The United Nations voted to divide Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, but the Arab countries in the Middle East again rejected the plan. Jewish leaders declared Israel's independence in 1948, which sparked an invasion by Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq. By the end of the war, Israel controlled most of Palestine. Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their land -- eventually many of them ended up in refugee camps. The Israelis say the Palestinians left voluntarily.