✦ History

Arab–Israeli conflict

May 15, 1948

The conflict between Israel and Arab states began with the 1948 war after Israel declared independence. It continued with wars in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982, and peace treaties with some states.

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Battles and events 27

1949
1949 Armistice Agreements Moshe Sharett
October 29 – November 7, 1956
Suez Crisis Port Said Anthony Eden, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Lester B. Pearson
November 1964 – May 1967
War over Water (Jordan River) Tensions contributing to the Six-Day War Jordan Valley Yitzhak Rabin, Levi Eshkol, Zalman Shazar
June 5–10, 1967
Six-Day War Israeli victory Sinai, Golan Heights and the West Bank Hafez al-Assad, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Abdul Rahman Arif
July 1, 1967 – August 7, 1970
War of Attrition Sinai Peninsula Gamal Abdel Nasser, Yasser Arafat, Anwar Sadat
September 6, 1970 – July 17, 1971
Black September Jordanian victory Jordan Yasser Arafat, Wasfi Tal, Zeid bin Shaker
May 8, 1972
Sabena Flight 571 Ben Gurion Airport Ehud Barak
July 21, 1973
Lillehammer affair Lillehammer
April 13, 1975 – October 13, 1990
Lebanese Civil War Beirut, Lebanon Hafez al-Assad, Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin
June 7, 1981
Operation Opera Baghdad
June 6, 1982 – May 17, 1985
1982 Lebanon War Inconclusive Lebanon Hafez al-Assad, Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin
February 16, 1985 – May 25, 2000
South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) Hezbollah-led victory Southern Lebanon Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon
October 1, 1985
Operation Wooden Leg Hammam Chott
January 17 – February 23, 1991
1991 Iraqi missile attacks against Israel Israel
October 30 – November 1, 1991
Madrid Conference of 1991 Royal Palace of Madrid James Baker, Isaac Shamir
July 25–31, 1993
Operation Accountability Ceasefire on civilian targets; much of Lebanese infrastructure destroyed Lebanon Ehud Barak, Yitzhak Rabin, Hasan Nasrallah
April 11–27, 1996
Operation Grapes of Wrath Ceasefire on civilian targets; much Lebanese infrastructure destroyed Lebanon Shimon Peres, Mustafa Tlass, Hasan Nasrallah
May 12 – June 1, 2004
2004 Israeli operation in Rafah Israeli withdrawal Gaza Strip
September 29 – October 16, 2004
2004 Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip Israeli victory Gaza Strip
July 12 – August 14, 2006
2006 Lebanon War Inconclusive Southern Lebanon Ehud Olmert, Ahmed Jibril, Imad Mughniyeh
September 6, 2007
Operation Outside the Box
November 11, 2012
Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents during the Syrian civil war Israel invades Syria after the fall of Assad Syria Ali Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi
September 17, 2018
Syria missile strikes (September 2018)
December 4, 2018
Operation Northern Shield
March 14, 2019
2019 Tel Aviv rocket strike
September 17–19, 2024
2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks Lebanon
August 28, 2025
August 2025 Israeli attack on Sanaa

Key commanders

Arab states 27

Gamal Abdel Nasser belligerent leader Abdul Rahman Arif belligerent leader Hussein I of Jordan belligerent leader Nureddin al-Atassi belligerent leader Abdel Hakim Amer belligerent leader Abdul Munim Riad military commander Yasser Arafat belligerent leader Anwar Sadat military commander Ahmad Ismail Ali belligerent leader Saad el-Shazly military commander Andrei Grechko military commander Hafez al-Assad belligerent leader Mustafa Tlass belligerent leader Hikmat al-Shihabi belligerent leader Walid Jumblatt belligerent leader Saad Sayel military commander Mohamed Naguib military commander Farouk of Egypt military commander Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi military commander Ali Khamenei military commander Hassan Rouhani military commander Ebrahim Raisi military commander Bashar al-Assad military commander Ahmed al-Sharaa military commander Hasan Nasrallah military commander Charles Helou military commander Amin al-Hafiz military commander

Israel 20

Yitzhak Rabin belligerent leader Levi Eshkol belligerent leader Moshe Dayan belligerent leader David Elazar military commander Uzi Narkiss military commander Ehud Barak belligerent leader Shimon Peres belligerent leader Ariel Sharon belligerent leader Antoine Lahad military commander Ehud Olmert belligerent leader Dan Halutz military commander Yigal Allon belligerent leader Mordechai Hod belligerent leader David Ben-Gurion belligerent leader Yigael Yadin military commander Jacob Dori military commander Naftali Bennett military commander Benjamin Netanyahu military commander Yair Lapid belligerent leader Zalman Shazar belligerent leader

Syria and allies 3

Hafez al-Assad belligerent leader Mustafa Tlass belligerent leader Hikmat al-Shihabi military commander

Al-Mourabitoun and allies 5

Yasser Arafat Kamal Jumblatt belligerent leader Walid Jumblatt belligerent leader Assem Qanso military commander Monte Melkonian military commander

Kataeb Party and allies 9

Menachem Begin belligerent leader Ariel Sharon belligerent leader Amine Gemayel belligerent leader Bachir Gemayel belligerent leader William Hawi belligerent leader Avigdor Ben-Gal military commander Antoine Lahad military commander Raphael Eitan military commander David Ivry military commander

United States and allies 3

Michel Aoun belligerent leader Emmanuel Erskine belligerent leader William O'Callaghan military commander

United Kingdom 2

Anthony Eden prime minister who ordered the intervention Lester B. Pearson proposed the UN Emergency Force

Egypt 1

Gamal Abdel Nasser Egyptian president who nationalized the Suez Canal

Hezbollah 4

Ahmed Jibril belligerent leader Hasan Nasrallah military commander Mustafa Tlass military commander Imad Mughniyeh belligerent leader

Palestine Liberation Organization 4

Yasser Arafat belligerent leader Salah Jadid belligerent leader Khalil al-Wazir belligerent leader Abu Ali Iyad military commander

Jordan 4

Wasfi Tal belligerent leader Zeid bin Shaker belligerent leader Hussein I of Jordan belligerent leader Habis al-Majali belligerent leader

Other 3

Moshe Sharett foreign minister, principal negotiator James Baker organiser as U.S. secretary of state Isaac Shamir Israeli prime minister