How Israel and Palestine Became What They Are Today

The history of Israel and Palestine, explained from the very beginning: how a small strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan became the place in the news almost every day. From the first written mention of Israel, on an Egyptian stone around 1200 BC, to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem today. 3,000 years in one film: ancient Israel and Judah, Babylon and Persia, Rome and the name Palestine, the Byzantine and Islamic centuries, the Crusades and the Ottoman Empire, Zionism and Palestinian Arab nationalism, the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate, the Holocaust and the UN partition plan, the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and the Nakba, the Six-Day War, the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, the intifadas and the Oslo Accords, Gaza and the West Bank. The roots of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, told from both sides. By the end you will know where every line on today’s map came from, and which of them are actually agreed borders. Chapters 0:00 From a tiny land to today’s headlines 1:18 Israel and Judah: the first kingdoms and the exiles 3:41 Empires, faiths and the name Palestine 10:29 Two national movements (1881–1914) 13:08 Three promises and the British Mandate 18:28 The Holocaust and the UN partition plan 20:41 1948: Independence and the Nakba 25:46 Six days in 1967 29:56 Intifadas, Oslo and half a peace 34:34 Reading today’s map History Unfolded shows how the world became what it is. Subscribe for the next episode. About this video Maps are simplified and historical borders are approximate. Where historians disagree, or numbers are uncertain, we say so and name the positions. Spotted an error? Tell us in the comments and we’ll correct it. Archival photographs, documents, maps and objects are real and credited below. The narration voice and the illustrated reconstructions were made with AI tools; research, script, maps and fact-checking were done by the History Unfolded team. Image credits (via Wikimedia Commons; cropped and reframed, captions added) Merneptah Stele, c. 1208 BC: Webscribe, CC BY-SA 3.0 The name “Israel”, outlined in red by the photographer: Darer101, CC BY-SA 4.0 Tel Dan Stele, 9th century BC: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 Assyrian relief of deportees from Lachish, Judah, 701 BC: Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0 Cyrus Cylinder, 539 BC: Prioryman, CC BY-SA 3.0 Herod’s Temple, modern scale reconstruction: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0 “Judaea Capta” coin of Vespasian, 71 AD: CNG, CC BY-SA 3.0 Coin of the Bar Kokhba revolt, 132–135 AD: “For the freedom of Jerusalem”: IsraelXKV8R, CC BY-SA 3.0 The same platform today: Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa: Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0 Ben-Gurion declares the State of Israel, Tel Aviv, 14 May 1948: Rudi Weissenstein, CC BY-SA 3.0 Crowds outside the declaration, Tel Aviv, 14 May 1948: Hans Pinn, CC BY-SA 3.0 Palmach fighters, December 1948: Micha Perry, CC BY-SA 3.0 Palestinian refugees leave Gaza by fishing boat, 1948: Hrant Nakashian, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Ramle, 12 July 1948: residents with raised hands before Israeli troops: Benno Rothenberg, CC BY 4.0 Mandelbaum Gate, the crossing between the two halves of Jerusalem, 1955: Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 Khan Younis refugee camp, Gaza, 1948: UNRWA Archive Photographer Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Israeli troops enter Rafah, 5 June 1967: David Rubinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 Palestinian refugees cross the wrecked Allenby Bridge into Jordan, June 1967: UNRWA Archive Photographer Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO Gaza Strip, 21 December 1987: Efi Sharir, CC BY 4.0 Rabin, Clinton, King Hussein and President Weizman at the Arava crossing, 26 October 1994: Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 Candles where Rabin was killed, Tel Aviv, 8 November 1995: Israel Press and Photo Agency (I.P.P.A.) photographer, CC BY 4.0 The West Bank barrier, 2004: Justin McIntosh, CC BY 2.0 Settlers evacuated from Neve Dekalim, Gaza, 15 August 2005: Israel Defense Forces, CC BY-SA 2.0 Fishermen at Gaza port, 2019: Trócaire, CC BY 2.0 Kibbutz Be’eri, four days after the attack, 11 October 2023: Kobi Gideon, CC BY-SA 3.0 Rimal, Gaza City, the day after an Israeli airstrike, 10 October 2023: WAFA / APAimages, CC BY-SA 3.0 Licence texts: creativecommons.org/licenses/ + by-sa/2.0, by-sa/3.0, by-sa/4.0, by-sa/3.0/igo, by/2.0, by/4.0 Public domain: Library of Congress (Matson Collection, Bain, Underwood, U.S. News & World Report), British Library, UK National Archives, Israel Government Press Office / National Photo Collection, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, White House, Corpus Christi College Cambridge, Château de Versailles, J. Paul Getty Museum, Filastin archive, PikiWiki Israel. Madaba Map photo: Yong Woo Park (CC0). Full source links in the pinned comment. #History #Israel #Palestine #jews #muslim #jewish