Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip stretches approximately 40 kilometers along the Mediterranean coast and ranges between about 5 and 12 kilometers in width. Its area is approximately 360 square kilometers, and its land borders total 72 kilometers: 13 kilometers with Egypt and 59 kilometers with Israel.[1] Its position on routes connecting Asia, Europe, and North Africa historically gave the area strategic importance.[5]

The terrain is predominantly flat to rolling and covered by sand and dunes, with elevations ranging from sea level to 105 meters at Abu 'Awdah. The climate features mild winters and dry, warm-to-hot summers.[1] Gaza is mentioned in the biblical books of Joshua and Judges, reflecting the area's place in the region's long historical record.[5]

Environmental problems include soil degradation, desertification, salination and contamination of underground water, inadequate sewage treatment, water pollution, and waterborne disease.[1] Overpumping of the coastal aquifer has reduced water availability and increased salinity, while seawater intrusion and sewage pollution have further damaged groundwater supplies.[4]

The Gaza region has been inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE and has been ruled by numerous peoples and empires.[1] It was under Ottoman sovereignty from 1517 until 1917, when British forces took control during World War I, and it subsequently formed part of the British Mandate for Palestine until 1948.[6]

The War of Independence and Egyptian Administration

The Gaza Strip emerged as a distinct political territory after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known in Israel as the War of Independence. The former Mandate was divided among Israel, the Jordan-administered West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and the Egyptian-administered Gaza Strip. The February 1949 Egypt-Israel armistice established the Strip's boundaries, and Egypt administered it without formally annexing it.[3]

The war transformed Gaza's population. One estimate places the increase at approximately 80,000 to 360,000 as Palestinian refugees entered the Strip, while another account describes Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Rafah as focal points for people who fled fighting in southern and central Israel.[3][4] Eight refugee camps were established under UNRWA administration.[3] Between 1948 and 1967, Egypt governed Gaza through a military administration, did not grant residents Egyptian citizenship or permit migration elsewhere for resettlement, and allowed Palestinian fedayeen to attack Israel from the territory.[7]

Israeli Control After the Six-Day War

Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt during the June 1967 Six-Day War and established a military administration, but did not formally annex the territory.[3][4] Israel indicated that it was prepared to withdraw in return for a peace agreement with Arab neighbors, but the offer was rejected.[5] Israel subsequently established Jewish communities in Gaza that developed under IDF protection.[7]

Rocket and mortar fire increased before the 2005 withdrawal. Recorded totals rose from four rockets and 245 mortar shells in 2001 to 281 rockets and 876 mortar shells in 2004.[8] By 2008, approximately 8,000 rockets and mortar shells had been fired from Gaza since 2000, including about 3,000 in 2008, placing nearly one million Israelis within rocket range.[6]

The Oslo Process and Interim Arrangements

The 1993 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles created a framework for Palestinian interim self-government. It described the West Bank and Gaza as "a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period," and reserved Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, and borders for permanent-status negotiations.[9]

Implementation began with the May 1994 Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area. Israeli forces withdrew from most of Gaza, while settlements, their access routes, and the Philadelphi Route along the Egyptian border were initially excluded.[8] The Palestinian Authority later assumed civil affairs and internal security in most of Gaza, while Israel retained responsibility for external security, airspace, the electromagnetic sphere, and crossings.[8] Israeli redeployments covered more than 85 percent of the Strip and placed 99 percent of its Palestinian population under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.[5] The parties signed the Agreement on Movement and Access on November 15, 2005.[8]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed Israel's unilateral disengagement in December 2003. The cabinet approved it in June 2004 and the Knesset in October 2004.[10] The plan removed 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank, together containing more than 8,000 residents.[10] Every Jewish grave in Gaza was also removed.[7]

The evacuation began on August 17, 2005. All Gaza settlers had been evacuated by August 22, and the IDF left on September 12, when the Southern Command commander terminated the military government.[10][8] Israel continued to control Gaza's airspace and maritime and other access after the withdrawal.[1]

The plan's stated purposes included reducing friction, improving Palestinian economic and living conditions, encouraging an end to violence, and countering claims about Israel's responsibility for Gaza.[8] Supporters argued that disengagement would improve security and reduce the burden of protecting Israeli civilians; opponents warned that it would be interpreted as a victory for terrorism and encourage further attacks.[10]

