Gaza Strip
self-governing Palestinian territory next to Egypt and Israel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.[5] From 2006 to present, Hamas governs Gaza.
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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:[6]
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 7 km (4.3 mi) 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
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.
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History
The costal enclave of Gaza has been inhabited for thousands of years.[8] Throughout history, it was fought over by many peoples, including Egyptian Pharaohs, Babylonians, Philistines, and Alexander the Great.[9]
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.[10]
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.[10] Jewish leaders who lived in Rafah in the Gaza Strip were forced into detention camps.[11] 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.[9] The greatest concentration of Palestinians ended up in Gaza.[9] Tens of thousands of Palestinians settled in Gaza after fleeing their homes or being forced to leave.[8] 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.[source?] 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.[source?]
After 1948, Egypt ruled the Gaza strip under military rule.[8]
1967
Israel captured Gaza during the Six Day War.[9]
2007
Hamas took over Gaza
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Demographics
In 2010, approximately 1.6 million people lived in Gaza.[12] Almost a million of them were UN-registered refugees.[13] The majority have parents who were refugees following the first major war between Israel and the Arab nations around it, in 1948.[9] 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.[source?]
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.[14] 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.[11]
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.[15] 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[15]
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.[16] However, most Palestinians wanted to end the occupation and create an independent state.[16] Disagreements grew. Hamas and Islamic Jihad wanted to cancel the Oslo accord.[16] 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.[16]
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.[16] 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.[16]
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.[17] In October 2000, Israel began to frequently bomb Gaza.[17]
In 2005, Israel said it was "disengaging"[18] 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.[18] As well as the right to defend itself.[19]
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.[20] This led to clashing with Fatah supporters in the Gaza strip.[20]
In June 2007, after clashing with Fatah, Hamas took full control over Gaza by force.[20] After that, Israel and Egypt began a full blockade of Gaza.[20] The full blockade resulted in closed borders, limited what goods could go in and out, and restriction of the movement of people.[20]
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.[21]
2009-2014
In January 2009, Israel began a naval blockade of Gaza.[22] The goal was to stop weapons and materials from reaching Hamas. However, it further limited what could enter or leave Gaza.[22] It was seen as causing too much harm to civilians, by making it harder to bring humanitarian aid.[22]
In 2010, Israel slightly eased the blockade after international protests[23] which were caused by the Gaza flotilla raid. This allowed more goods to enter however it kept the naval blockade.[23]
In 2014, during the 2014 war, the Gaza blockade caused serious problems.[24] There was almost no clean water and thousands of homes were destroyed.[24] Even though Israel would ease the blockade after international pressure by allowing more goods into Gaza, most restrictions stayed in place.[24] Israel controlled the food that could enter. Even after the war the blockade stayed in place.[24]
2023 - present
After the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, Israel declared a state of war.[25] Because of that, it increased its blockade of the Gaza strip on 9 October 2023. This included restrictions on the entry of goods, food, water, fuel, electricity, and medicine into Gaza.[26][27] Israel said it would not stop the blockade until all the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were returned.[28] The UNRWA and others say the situation led to a serious humanitarian crisis.[29][30] Many accuse Israel of war crimes by using lack of food as a weapon of war.[31]
Timeline
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.[45] 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.[46]
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.[47]
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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
References
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