Palestinians burned British, American and Israeli flags today during a demonstration to mark the anniversary of the controversial Balfour Declaration.

Militants belonging to the al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, waved weapons including guns, swords and axes at the demonstration in the southern town of Rafah, in Gaza Strip.

The armed demonstrators then set fire to flags belonging to the U.S., the UK and Israel in a sign of defiance against the 1917 declaration which agreed the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Sign of defiance: Palestinian militants burn British, American and Israeli flags in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, on the anniversary of the controversial Balfour Declaration, signed in 1917

Protest: The Balfour Declaration refers to a letter written by the UK's then Foreign Secretary to a leader of the British Jewish community, supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland within Palestine

It comes against the backdrop of escalating violence across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with four Israelis stabbed today in separate attacks while a Palestinian teenager was shot dead.

Israeli border police also stormed a Palestinian university in the occupied West Bank.

Nine Israelis, 69 Palestinians – around half of them alleged attackers – and an Arab Israeli have been killed in the wave of violence that was sparked at the start of October.

The Balfour Declaration remains a contentious and controversial subject, nearly a hundred years on from the original agreement.

Scorched: The agreement is made on the condition that nothing is done to 'prejudice' the existing non-Jewish communities living in Palestine, but no instruction is given as to how this should be carried out

Finger pointing: A number of Palestinians blame the UK and the U.S. directly for the ongoing conflict in the region, which has flared up in recent weeks into what many are referring to as the ‘Third Intifada’

Up in arms: The Palestinians are furious that the land has technically been promised to the Jewish people, causing increased tension in the religious city of Jerusalem – revered in both religions

A number of Palestinians blame the UK and the U.S. directly for the ongoing conflict in the region, which has flared up in recent weeks into what many are referring to as the ‘Third Intifada’.

In a letter dated November 2, 1917, the UK’s Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote to Walter Rothschild, the second Baron Rothschild and a leader of the British Jewish community.

Balfour promised Rothschild ‘a national home for the Jewish people' in the heart of Palestine.

He further promised that ‘His Majesty’s government…will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object’.

A SIGN OF DEFIANCE AGAINST JEWISH NATION AT THE HEART OF PALESTINE The Balfour Declaration refers to a letter sent in 1917 by the then Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. Balfour promised in the letter, dated November 2, that the British government would support ‘a national home for the Jewish people’ in the heart of Palestine. He continued that His Majesty’s government ‘will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country’. The sixty-seven word document ‘completely transformed’ the position of the then fledging Zionist movement. Advertisement

He made the agreement on the condition that ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country’.

But Balfour gave no further instructions as to how the contradictory instructions - to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine without prejudicing the Palestinian communities already there - were to be carried out, in the surprisingly brief document.

The Palestinians are furious that the land has been promised to the Jewish people, causing increased tension in the religious city of Jerusalem – revered in both religions.

Backdrop of violence: It comes against the backdrop of escalating violence across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with four Israelis stabbed today in separate attacks while a Palestinian teenager was shot dead. Pictured, a protester tramples on the Union Jack before setting it alight

Uprising: The Declaration 'completely transformed the position of the fledgling Zionist movement', and greatly aided the movement in progressing towards their ultimate goal of 'establishing an independent Jewish homeland in Palestine'

Historian Professor Avi Shlaim, of the University of Oxford, said: ‘Its consequences were both profound and pervasive, and its impact on the subsequent history of the Middle East was nothing less than revolutionary.

‘It completely transformed the position of the fledgling Zionist movement vis-à-vis the Arabs of Palestine, and it provided a protective umbrella that enabled the Zionists to proceed steadily towards their ultimate goal of establishing an independent Jewish homeland in Palestine.

‘Rarely in the annals of the British Empire has such a short document produced such far-reaching consequences.’

Bearing arms: A young militant of al-Nasser Salah al-Deen brigade, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, holds a toy gun during the demonstration in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip

Threatening: Masked militants pose for the camera with swords and axes in the southern Gaza Strip, where violence has been spiralling out of control in recent weeks

Axe-wielding: Nine Israelis, 69 Palestinians – around half of them alleged attackers – and an Arab Israeli have been killed in the wave of violence that was sparked at the start of October, in what many believe could become a 'Third Intifada'

Violence: The Balfour Declaration remains a contentious and controversial subject, nearly a hundred years on from the original agreement

WHAT IS AN 'INTIFADA'? Although literally meaning ‘shaking’, the word Intifada is more typically translated as ‘uprising’ or ‘resistance’ against oppression. The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, which lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference in 1991. It was sparked after an Israeli Defence Forces’ truck collided with a civilian car in the Jabalia refugee camp, killing four Palestinians. A protest movement arose in the wake of the incident, involving unarmed resistance and civil disobedience, including refusal to pay taxes, graffiti and widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails. In the intifada’s first year, Israeli security forces killed 311 Palestinians, including a high proportion of children and teenagers. According to Save the Children, some seven per cent of all Palestinian children suffered injuries from shootings, beatings or tear gas over the first two years. The Second Intifada took place from September 2000 to 2005. Advertisement

Palestine has become known as the twice-promised nation, as a result of three conflicting agreements made during the First World War.

In 1915, Britain promised Hussein, the Sharif of Mecca, that they would support an independent Arab kingdom under his rule, which it was understood at the time would include Palestine.

The promise was contained in a letter from October 24, from Sir Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, to the Sharif of Mecca in what later became known as the McMahon-Hussein correspondence.

Split in half: Palestine has become known as the twice-promised nation, as a result of three conflicting agreements made during the First World War

Twice-promised: In 1915, Britain promised Hussein, the Sharif of Mecca, that they would support an independent Arab kingdom under his rule, which it was understood would include Palestine

Fighting for independence: Many Palestinians are furious that the land has been promised to the Jewish people by the British government

In 1916, Britain reached a secret agreement, the Sykes-Picot agreement, with France to divide the Middle East into spheres of influence in the event of an allied victory.

In that instance, Palestine was to be placed under international control.