U.S. envoy James Wolfensohn raised $14 million in private donations to purchase former settlement greenhouses. After the withdrawal, buildings were burned and materials from buildings and greenhouses were looted, although some greenhouses remained operational.[10] An academic account describes the plan as initially presented as a possible catalyst for renewed negotiations, but states that this optimism dissipated as hardship and security conditions worsened.[11]

Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council election in early 2006.[1] Israel, the United States, and the European Union confined diplomatic relations to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rather than engaging the Hamas-led cabinet, and conflict between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction intensified.[12]

In June 2007, Hamas violently seized Gaza, including through killings and assaults against Fatah officials, and took control of the territory's military and governmental institutions.[1][8] Palestinian Authority officials and European monitors fled the Rafah crossing; Israel closed Karni, and Egypt closed Rafah.[8] Abbas reorganized the Palestinian Authority cabinet to govern the West Bank, beginning the continuing political split between the territories.[12]

The U.S. State Department reported that Hamas, which the United States designates as a foreign terrorist organization, exercised de facto control over Gaza's security and governmental institutions during most of 2023 and operated a judicial system separate from Palestinian Authority courts.[13] A reconciliation agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas in October 2017 remained unimplemented.[1]

Approximately 3,500 Christians lived in Gaza at the time of the takeover. An Israeli government account reported increased attacks against Christian and Western-identified institutions and cited the October 2007 killing of Rami Ayyad, director of the Protestant Holy Bible Society in Gaza.[14]

After the Hamas takeover, Gaza served as a base for rocket attacks on Israeli communities, attacks on military installations, construction of cross-border tunnels, and weapons smuggling from Egypt or by sea.[5]

Operation Cast Lead began on December 27, 2008, and ended on January 18, 2009. Thirteen Israelis were killed: three civilians and ten soldiers, including four soldiers killed by friendly fire.[6] Palestinian casualty figures were disputed. An Israeli assessment counted 1,166 deaths, including 709 members of terrorist organizations and approximately 295 noncombatant civilians, while a Palestinian figure placed the total at 1,417.[6] Operation Pillar of Defense began on November 14, 2012, and Operation Protective Edge on July 8, 2014.[15]

Before October 2023, major escalations occurred in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021. During intervening years, Hamas built a large tunnel network, including tunnels beneath civilian areas, and obtained resources through smuggling, informal taxes, and reported outside assistance.[12]

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terrorists attacked Israel from Gaza, killing an estimated 1,200 people, injuring more than 5,400, and abducting approximately 253 hostages. At least 843 of those killed were civilians, including at least 42 U.S. citizens and 36 children.[13] Israel launched a large military operation in response. By the end of 2023, United Nations information based on the Hamas-led Gaza Ministry of Health reported more than 21,000 Palestinian deaths and 56,000 injuries. The operation displaced most of Gaza's population, and the UN estimated that 50 to 70 percent of buildings had been damaged or destroyed.[13]

Following Hamas's takeover, Israel and Egypt imposed tight restrictions on movement into and out of Gaza.[1] Israel said its policy responded to attacks and efforts by terrorist organizations to transfer money, equipment, and dual-use material for terrorism, while providing humanitarian exceptions.[16]

Israel identifies September 19, 2007, as the date on which it formally imposed restrictions through Israeli territory.[16] In June 2010, it changed its policy to permit most goods except security risks, including designated dual-use materials requiring authorization. Israel also expanded Kerem Shalom's capacity and facilitated internationally funded projects under supervision.[16] A 2019-era account stated that Israel supplied Gaza with 125 megawatts of electricity and 10 million cubic meters of water annually.[15]

Principal crossings included Erez for pedestrians traveling through Israel, Kerem Shalom for goods from Israel and Egypt, and Rafah for pedestrian movement between Gaza and Egypt.[15] Karni, formerly Gaza's highest-capacity truck crossing, closed in March 2011.[15] On January 23, 2008, Hamas breached the border wall with Egypt. Hundreds of thousands entered Sinai, and a UN estimate suggested that as much as half of Gaza's population crossed before Egyptian forces and Hamas resealed the border on February 3.[15]

