Why did Israel attack Palestine?

At first, the Palestinians wanted to recover the land that had been lost in the formation of Israel, or at least win the right of refugees to return to their ancestral homes in what was now Israel. The conflict evolved, with the Palestinians becoming more concerned with preventing more incursions by the Israelis into what was now the Palestinian territories.

In large part, the conflict, on both sides, is now about tit-for-tat. One side attacks the other, and the other responds. There will never be an end to the conflict between Palestine and Israel until each side agrees to end its own attacks, and does not respond to provocation from the other side.