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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a part of the greater Arab-Israeli conflict, is an ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Today the conflict is mainly over these issues:

The future of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem
The question of creating a Palestinian state
The fate of the Palestinian refugees.
The refugee issue arose as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The issue of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem arose as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967.

Historian Bernard Wasserstein breaks down these main conflicts into four fundamental ones:

Borders
Settlements
Refugees
East Jerusalem

History
The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the account of events of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict beginning in the 1880s and continuing to present day.

The Peace process
See Oslo Accords

In 1991, just after the First Gulf War, a breakthrough occurred when US president George H.W. Bush called a conference in Madrid, Spain, dubbed the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. It broke down but was replaced by a series of clandestine meetings between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators hosted by Norway. These meetings produced the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Palestinians and Israel, signed by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with US President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn. Rabin, Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres were awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.

American views of the peace process
There are many divergent views on the peace process held by U.S. officials, citizens, and lobbying groups. America's views are considered extremely important in the conflict, as the United States is politically and militarily influencial in the region. The U.S. gives financial support to Israel and began giving aid to the Palestinian Authority (although much less) in 2003.

The following quotes were made by U.S. government officials in regards to the conflict.

"The United States will always stand with Israel, always remember that only a strong Israel can make peace." President Bill Clinton, 13 December 1998.
"Israel is entitled to the land they have. . . it should not be a part of the peace process." -- Senator James Inhofe, February 2002
"Israel has got responsibilities. Israel must deal with the settlements. Israel must make sure there is a contiguous territory that the Palestinians can call home." -- President George W. Bush, June 3, 2003.
"Palestinian leaders must bring an end to the violence against Israelis, and find a way, with the help of others, to rein in militant groups. Israel must be prepared to meet its obligations, as outlined in the Bush administration's road map, and in the Mitchell plan, with respect to settlements." -- Senator and Presidential candidate John Kerry, October 17, 2003.
"My friends, there is no Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There is only the global war on terrorism." -- Senate Majority Leader Tom DeLay, August 30, 2004
All recent U.S. Presidents have maintained a policy that Israel must give up some of the land that it has taken in order to acheive peace, that the Palestinians must actively prevent terrorism, that Israel has an unconditional right to exist, and that the Palestinians should eventually have their own democratic state.

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Camp David 2000 Summit
See Camp David 2000 Summit

After the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, the peace process slowed to a grinding halt. The Palestinians living in the occupied territories did not see their living conditions improve. Additionally the Israeli settlements, seen by the Palestinians as one of the largest obstacles to peace, were not beginning to be dismantled. Instead their population almost doubled in the West Bank later sporadic suicide bombing attacks from Palestinian militant groups and the subsequent retaliatory actions from the Israelis made the situation untenable.

In 2000, Clinton convened a peace summit between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. It is often claimed Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians approximately 95% of the disputed territories, as well as Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem, Unfortunately this is not actually true, Barak proposed that 69 Jewish settlements (which comprise 85% of the west banks Jewish settlers) be ceded to israel, this amounted to 10% of the west bank territory, Barak also proposed "temporary israeli control" indefinately over another 10% of the west bank territory, this area includes many other jewish settlements. The remaining 80% of the proposed palestinian west bank would be broken up by Israeli bypass roads and checkpoints, this would make it difficult for palestinians to travel freely throughout their proposed nation and reduce the ability to absorb palestinian refugees, Arafat rejected this offer and the talks broke down despite President Clintons efforts.

Later at The Taba agreements in January 2001, the Israeli negotiation team presented a new map. The proposition removed the "temporary Israeli controlled" areas, and the Palestinian side accepted this as a basis for further negotiation. Unfortunately Ehud Barak was in no position to present this to the Israeli public given his poor support and onset of communal violence in the west bank, he did not make any counter offers. The talks ended without any agreement and Right Wing Likud party candidate Ariel Sharon was elected as Israeli prime minister in February 2001.

On September 28, 2000 the Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon made a visit to the holy site, the Temple Mount (also called Haram Ash-Sharif), one of the most contested religious sites in the world. This site holds religious significance for Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Sharon's trip caused outrage throughout much of the Palestinian community as it was seen by many as an act of intentional provocation. Though the motivations on both sides are much disputed, what followed is known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

According to the Middle East Policy Council, as of May 18, 2004, over 3867 people have been killed as a result of the conflict since September 29, 2000. 892 Israelis (non-combatant civilians and IDF troops) have been killed by Palestinian militants or suicide bombers, and 2975 Palestinian civilians (all Palestinians except suicide bombers and Israeli assassination targets) have been killed by Israeli military forces or Israeli civilians.

Many Israelis claim that it is Arafat who is responsible for violence on the part of Palestinians. Arafat continues to dispute this claim, and has on a number of occasions publicly condemned Palestinian suicide bombings.

