Abstract

This article analyses the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1948 to 1972, combining political, military and humanitarian perspectives to trace its roots in the world wars, imperial collapse and the Holocaust. Drawing on primary and secondary sources, the study examines how competing national, religious and ethnic narratives generated cycles of violence, intermittent calm and repeated reliance on force over compromise. It assesses the humanitarian consequences, the role of external interventions – notably Cold War superpower involvement – and the obstacles these dynamics posed to durable peace. The research argues that developments in this period decisively shaped modern Middle Eastern geopolitics and continue to inform global debates on security, intervention and reconciliation.