Key Milestones

Al-Buraq Uprising

Wailing Wall Uprising

In August 1929 Palestinians rose in protest against attempts to take control of the Buraq Wall adjoining Al-Aqsa Mosque. Clashes erupted in Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed; the British Mandate responded with disproportionate force, leaving over 116 Palestinians martyred. Three of the uprising's leaders — Mohammad Jamjoum, Fouad Hijazi and Ata al-Zir — were later executed by the British and are commemorated in Palestinian collective memory.

The Great Palestinian Revolt

The Six-Month Strike Revolt

The Great Palestinian Revolt began in April 1936 with a six-month general strike, then evolved into armed resistance lasting until 1939. Targeting both the British Mandate and the Zionist project, it was crushed with extreme violence — emergency law, village demolitions and mass executions. Holy Jihad commander Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Mohammad fell martyr, and Britain decimated nearly 10% of Palestine's male fighters, severely weakening the country militarily on the eve of the Nakba.

The Ethnic Cleansing Phase in Palestine

The Nakba

Israeli massacres against Palestinians began roughly 11 years before the proclamation of the State of Israel, while Palestine was still under the British Mandate — which bore responsibility for protecting the lives of Palestinian civilians. During this period, the Zionist gangs of the Irgun, Lehi, the Haganah, the Palmach division and the Stern Gang carried out more than 57 massacres, claiming the lives of over 5,000 Palestinians and wounding thousands more.

Deir Yassin Massacre

At dawn on 9 April 1948 the Irgun and Stern gangs stormed the village of Deir Yassin west of Jerusalem and carried out a brutal massacre against its inhabitants — field executions, mutilation of bodies and forced displacement. Zionist gangs deliberately broadcast news of the massacre to terrify Palestinians into fleeing, making it a primary trigger for the Nakba and the displacement wave that followed.

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War

The Nakba War

The first of the Arab wars with Israel, fought in the wake of the end of the British Mandate over Palestine and the proclamation of the establishment of Israel in mid-May 1948. Thousands of Palestinian and Arab-army martyrs fell during the war, which ended in defeat for the Arab side.

Individual Returns of Palestinian Refugees

In the years following the Palestinian Nakba and the displacement of Palestinians from their lands and homes, many Palestinians attempted border crossings to return to Palestine — crossings the occupation authorities deemed illegal. Between 30,000 and 90,000 Palestinian refugees tried to recover the property they had been forced to leave behind during the Nakba and to harvest crops from their former fields and orchards. The occupation government chose to confront these returns with brutality, committing many massacres in which thousands of Palestinians were martyred.

The Occupation of Gaza 1956

During the Tripartite Aggression

During the "Tripartite Aggression" against Egypt following the nationalization of the Suez Canal, the occupation army marched into the Gaza Strip from Rafah. The Strip — then under Egyptian administration and home to 240,000 inhabitants (70% of them refugees) — became the site of brutal massacres by the occupation, most notably the Khan Younis and Rafah massacres, in addition to street executions across the Strip in the period leading up to the occupation's withdrawal in 1957. Hundreds of martyrs fell.

Kafr Qasim Massacre

On the evening of 29 October 1956, on the eve of the Tripartite Aggression, occupation forces imposed a sudden curfew on the Arab village of Kafr Qasim inside the Green Line without informing residents returning from their fields. A Border Police unit executed 49 Palestinians at the village entrance — women and children among them. Commemorated annually, it remains an open wound in the conscience of Palestinians of '48.

The June 1967 War

The Naksa

The term "Naksa" refers to the defeat suffered by the Arab armies at the hands of Israel. The war began on 5 June 1967 at 8 a.m. with Israeli airstrikes on Egyptian airfields, followed by strikes that destroyed more than 80% of Egypt's arsenal. Concurrently, Israeli forces concentrated on the northern axis of Jerusalem, and the city fell on 7 June 1967 after the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade withdrew to the East Bank. The remaining West Bank cities were captured the same day. The war's gravest consequences were territorial: Israel occupied all of Mandate Palestine plus parts of Syria and…

The Beginnings of Armed Struggle

Concurrent with the War of Attrition

Following the 1967 defeat, Fatah declared the launch of armed operations in the West Bank — its "Second Launch" — following its "First Launch" on 1 January 1965, when one of its covert units carried out the first military operation against an Israeli target. The Israeli government responded with a sweeping security campaign: the army imposed curfews across many areas, divided occupied Palestinian territory into security grids and combed them systematically to expose every hideout and crossing. By the end of 1967 the campaign had martyred and detained hundreds of fedayeen and supporters and…

The Battle of Karameh

On 21 March 1968 occupation forces attempted to invade the East Bank of the Jordan River from several axes. The Jordanian Army, alongside Palestinian fedayeen and the residents of Karameh village and its surroundings, confronted them in a battle that lasted more than 16 hours and forced a complete Israeli withdrawal from the battlefield. Casualties: 156 Palestinian martyrs and 86 from the Jordanian side; 70 Israelis killed.