Beirut Summit
The Beirut Summit was a March 2002 a summit meeting held to present plans to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jordan's foreign minister said:

The Arab initiative put forth at the Beirut Summit in March offers comprehensive peace in the region based on the internationally recognized formulation of "land for peace" -- a return to June 4, 1967, borders in exchange for normal relations and a collective peace treaty.

"Road Map" for Peace
See Road map for peace

In July 2002, the "quartet" of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia outlined the principles of a "road map" for peace, including an independent Palestinian state. The road map was released in April 2003 after the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as the first-ever Palestinian Authority Prime Minister. Both the US and Israel called for a new Prime Minister position, as both refused to work with Arafat.

The plan called for independent actions by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with disputed issues put off until a rapport can be established.

In the first step, the Palestinian authority must "undertake visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt, and restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks on Israelis anywhere" and a "rebuilt and refocused Palestinian Authority security apparatus" must "begin sustained, targeted, and effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure".
Israel was required to dismantle settlements established after March 2001, freeze all settlement activity, remove its army from Palestinian areas occupied after September 28, 2000, end curfews and ease restrictions on movement of persons and goods

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After gaining office, Abbas stated that he could not act against Hamas without causing a civil war. It also became clear that Abbas only had control of a fraction of the Palestinian security apparatus, with the bulk remaining under Arafat's control. On June 29, 2003, Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to a 3-month "hudna" (temporary ceasefire), conditional on Israel ceasing its assassinations of Palestinian leaders and a mass release of Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention. Israel promised to withdraw some forces from Palestinian areas but would not promise to discontinue its practice of assassinations.

For about 6 weeks there was a substantial decrease in violence, with exceptions on both sides. After that the hudna unravelled rapidly. On August 12, Israel killed two Hamas militants and two others in Nablus. The next day a Hamas bomber and an Islamic Jihad bomber from Nablus each killed one Israeli and injured several. On August 14, Israel assassinated Muhammad Seeder, the Islamic Jihad chief of military operations in Hebron. On August 19 a Hamas suicide bomber killed 34 religious Jews who were returning by bus from prayer at the Wailing Wall. Two days later Israeli helicopters killed the 4th ranking leader of Hamas, Ismail Abu Shanab. Hamas and Islamic Jihad renounced the hudna at this stage, though it was clearly already dead. Over the following days, Israel continued helicopter missile strikes against Hamas heads in the Gaza strip. Israeli commandos also targeted Hamas heads in Hebron (Abbedalla Quwassama, Ahmed Bader) and Nablus (Mohammed Hanabli). Many of these actions resulted in casualties among (innocent) bystanders.

Armed Fatah activists publicly threatened Abbas's life. Abbas was not given any power from Arafat to carry out any of the aspects of the road map to peace, and Abbas eventually resigned due to lack of political support both from the Palestinian Authority and the public in general. In his resignation speech, Abbas sited the lack of support both from Arafat and Israel as the cause of his failure.

Alternative peace proposals
With the road map in difficulties, pressure has grown to find an alternative way forward. On December 7, 2003, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed a unilateral withdrawal from large parts of the West Bank and Gaza strip, abandoning some Jewish settlements while annexing some territory. This was interpreted by many as a trial balloon on behalf of Ariel Sharon, who followed it up with a speech on December 18 giving the Palestinian Authority "a few months" to comply with the road map before Israel took "unilateral steps". The speech was strongly criticised by the United States government, which warned against pre-empting the road map's outcome, and by many on the Israeli right, who cite security concerns and the need for achieving reciprocal concessions in return for the withdrawal.

Another approach was taken by a team of negotiators led by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo following two and a half years of secret negotiations. On December 1, the two parties signed an unofficial blueprint for peace in Geneva (dubbed the Geneva Accord) which set out a basic framework for the resolution of the conflict. In terms of its end goals, it was not too dissimilar from those of the road map, but it adopted a "big bang" approach of settling all the big issues at once rather than taking a step-by-step approach. It was met with bitter denunciation by the Israeli government and many Palestinians, with the Palestinian Authority staying non-committal, but it was warmly welcomed by many European governments and some significant elements of the Bush Administration including Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Yet another approach was proposed by a number of parties inside and outside Israel: a "binational solution" whereby Israel would formally annex the Palestinian territories but would make the Palestinian Arabs citizens in a unitary secular state. Championed by New York Professor Tony Judt, the suggestion aroused both interest and condemnation. It was not actually a new idea, dating back as far as the 1920s, but it was given extra prominence by the growing demographic issues raised by a rapidly expanding Arab population in Israel and the territories. Somewhat surprisingly, some Israeli settler groups supported it, seeing it as a way by which Israel could permanently legitimise its hold on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Considering the huge political and demographic issues that it would raise, however, it seems a highly improbable solution to the problem.

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It uses material from the Wikipedia article "israel / palestine".