A 2012 account linked increasingly restrictive border closures after the Hamas takeover to high unemployment, poverty, and the near collapse of a private sector dependent on exports; regular exports were still not permitted at the time.[17]

Gaza's population is overwhelmingly Palestinian Arab, and Arabic is the principal language.[1] A July 2020 estimate placed the population at 1,918,221, with an urbanization level of 76.7 percent, a median age of 18, and 42.53 percent of residents aged 14 or younger.[1]

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics counted 1,875,300 people in Gaza in November 2017. An adjusted estimate placed the population at 2,110,000 at the beginning of 2024, while a separate 2024 projection gave 2,226,544. The source explains that differing methods and definitions contribute to the variation.[2]

Approximately half of the population described in a 2018 study were descendants of refugees from 1948-49.[4] The 2020 profile counted 1,460,315 registered Palestinian refugees in Gaza.[1] No permanent Jewish population has remained since Israel's August 2005 withdrawal.[2] Rapid population growth transformed Gaza into a densely built-up territory at the expense of agriculture.[4]

Gaza's economy has been constrained by high population density, recurring conflict, and restrictions on movement. A 2020 profile linked tighter controls after Hamas's 2007 takeover to rising unemployment, poverty, and contraction of a private sector that had relied on exports.[1]

A 2018 study reported food shortages affecting more than half the population, unemployment of approximately 45 percent overall and more than 60 percent among people aged 20 to 24, a shortage of tens of thousands of housing units, and electricity for only a few hours per day.[4] The same study described water shortages and salination caused by aquifer overpumping, seawater intrusion, and sewage pollution.[4]

Arabic is Gaza's principal language.[1] The territory's cultural and historical record includes biblical references in Joshua and Judges, while its location along routes linking Asia, Europe, and North Africa has shaped its importance over many centuries.[5]

Gaza City is the territory's principal northern population center.[1] Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Rafah became major focal points for refugees who entered the Strip during the War of Independence, and eight UNRWA-administered refugee camps were established across the territory.[4][3]

Rafah and Kerem Shalom are important crossing areas on Gaza's southern and southeastern edges. Both were addressed in the November 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, which established arrangements for movement between Gaza, Egypt, and Israel under specified supervision.[8]

Gaza is not a state, Hamas is not the legitimate government of a recognized state, and the territory is neither part of Israel nor formally annexed by Israel. Legal writing has described it as "an area sui generis" and as "a self-governing territory with certain powers but not with all the powers of a state."[6]

The U.S. State Department describes Gaza as nominally under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction, while noting that the Palestinian Authority does not exercise authority there in practice.[13] The 1993 Declaration of Principles and 1995 Interim Agreement contemplated later permanent-status negotiations, but those negotiations did not produce a final agreement.[6]

Israel's position is that its last forces left on September 12, 2005, and that it has not exercised effective control since then. It states that its obligations arise from continuing armed conflict with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.[16] The Israeli Supreme Court treated Gaza as no longer occupied in a 2008 ruling while continuing to classify the conflict as international.[6]

The conflict's classification is itself disputed. The Israeli Supreme Court has treated it as international, while many scholars and the U.S. administration have viewed it as non-international because Hamas is a non-state actor. A proposed category of "extra-state" armed conflict has not gained broad acceptance.[6]

Accounts of the 1948 refugee influx differ in their descriptions of why Palestinians entered Gaza and the circumstances of their movement.[3][4] Narratives concerning Israel's post-1967 withdrawal proposal and the political consequences of the 2005 disengagement also reflect differing source perspectives.[5][10]

Gaza's legal status after disengagement remains contested. One view treats continued Israeli control of airspace and adjacent waters as evidence that occupation continued. Another applies Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations and argues that occupation ended because Israel no longer controlled the whole territory, while retaining responsibilities in areas it continued to control.[6]

Casualty classifications from Operation Cast Lead were disputed, while the UN figures cited for the end of 2023 relied on information from the Hamas-led Gaza Ministry of Health.[6][13] Population totals also vary according to date and methodology, including a 2020 estimate of 1.918 million and adjusted and projected 2024 figures of 2.11 million and 2.227 million.[1][2]