Land Day

On 30 March 1976, Palestinians inside the Green Line called a general strike and held mass protests across the Galilee and the Triangle in rejection of the occupation government's decision to confiscate thousands of dunams of village land. Occupation forces opened fire on demonstrators, martyring six Palestinians: Khair Yassin, Raja Abu Reya, Khader Khalayleh, Khadija Shawahneh, Ra'fat Zuheiri, and Mohsen Saad Taha. The day became a unifying Palestinian national commemoration.

Tel al-Zaatar Massacre

The Siege of Tel al-Zaatar

Tel al-Zaatar camp east of Beirut was home to roughly 30,000 Palestinian refugees, besieged for 53 days in 1976 by Lebanese militias allied with the occupation regime during the Lebanese Civil War. The camp fell on 12 August after heavy bombardment, and a massacre was committed against its inhabitants during the evacuation — thousands of martyrs among men, women and children — and the camp was levelled.

The 1982 Lebanon War

On 6 June 1982, Israel used the attempted assassination of its ambassador in London by a Palestinian splinter group opposed to the PLO as a pretext to invade Lebanon. The Israelis quickly reached West Beirut, the headquarters of the PLO, encircled it, and besieged it for the entire summer. Israeli aircraft, tanks, artillery and ships subjected the city to a devastating bombardment of nearly twelve weeks, attempting to force the PLO's surrender. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the besieged PLO leadership eventually agreed to evacuate Lebanon under a US-brokered agreement that took effect on 19…

The Sabra and Shatila Massacre

After the departure of Palestinian fighters from Lebanon, Israel's ally Bashir Gemayel was elected President of Lebanon — but was assassinated on 14 September, only days after the multinational force had withdrawn. The next day the Israeli army occupied West Beirut: with the Palestinian fighters gone there was no armed force left to prevent it. Israel then permitted the "Lebanese Forces" militia, which held Palestinians responsible for Gemayel's assassination, to enter the Shatila refugee camp and the Sabra neighbourhood on 16 September and commit a massacre against unarmed Palestinian…

The First Palestinian Intifada

The Stones Intifada

A popular Palestinian uprising that began on 7 December 1987, sparked by the martyrdom of four Palestinian workers from Jabaliya at the Beit Hanoun military checkpoint in Gaza. The Intifada was a spontaneous protest against the harsh general conditions of the camps, the spread of unemployment, and the daily repression of the occupation forces. It became known as the "Stones Intifada" because the resistance's primary tools were stones — used in attack and defence. The uprising began in the Gaza Strip and spread across all the Palestinian territories. Its most visible features were stones…

Al-Aqsa Massacre

Haram al-Sharif Massacre

On 8 October 1990, occupation forces stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and opened fire on worshippers and on the crowds confronting an attempt by the "Temple Mount Faithful" group to break into the sanctuary. Twenty-one martyrs fell and around 150 were wounded inside the courtyards — among the deadliest massacres in Al-Aqsa's history.

Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre

At dawn on Friday 25 February 1994, during Ramadan, settler Baruch Goldstein stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron during dawn prayer and sprayed worshippers in prostration with bullets, martyring 29 Palestinians and wounding over 125 others. The occupation responded by closing the mosque and dividing it between Muslims and settlers — rather than dismantling the settler presence that enabled the crime.

The Second Palestinian Intifada

The Al-Aqsa Intifada

The spark of the Second Palestinian Intifada was Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon's storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards on 28 September 2000, under the protection of around 2,000 soldiers and special forces — and with the approval of then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Clashes broke out between worshippers and occupation forces. Sharon walked through the mosque's courtyards declaring that the "Temple Mount" would remain Israeli territory, provoking the Palestinians. Confrontations between worshippers and Israeli soldiers ensued: 7 Palestinians martyred and 250 wounded. Soon Jerusalem…

The Jenin Camp Invasion

Operation Defensive Shield

In April 2002 the occupation launched Operation Defensive Shield and reinvaded every city of the West Bank to crush the Second Intifada. The Battle of Jenin was the centerpiece: the camp was besieged for 12 days as fighters armed only with light weapons confronted tanks and aircraft. The Hawashin neighbourhood was levelled entirely; dozens of fighters and civilians were martyred. Human rights organisations documented crimes of live burials, killing of the wounded, and denial of ambulance access.

