Lesson 1Ongoing shifts since 2010s: settlement expansion, diplomatic realignments, and recent major incidentsLooks at changes since the 2010s, including growth in settlements, Gaza wars, regional normalisation, splits within Palestinians, and changing US and global diplomacy, leading to big escalations and shifting conflict stories.
Settlement legalisation and de facto annexationGaza wars and evolving military doctrinesArab normalisation and the Abraham AccordsIntra-Palestinian political fragmentationUS policy shifts across administrationsGlobal public opinion and legal initiativesLesson 2Suez Crisis and 1950s regional dynamics: Arab states and Israeli securityAnalyses the 1956 Suez Crisis, secret plans between Israel, Britain, and France, and responses from US and Soviet, showing how it shaped Israeli defence, Arab nationalism, UN peacekeeping, and Cold War sides in the region.
Egyptian nationalism and canal nationalisationTripartite collusion and invasion plansIsraeli campaign in Sinai PeninsulaUS and Soviet diplomatic interventionUNEF deployment and Israeli withdrawalImpact on Nasserism and Arab–Israeli rivalryLesson 3Gaza developments since 2005 and periodic escalations: blockade, governance, and conflictFocuses on Gaza after Israel’s 2005 withdrawal, Hamas’s takeover, the blockade system, and repeated wars, assessing humanitarian situations, governance problems, regional mediation, and how Gaza affects wider conflict patterns.
Israeli disengagement and settlement removalHamas electoral victory and takeover of GazaBlockade policies and border controlsRocket fire, airstrikes, and ground incursionsHumanitarian crisis and reconstruction cyclesEgyptian, Qatari, and UN mediation effortsLesson 41967 Six-Day War and its consequences: territories, occupation, and settlementsExplores the 1967 Six-Day War, quick Israeli wins, and capture of the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and Golan, tracing how occupation, UN Resolution 242, and early settlement projects changed the conflict’s map and politics.
Regional tensions and pre-war military movesCourse of the war on multiple frontsTerritorial gains and new ceasefire linesUN Resolution 242 and land-for-peace ideaMilitary rule in occupied territoriesOrigins of ideological settlement movementsLesson 5UN Partition Plan and 1947–49 war: outcome, refugees, and state formationCovers the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the civil war in Mandatory Palestine, the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, and armistice lines, explaining state creation, refugee movements, and how competing stories of victory and disaster emerged.
UNSCOP proposals and partition map detailsYishuv and Arab leadership responsesCivil war phase in late Mandate periodArab state intervention and major battlesArmistice agreements and Green Line bordersPalestinian refugee crisis and Nakba memoryLesson 6British Mandate period and intercommunal tensions (1918–1947)Explores the British Mandate in Palestine, legal systems, immigration policies, and land disputes, tracing how violence between communities, British divide-and-rule methods, and failed partition ideas set up later war.
League of Nations Mandate and British objectivesBalfour Declaration and legal incorporationJewish immigration waves and land purchasesArab protests, strikes, and rural revoltsBritish policing and emergency regulationsPeel Commission and partition proposalsLesson 7Zionist congresses and early settlement (1897–1918): aims and international receptionExamines early Zionist politics from the First Zionist Congress through World War I, focusing on idea debates, settlement plans, talks with big powers, and how local Arab society saw and reacted to these changes.
Herzl, Basel Program, and Zionist institutionsPolitical versus practical Zionism debatesEarly agricultural colonies and land fundsRelations with Ottoman authorities and elitesArab press reactions and local oppositionWorld War I diplomacy and the Balfour pledgeLesson 81978–79 Camp David and Egypt–Israel peace: diplomacy and regional impactExplores the Camp David Accords, Egypt’s separate peace with Israel, and US mediation, assessing how the treaty changed regional alliances, Palestinian talks, military balances, and the Arab world’s way of dealing with Israel.
Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem and diplomatic openingCamp David negotiations and US mediationTerms of the Egypt–Israel peace treatySinai withdrawal and security arrangementsRegional Arab reaction and Egypt’s isolationImpact on Palestinian representation and strategyLesson 9First and Second Intifadas: popular uprising, tactics, and political effects (1987–1993; 2000–2005)Traces the First and Second Intifadas, comparing grassroots actions, methods, and leaders, and examining how each uprising changed Israeli and Palestinian politics, security ways, and international involvement in the conflict.
Origins and organisation of the First IntifadaPopular committees, strikes, and boycottsOslo process emerging from the First IntifadaTrigger events of the Second IntifadaSuicide bombings and Israeli military responsePolitical fallout for Israeli and Palestinian leadersLesson 10Oslo process and its limits: agreements, institutions, and failuresAnalyses the Oslo framework, its step-by-step approach, and new institutions, highlighting main agreements, security coordination, settlement trends, and why the process stopped, leaving key final issues unsolved.
Oslo I, Oslo II, and Declaration of PrinciplesCreation and powers of the Palestinian AuthoritySecurity coordination and policing arrangementsSettlement expansion during the Oslo yearsAssassinations, bombings, and mutual distrustCamp David 2000 and collapse of final talks
