Israel is an extremely small piece of land, and yet it is the center of one of the most controversial areas in the world. In May of 2000 the Israeli Army pulled its troops out of Southern Lebanon. The Israel government also decides to build a large wall between itself and neighboring Palestinian controlled West Bank. The Palestinians criticize the way the wall was built as a land grab, as the wall goes into parts of the West Bank in an attempt to protect Jewish settlements there.
In 2004 the long time leader of the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat, dies and in the 2006 elections, the radical, militant group Hamas defeats his old party, Fatah. July of 2006 brings about the Israel-Hizbulla war, which took place in northern Israel and consisted mainly of rockets being lobbed back and forth across borders. The Israelis understand that when it comes to military strength, they will win every time, so they are in no rush for peace because every time they are attacked, they can go out and destroy their attackers. Most recently, in 2010, Israeli Special Forces boarded a flotilla headed to the Gaza strip with aid, and when fired upon, responded accordingly and killed 9. To this day Jerusalem is still being fought over, but hopefully a peace agreement can be reached in the near future.
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