Operation Cast Lead

The Battle of al-Furqan

On 27 December 2008, Israel launched a war on the Gaza Strip that it called "Operation Cast Lead"; the Palestinian Resistance in the Strip responded with what it named the "Battle of al-Furqan". The Israeli aggression lasted 23 days, ending on 18 January 2009. The occupation used internationally banned weapons including white phosphorus and depleted uranium and dropped over 1,000 tonnes of explosives. The war martyred more than 1,430 Palestinians — including over 400 children, 240 women and 134 police officers — in addition to over 5,400 wounded. More than 10,000 homes were partially or…

Pillar of Cloud

Stones of Baked Clay

Israel called it "Pillar of Cloud"; the Palestinian Resistance responded with the "Stones of Sijjil" battle. The war began on 14 November 2012 and lasted 8 days. It opened with Israel's assassination of Ahmed Jabari, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — Hamas's military wing. About 180 Palestinians were martyred, including 42 children and 11 women, with about 1,300 wounded. 20 Israelis were killed and 625 wounded.

2014 — Solid Cliff

Devoured Stubble

On 7 July 2014, Israel launched an operation it named "Solid Cliff"; the Resistance responded with the "Devoured Stubble" battle. The confrontation lasted 51 days, during which the occupation army flew more than 60,000 sorties over the Strip. The war began after Israel killed 6 Hamas members it claimed were behind the kidnapping and killing of 3 settlers in the occupied West Bank — Hamas denied involvement. Another immediate trigger was settlers' kidnap, torture and burning to death of the Palestinian boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir. The war martyred 2,322 Palestinians and wounded 11,000; Israel…

The Jerusalem Uprising

The Individuals' Intifada

The Jerusalem Uprising began in October 2015 after repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to Judaize it. Palestinians — mostly youth — carried out individual stabbing, ramming and shooting operations against occupation soldiers and settlers, alongside daily confrontations at flashpoints. Branded the "Knife Intifada" by media, it lasted 15 months and martyred over 250 Palestinians, the majority young.

The Great March of Return

The Great March of Return launched on 30 March 2018, the anniversary of Land Day, as Gazans organised weekly mass marches along the border fence demanding the right of return and an end to the siege. The occupation met the peaceful protests with snipers targeting chests and limbs — over 223 Palestinians were martyred, including 47 children, and roughly 36,000 wounded across 21 months, many with permanent disabilities from the deliberate targeting of lower limbs.

Guardian of the Walls

Sword of Jerusalem

The "Sword of Jerusalem" battle, which Israel named "Guardian of the Walls", erupted after settlers seized the homes of Jerusalemites in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and following Israeli forces' storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinian Resistance fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli towns and cities — some travelling more than 250 kilometres, some targeting Ramon Airport. The war martyred about 250 Palestinians and wounded over 5,000; Israel also bombed several residential towers. The occupation acknowledged 12 Israeli deaths and about 330 wounded, per Israeli sources.

Breaking Dawn

Unity of Arenas

On Friday, 5 August 2022, Israel assassinated the northern-region commander of the Saraya al-Quds (the military wing of Islamic Jihad) in Gaza by a drone strike inside an apartment in "Palestine Tower" in the Rimal neighbourhood. The assassination came amid Egyptian efforts to prevent escalation following Israel's earlier arrest of senior Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, the war martyred about 50 people — 15 children and 4 women among them — and wounded 360, since the start of the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Al-Aqsa Flood

The War of Genocide

On 7 October 2023 the Palestinian Resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, breaching the perimeter fence around the Gaza Strip. The occupation responded with a year-plus genocidal war on Gaza: systematic bombing of homes, hospitals and schools; deliberate starvation; and forced displacement of more than two million Palestinians. The documented death toll exceeded 60,000 — the majority women and children — while a Lancet study estimated the true figure near 186,000. The International Court of Justice issued its January 2024 genocide ruling, and the International Criminal Court issued…