For our more serious, thoughtful and intelligent posters here is a very simple, concise and clear explanation of the roots of the present conflict:
rte.ie/news/world/2023/1013/1410812-israel-palestine-conflict-history/
For those who don't have the patience to read this comparatively short article I'll quote one part that puts much of it in a nutshell.
After the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 "
over 700,000 Palestinians were either expelled or fled in terror. In what is known as the Nakba, or catastrophe, they lost their homes, their land and their way of life.
By the end of two years of fighting in 1949, only 22% of what was British-occupied Palestine was left outside of Israel's borders - what became known as the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
Those internationally recognised borders stayed fixed until the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israeli forces captured and occupied Gaza and the West Bank.
And that is precisely why it is referred to as the occupied West Bank - and it's exactly why many countries, including Ireland, call for a return to the pre-1967 borders.
While Israel technically withdrew from Gaza in 2005, since then it has enforced a strict and suffocating land, air and sea blockade - leading to horrendous living conditions and high levels of unemployment.
And despite occasional conflicts and rocket fire from Palestinian territories, the strength of the Israeli military has ensured that the overwhelming majority of the deaths in recent decades have been Palestinian."
So perhaps that helps to put things in context.