Gaza Strip

Gaza (also called the Gaza Strip) is a polity along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of two territories that make up the State of Palestine. (The other is the West Bank).

Gaza City is its main city. The Palestinian National Authority governed Gaza until 2006, and before 2007, Harakat At-Tahriri Al-Filistiniya administered the territory. The Islamic group Hamas won by a big majority in elections held in 2006. From 2006 to present, Hamas governs Gaza.

Geography

 Size 
Gaza is a small area:

 It is 41 kilometers (25 miles) long
 It ranges from just 6 to 12 kilometers (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide
 Its total area is 365 square kilometers (141 sq mi)
 It has an 11-km (7-mi) border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah.

According to one article:The whole of Gaza (aka the Gaza Strip) is about twice the size of Washington, D.C. and three times the population. [...] The Gaza Strip is geographically about the size of Philadelphia, Detroit or the country of Grenada. The Gaza Strip has the same land area as Las Vegas but more than three times the population. There are approximately 2.23 million residents of the small territory.

 Features 
Three mountain ridges run alongside Gaza's coastline. These ridges are very important to Gaza's topography.

Gaza's major river is Wadi Gaza. The Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve was established to protect the country's only coastal wetland.

Gaza's major cities include:

 Khan Yunis is located  northeast of Rafah
 Several towns around Deir el-Balah are located along the coast between Rafah and Gaza City 
 Beit Lahia north of Gaza City
 Beit Hanoun northeast of Gaza City

Al Deira beach is popular for surfers.

 Climate 
Gaza has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Summers are hot and dry. Winters are warm, and the country gets almost all of its rain during this season. Despite the dryness, humidity is high throughout the year.

Annual rainfall is higher than in any part of Egypt: between 225 mm (9 in) in the south and 400 mm (16 in) in the north. However, almost all of this rain falls between November and February.

The country has various environmental problems, including soil degradation and salination of fresh water.

History
The costal enclave of Gaza has been inhabited for thousands of years. Throughout history, it was fought over by many peoples, including Egyptian Pharaohs, Babylonians, Philistines, and Alexander the Great.

However, the Ottoman Empire controlled the area from the 16th century through the end of World War I. At that point, the Ottoman Empire was broken up. After this, the British took control of the area known as Palestine, including the Gaza Strip. At that time, a number of ethnic groups lived there, including Arabs, Jews, and others.

The British had offered to let Egypt govern Gaza, but Egypt refused, so Britain itself occupied the territory from 1917–1918.  (Previously, in 1906, the Ottomans and the British Empire had set Gaza's international border with Egypt.)

The British also occupied Gaza from 1920 until 1948. During this time, tensions deepened between Arab and Jewish communities in Palestine. Jewish leaders who lived in Rafah in the Gaza Strip were forced into detention camps. Then, in 1948, the League of Nations ordered a "Mandatory Palestine".

1948–1959

During the 1948 conflict (particularly the 1948 War), many Arabs and Jews fled their homes throughout the region. The greatest concentration of Palestinians ended up in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians settled in Gaza after fleeing their homes or being forced to leave. By the end of the war, 25% of Mandatory Palestine's Arab population was in Gaza, though the area constituted only 1% of the land. The same year, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established to administer various refugee programmes.

After 1948, Egypt ruled the Gaza strip under military rule.

 1967 
Israel captured Gaza during the Six Day War.thumb|300x300px|Palestinians in an outdoor market in Gaza, 1956
 2007 
Hamas took over Gaza

 Demographics 
In 2010, approximately 1.6 million people lived in Gaza. Almost a million of them were UN-registered refugees. The majority have parents who were refugees following the first major war between Israel and the Arab nations around it, in 1948. Gaza's population has increased since then.

Many people living in Gaza are children. Almost half (43.5%) of the population is 14 or younger. In 2014, the median age was 18.

Sunni Muslims make up 99.8% of Gaza's population. Christians make up the other 0.2%; there are between 2,000 and 3,000 of them in Gaza.Middle East Christians: Gaza pastor  BBC News, 21 December 2005 For many centuries, Jews also lived in Gaza, including during the Hasmonean Era (167-63 BCE) and the Geonic Period (600-1050 CE), and also during Ottoman rule and the 20th century.

 Blockade of the Gaza Strip 

 History of the Blockade 

 1967-1996 
In June 1967, during the six day war, Israeli forces took control over Gaza strip. Since then, Gaza has been under military rule. Israeli settlers in Gaza were protected by Israeli civilian law. In 1987, after the first Intifada, Israel made its control over Gaza stricter. By 1994, Israel had built fences, walls and military zones around Gaza. Strict rules who could enter and leave were enforced

In 1993, the first agreement of the Oslo Accords were signed between Palestine Liberation Organization(PLO). In the agreement, the PLO and Israel would recognize each other. According to the agreement, Palestinians would have the right to make their own decisions. However, most Palestinians wanted to end the occupation and create an independent state. Disagreements grew. Hamas and Islamic Jihad wanted to cancel the Oslo accord. The Palestinian Authority(PA) had a confrontation with Hamas in 1994, causing more of a divide between the Palestinians. Even fearing a civil war between Fatah and Islamic groups.

