How was Israel formed? The nation's history can be traced back to the Iron Age

Israel was officially declared an independent state in 1948, but many years before its creation and many years after its creation, the nation has been in conflict with the Palestinians and its Arab neighbours. Take a look at its history. 

David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, which was recognised by then-US President Harry S Truman on the same day. 

The United Nations on November 29, 1947, voted to partition British Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, but the move was rejected by the Arab states. Their conflict led to a war with Israel after its creation. 

During the eight-month-long war, Israel expanded its territory allotted to it by the UN as more than 760,000 Palestinians fled. Jordan occupied the West Bank including east Jerusalem, while Egypt took the coastal Gaza Strip. 

The image shows David Ben-Gurion with his wife Paula on Jun 30, 1948.

In 1948, the nation was formally created, but its history can be traced back to early Iron Age I, or maybe before that. 

Scholars say that the Hebrew Bible mentions the origins of Israel, according to which, its birth can be traced back to Abraham, who is considered the father of both Judaism (through his son Isaac) and Islam (through his son Ishmael). 

The word Israel is derived from Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who was renamed "Israel" by the Hebrew God in the Bible. 

It is believed that the Egyptians enslaved Abraham's descendants for hundreds of years before settling in Canaan — an area which is roughly the region of current Israel. 

Historians say that the region was ruled by King David around 1000 BC and it is said that his son, who became King Solomon, built the first holy temple in ancient Jerusalem. 

There are records of the establishment of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah after it was divided into two kingdoms in about 931 BC. 

The picture dated before 1937 during the British Mandate in Palestine shows Arabs demonstrating in the Old City of Jerusalem against Jewish immigration to Palestine. 

The Assyrians invaded and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in around 722 BC and the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the first temple in 568 BC. The first temple was replaced by a second temple in about 516 BC. 

The land of present-day Israel was seized and ruled for many centuries by several groups — Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Fatimids, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians, Mamelukes, Islamists, and others. 

A picture released on Jun 8, 1948, shows an Israeli officer raising the National Flag for the first time during the celebration of the birth of the Israeli State after its proclamation, on May 14, 1948. 

The region, which is present-day Israel, was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1917. Not just the Israeli region, they also ruled much of West Asia. 

But with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and the end of World War I, the geopolitical landscape of West Asia changed. 

Then British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a letter of intent in 1917 supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland. 

When the Ottoman Empire fell, Great Britain took control of the region and controlled Palestine until Israel became an independent state in 1947. 

A picture released on Oct 28, 1948, shows the Monastery of Temptation near Jericho in Palestine.

Tensions between Jews and Arab Muslims have existed for years, and still persist. Historians say that two groups populated the region and deemed it holy since ancient times. 

The holy city of Jerusalem is regarded as such by both Muslims and Jews. It has the Temple Mount, which houses sacred monuments including the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The image shows the Jewish rescuers searching for victims among the rubble of the destroyed buildings on Ben Yehuda Street in downtown Jerusalem Feb 2,1948.