in the oPt; “dismantl[e] forthwith … those parts of that structure situated” in the oPt; and “to return the land, orchards, olive groves and other immovable property seized” in this context, or to provide compensation accordingly.  

After Arafat’s death in November 2004, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah is elected President of the PA in January 2005.    

On 9 July 2005 – the one-year anniversary of the issuance of the Wall Advisory Opinion – a network of civil society organizations launches a call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel, marking the emergence of the BDS movement.  

In the 2006 legislative elections, Hamas wins a majority – 74 of the now 132 PLC seats – followed by Fatah with 45 seats. Fatah rejects calls to join the new, Hamas-led government; Israel cuts off contact and withholds tax revenues. The Middle East Quartet – consisting of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the United States, and the Russian Federation – conditions continued aid to the PA on Hamas’ renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, and commitment to the agreements concluded as part of the Oslo process, which Hamas refuses.  

Despite attempts at Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and the eventual formation of a short-lived national unity government in March 2007, clashes between Fatah and Hamas that have been ongoing since late 2006 culminate in the latter’s takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. President Abbas declares a state of emergency. The PLC has been suspended ever since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decree in the West Bank, and Hamas adopting separate laws for Gaza. In response to the Hamas takeover, Israel imposes a “land, sea and air blockade” on Gaza.  

Between December 2008 and January 2009, Israel carries out a large military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which kills an estimated 1,383 Palestinians, including over 300 children.   

On 3 March, the Prosecutor of the ICC announces that her Office has initiated an investigation with regards to the Situation in Palestine, the State of Palestine having become party to the ICC in 2015. As part of a larger pattern of refusal to cooperate with international oversight mechanisms relating to human rights and compliance with international law, the Israeli authorities declare that they will not cooperate with the Court.

In February 2021, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the Court had confirmed that the scope of the ICC’s territorial jurisdiction extends to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, the Court has jurisdiction over international crimes allegedly committed on this territory since 13 June 2014 by Israeli and Palestinian authorities as well as Palestinian armed groups. 

In April 2021, PA President Abbas indefinitely postpones the legislative elections scheduled for 22 May – which would have been the first in 15 years – allegedly due to uncertainty as to whether Israel would allow Palestinians to cast their vote in unlawfully annexed East Jerusalem. Presidential elections, which were supposed to take place in July, are postponed as well. Critics surmise that Abbas’ real concern may be losing his hold on power.   

In the context of resurging violence in May, Palestinians take to the streets across Israel and the oPt, in a show of unity “unprecedented” in recent years. Israeli authorities arrest an estimated 3,100 Palestinians. For background information on one of the root causes of resurging violence – displacement and dispossession in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood – see the IHL Centre’s timeline.  

During a special session convened in the context of the May 2021 hostilities, the UN Human Rights Council adopts a resolution establishing the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. The mandate of the Commission includes investigating “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity”. It extends to acts committed by Israel, Palestinian authorities, and armed groups. 

On 30 December 2022, the General Assembly passes a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the legal consequences of “the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, [of] its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and [of] its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”, as well as the legal status of Israel’s occupation as a result of these “policies and practices”. 

On 6 January 2023, the Israeli security cabinet imposes punitive measures on the PA for its role in requesting the advisory opinion, and determines to “take action against organizations that promote hostile activity, including political-legal activity against Israel under the guise of humanitarian activity”. Two days later, it is reported that Israel has revoked the travel permit of Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki.

On 16 January 2023, Palestinian officials release a statement signed by 37 countries, plus Algeria as Chair of the Arab Summit and Member of the Arab Troika, and Pakistan as Chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In the statement, the signatories “express [their] deep concern regarding the Israeli government’s decision to impose punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following the request by the General Assembly of an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice”. They include countries that voted against the request for an advisory opinion in December 2022, such as Estonia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania, and countries that abstained, including Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. More countries join in the following days.  

On 29 December 2022, the 37^th government of Israel is sworn in, deemed the most right-wing in the country’s history. The governing coalition comprises Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party, the far-right Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, and Noam parties, as well as the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ).  

Netanyahu summarizes the proposed guidelines of his government as follows: “The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel – in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan Heights, [and] Judea and Samaria [i.e., the occupied West Bank].” 

Prior to the inauguration of the new government, the Knesset legislates to the effect of allowing Aryeh Deri (Shas) to serve as minister despite a recent criminal conviction, granting extended powers over the police to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), and enabling Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) – since appointed Finance Minister – to also serve as Minister in the Defence Ministry alongside Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), with control over COGAT and the Civil Administration in the West Bank. These bodies oversee Palestinian planning and construction and regulate access and movement, amongst other issues.  

A series of legislative proposals draw criticism from domestic and international commentators across the political spectrum. Much of this criticism is directed at the so-called “override clause”, which would allow a simple parliamentary majority (61 out of 120) to override rulings of the Supreme Court in its capacity as High Court of Justice that particular pieces of primary legislation contravene Israel’s Basic Laws (higher-order, quasi-constitutional laws that in the absence of a formally codified constitution protect certain fundamental rights and values). It is feared that this effective neutering of judicial review and oversight over the legislative branch of government will further weaken the separation of powers and undermine the protection of minorities. Indeed, members of the governing coalition (for instance, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and Noam’s Avi Maoz) have on previous occasions issued statements and taken actions that convey strong antagonism towards liberal democratic values.  

Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) also presents a plan to abolish the so-called “reasonableness standard”, on the basis of which Israel’s Supreme Court sitting as High Court of Justice has reviewed decisions of the executive, and to reform the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee so as to leave politicians in the majority over judges. 

National Security Minister Ben-Gvir previously floated the idea of according immunity to members of the Israeli security forces for actions taken in the context of operations, raising concerns about a further entrenchment of impunity for excessive use of force.  

On 3 January 2023, in a move widely seen as provocative, Ben-Gvir visits the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, drawing international condemnation and comparisons to then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s visit in September 2000, which triggered the Second Intifada. A few days later, Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai instructs district commanders to implement a general prohibition against the public display of the Palestinian flag, having been briefed to do so by National Security Minister Ben-Gvir.

On 10 August, PA President Abbas issues a decree dismissing governors from 12 provinces in the West Bank and Gaza (the latter exercising only symbolic powers, Gaza being ruled by the Hamas-controlled de facto authorities since 2007). Although the President’s office reportedly announced that the governors had “retired”, they first found out about their dismissal in the media, according to Ha’aretz. It was also reported that Abbas set up a presidential committee to select new candidates for the vacant positions, requiring that nominees be presented to him for final approval.