Top: The flags of Israel and the Palestine Above: The separation wall in Bethlehem. Photo: Christian Aid/Simon Townsley

News of fresh violence from either Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories* comes in daily - but what are the core issues? News in Links briefly recaps the history and origins of the conflict. By Andrew Chapman

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Note: *The Occupied Palestinian Territories include the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem - territories that Israel occupied in the 1967 war (see below) and refused to return after hostilities ended.

Israel has scaled down its biggest invasion of the northern Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising four years ago.

The conflict over land between the Mediterranean and the River Jordan is an ancient one, and definitions are difficult.

The definition of 'Palestine' has varied greatly over the last two millennia, from the Roman province of Syria-Palestine to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 and the proposed state of Palestine, which includes land currently occupied by Israel, particularly the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The name derives from the ancient enemies of the Hebrews, the Philistines. The area became predominantly populated by Arabs from the 7th century. Israel itself was only established in modern times as a nation state in 1948, in the wake of British and French control of the regions that had been part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Israel is regarded as the spiritual home of the Jews, who were expelled by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. From the late 19th century, the Zionist movement campaigned for the return of the Jews to this area and the creation of a defined national homeland where the ancient Kingdom of Israel had been.

Maps

A series of maps on the BBC website shows how the ownership of this region has changed:after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the area was controlled by Britain and France.

From the 1920s to 1948, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan formed 'Mandate Palestine' and Transjordan.

Palestine was partitioned on paper in 1947, with areas defined for Arab and Jewish communities and Jerusalem to be international, but when Britain withdrew in 1948, war broke out - the West Bank and Gaza were defined by an armistice line.

From 1948-1967, the West Bank was ruled by Jordan, and the Gaza Strip by Egypt

In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Palestinian territories, as well as the Golan Heights (part of Syria) and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1979.

The Gaza Strip is currently home to an estimated 1.2 million Palestinians, and around 5,000 Jewish settlers.

The West Bank is home to around 2.2 million Palestinians and 400,000 Israeli settlers.

Population

Israel itself has a population of 6.7 million, of whom around 1.3 million are Israeli Arabs. In 2002, Israel reoccupied most of the West Bank, after a series of Palestinian suicide attacks.

In 2003, the 'quartet' of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States published the 'roadmap', a proposal for peaceful Middle East settlement.

The BBC presents constantly updated news from the area.

Many Israeli and Palestinian political resources are available online.

Christian Aid has a dedicated spotlight on the Middle East with further news and information on the region and its conflicts.