In 1994, as part of the Oslo Accords, Israel gave the Palestinian Authority some control over parts of the Gaza strip. However Israel still controlled other areas.
In January 1996, Hamas and Islamic Jihad called on their supporters not to vote in the 1996 Palestinian elections, because taking part would seem like they accepted the Oslo Accords and that Israel had the right to the existence to exist.

2000-2008

During the Second Intifada in 2000, Israel began to place more restrictions on the Gaza strip, limiting the movement of people and goods in and out Gaza. In October 2000, Israel began to frequently bomb Gaza.

In 2005, Israel said it was "disengaging" from Gaza by removing its soldiers and settlers. It was thought, it would mean Gaza was free. However, Israel still controlled Gaza's border, sea, and air.  As well as the right to defend itself.

In 2006, Hamas won the election of the Palestinian Legislative Council election, resulting in taking more control over Gaza by creating its own security force. This led to clashing with Fatah supporters in the Gaza strip.

In June 2007, after clashing with Fatah, Hamas took full control over Gaza by force. After that, Israel and Egypt began a full blockade of Gaza. The full blockade resulted in closed borders, limited what goods could go in and out, and restriction of the movement of people.

In 2008, Operation Cast lead resulted in a lot of damage to Gaza's infrastructure, it was hard to rebuild because of the limitations of the blockade.

2009-2014

In January 2009, Israel began a naval blockade of Gaza. The goal was to stop weapons and materials from reaching Hamas. However, it further limited what could enter or leave Gaza. It was seen as causing too much harm to civilians, by making it harder to bring humanitarian aid.

In 2010, Israel slightly eased the blockade after international protests which were caused by the Gaza flotilla raid. This allowed more goods to enter however it kept the naval blockade.

In 2014, during the 2014 war, the Gaza blockade caused serious problems. There was almost no clean water and thousands of homes were destroyed. Even though Israel would ease the blockade after international pressure by allowing more goods into Gaza, most restrictions stayed in place. Israel controlled the food that could enter. Even after the war the blockade stayed in place.

 2023 - present 
After the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, Israel declared a state of war. 

On October 9, 2023, Israel made its blockade of the Gaza Strip much stricter. It stopped or limited the entry of many essential things like food, water, fuel, and medicine. Israel said the blockade would continue until Hamas returned all Israeli hostages it had taken.

The United Nations aid agency (UNRWA) and other groups say this blockade has caused a very serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Some human rights organizations and experts accuse Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war, which they say is a war crime.

 Genocide 
During the war, some governments, international organizations, and experts have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

They point to Israel's military actions, the strict blockade, and the high number of civilian deaths. These groups say that Israel's goal is to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza, in whole or in part.

Organizations that have made or supported these accusations include a United Nations special committee and a UN commission of inquiry, as well as some human rights groups and genocide scholars.

Israel denies these accusations. It states that its military actions are aimed at Hamas, not civilians, and are necessary for its self-defense following the October 7th attacks.

 Timeline 
+Key events of the Israeli Blockade October 2023 - 2025DateEventReferences9 October 2023Israel intensifies the blockade of the Gaza Strip as a reaction to the 7 October attacks by Hamas.21 October 2023After negotiations, first supplies enter Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing again.January 202456% of planned aid deliveries into Northern Gaza and 25% into Middle Gaza are not allowed by Israel.February 2024Israeli protestors block aid trucks from entering Gaza.January 2025Following deals resulting in a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, trucks can enter Gaza again.2 March 2025Israel completely blocks aid delivery into Gaza, de facto ending the ceasefire which started in January 2025.30 April 2025The Israeli blockade reaches a time span of 60 days, making it the longest complete blockade of Gaza since October 2023.20 May 2025After international pressure, Israel relieves a part of the complete blockade of Gaza. The accessibility of the deliveries has been reported to be difficult.

 Consequences of the blockade 
The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has led to a humanitarian crisis, with a famine threatening the people of Gaza. The IPC warned of severe cases of malnutrition, affecting 70,000 children in Gaza until March 2026. 14,000 cases of that are very urgent.

In an Al-Jazeera interview, Ahmed al-Farra, director of paediatrics and obstetrics at al-Tahreer Maternity Hospital, speaks about long term health risks for the people in Gaza, threatening the development of a whole generation.

 Sports 
In 2010, Gaza inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club. The opening ceremony was held by the Islamic Society. The swimming team of as-Sadaka holds several gold and silver medals from Palestinian swimming competitions.

 Related pages 

 The Arab-Israeli conflict
 State of Palestine
 Mandatory Palestine

References


Category:Palestinian refugee camps