Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Israel-Gaza war

Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 has opened a new chapter of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Having been allowed to fade into the background, thought of as simply too intractable and perhaps no longer that important, the conflict has re-emerged as one of the fundamental roots of instability in the Middle East.

As the Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza unfolds over the coming weeks, policymakers in the UK and around the world will have to re-engage with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The war itself will have unpredictable consequences, but it is already clear that it will reshape Israeli and Palestinian politics – and Israeli-Palestinian relations – for years to come.

At the same time, Hamas’ attack and the war that now follows has upended the regional trend towards de-escalation. It will test fragile political relationships – between Israel and the Arab Gulf states, for example, or between Saudi Arabia and Iran – and force all governments, both in the region and beyond, including in the UK, to grapple with questions about how to prevent a wider regional conflagration.