The early history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be traced back to the late 19th century, with the immigration of Jews to Palestine, which, back then, had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire. The influx of Jewish immigrants seeking to establish their promised homeland subsequently led to political tensions with the indigenous Arab population. In 1897, the first Zionist Congress was held in the Swiss city of Basel, leading to the adoption of the ‘Basel Program’, which set the Zionist movement's goal as the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people.
In the early 20th century, the Zionist movement gained momentum when the British government issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, expressing support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Following the increasing tensions between the Arab and Jewish populations, mutual attacks and acts of retaliation were carried out, including the 1920 Nebi Musa riots. In 1936, the Arab Higher Committee, led by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini launched a general strike on Jewish businesses, which set staged the subsequent Arab revolt from 1936 to 1939. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the proposed Partition Plan, which laid the foundation for the Nakba and the first Arab-Israeli War in May 1948.
