Translations:Israeli-Palestinian conflict/4/en

The current conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians revolves around claims to the territory that each group calls its homeland—Palestine. Known to the ancient Hebrews as the “Land of Canaan,” Palestine derives its name from the Philistines, a people who occupied the southern coastal part of the country in the twelfth century B.C. In approximately 1250 B.C., under Joshua, the Israelites conquered and inhabited Canaan. It was the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham. A Hebrew kingdom—established in 1000 B.C.—was divided into the kingdoms of Israel (to the north) and Judah (to the south) after the reign of Solomon.