I notice there are many people here who either support one or the other. Edwin, I believe, supports Israel - correct me if I am wrong, Edwin, and I believe that Moon is on the opposing side - again, correct me if I am wrong.

I have been on the side of Palestine for ages now, although now I just can't figure out why. So I have been reading a little, trying to find out how this conflict started.
I have been looking at www.globalissues.org as they seem to have a fair amount of info about the conflict - but I am still unable to find out when the fighting began.
There is information about the fighting that took place last year:
Quote:
The Israeli offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip on 27th December, 2008 ended on January 17, 2009 when both Hamas and Israel announced separate ceasefires, which have turned out to be quite fragile.
But I am having a bit of trouble finding out the events before that time. I guess I don't really understand the issue as much as many here seem to do.

So...help me out here. How did the conflict begin, and why?
Why can't both countries reach an agreement, instead of killing each other? What is the reaction of other countries to this?
Has there been any help offered?
Why does there seem to be a media bias?

I do not expect to see any trolling, I am after information that answers my questions, so if anyone can give me that, it'd be great.