61 Facts About Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The UN has urged the lifting of the blockade, while a report by UNCTAD, prepared for the UN General Assembly and released on 25 November 2020, said that Gaza Strip's economy was on the verge of collapse and that it was essential to lift the blockade.

Gaza Strip is dependent on Israel for water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.

Some Israeli analysts have disputed the idea that Israel still occupies Gaza Strip, and have depicted the territory as a de facto independent state.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people.

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Gaza Strip is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.

Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949.

At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948.

All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959.

Under the blockade, Gaza Strip is viewed by some critics as an "open-air prison", although the claim is contested.

The Philistines, mentioned frequently in The Bible, were located in the region, and the early city of Gaza Strip was captured by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE during his Egyptian campaign.

The city of Gaza Strip was destroyed by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus in 96 BCE, and re-established under Roman administration during the 1st century CE.

The Gaza Strip region was moved between different Roman provinces over time, from Judea to Syria Palaestina to Palaestina Prima.

Ottoman rule continued until the years following World War I, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and Gaza Strip formed part of the League of Nations British Mandate of Palestine.

The influx of over 200, 000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza Strip resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living.

In December 1967, during a meeting at which the Security Cabinet brainstormed about what to do with the Arab population of the newly occupied territories, one of the suggestions Prime Minister Levi Eshkol proffered regarding Gaza Strip was that the people might leave if Israel restricted their access to water supplies, stating: "Perhaps if we don't give them enough water they won't have a choice, because the orchards will yellow and wither.

Gaza's agricultural sector was adversely affected as one-third of the Strip was appropriated by Israel, competition for scarce water resources stiffened, and the lucrative cultivation of citrus declined with the advent of Israeli policies, such as prohibitions on planting new trees and taxation that gave breaks to Israeli producers, factors which militated against growth.

The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994.

In September 1992, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy "I would like Gaza Strip to sink into the sea, but that won't happen, and a solution must be found.

In February 2008, 2008 Israel-Gaza Strip conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities.

On 27 December 2008, Israeli F-16 fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza Strip following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

The people of Gaza Strip still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.

Topography of the Gaza Strip is dominated by three ridges parallel to the coastline, which consist of Pleistocene-Holocene aged calcareous aeolian sandstones, locally referred to as "kurkar", intercalated with red-coloured fine grained paleosols, referred to as "hamra".

Major river in Gaza Strip is Wadi Gaza, around which the Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve was established, to protect the only coastal wetland in the Strip.

Gaza Strip has a hot semi-arid climate, with warm winters during which practically all the annual rainfall occurs, and dry, hot summers.

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Natural resources of Gaza include arable land—about a third of the strip is irrigated.

The Gaza Strip is largely dependent on water from Wadi Gaza, which supplies Israel.

Economy of the Gaza Strip is severely hampered by Egypt and Israel's almost total blockade, the high population density, limited land access, strict internal and external security controls, the effects of Israeli military operations, and restrictions on labor and trade access across the border.

Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs.

These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000.

European Union states: "Gaza Strip has experienced continuous economic decline since the imposition of a closure policy by Israel in 2007.

In 2014, the EU's opinion was: "Today, Gaza Strip is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation with power outages across Gaza Strip for up to 16 hours a day and, as a consequence, the closure of sewage pumping operations, reduced access to clean water; a reduction in medical supplies and equipment; the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity.

Usually, diesel for Gaza Strip came from Israel, but in 2011, Hamas started to buy cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of tunnels, and refused to allow it from Israel.

In early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt and through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas's refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation.

The Gaza Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, one of the main reasons being a total fertility rate which peaked at 8.

The high total fertility rate leads to the Gaza Strip having an unusually high proportion of children in the population, with 43.

Palestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "Taliban-like steps" Hamas has taken: "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed.

In October 2012 Gaza Strip youth complained that security officers had obstructed their freedom to wear saggy pants and to have haircuts of their own choosing, and that they faced being arrested.

Youth in Gaza Strip are arrested by security officers for wearing shorts and for showing their legs, which have been described by youth as embarrassing incidents, and one youth explained that "My saggy pants did not harm anyone.

The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza Strip-based Hamas MPs from the Palestinian Legislative Council or parliament.

Legal code Hamas applies in Gaza Strip is based on Ottoman laws, the British Mandate's 1936 legal code, Palestinian Authority law, Sharia law, and Israeli military orders.

Gaza Strip's security is mainly handled by Hamas through its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, internal security service, and civil police force.

The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied.

Avi Bell argues that the Gaza Strip is not occupied as the Israeli blockade does not constitute effective control, citing several international legal precedents that the occupier must be in direct control with forces on the ground and have direct control over the civilian population superior to that of the established government.

Gaza Strip argues that Israeli control over Gaza does not meet these standards.

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Some Israeli analysts have argued that the Gaza Strip can be considered a de facto independent state, even if not internationally recognized as such.

Israeli Major General Giora Eiland, who headed Israel's National Security Council, has argued that after the disengagement and Hamas takeover, the Gaza Strip became a de facto state for all intents and purposes, writing that "It has clear borders, an effective government, an independent foreign policy and an army.

Geoffrey Aronson has likewise argued that the Gaza Strip can be considered a proto-state with some aspects of sovereignty, writing that "a proto-state already exists in the Gaza Strip, with objective attributes of sovereignty the Ramallah-based Mahmoud Abbas can only dream about.

Gaza Strip is a single, contiguous territory with de facto borders, recognised, if not always respected, by friend and foe alike.

Gaza Strip confirmed "that Israel is the only country that currently sends supplies to the coastal enclave".

Under the long-term blockade, the Gaza Strip is often described as a "prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens".

Israel has implemented a policy of allowing Palestinian movement from the West Bank to Gaza Strip, but making it quite difficult for Gaza Strip residents to move to the West Bank.

In 2010, Al Zahara, a private school in central Gaza Strip introduced a special program for mental development based on math computations.

Gaza Strip residents closed UNRWA's emergency department, social services office and ration stores.

Gaza Strip has been home to a significant branch of the contemporary Palestinian art movement since the mid 20th century.

In 2010, Gaza Strip inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club.

From 1920 to 1948, the Gaza Strip hosted sections of the Palestine Railways, connecting the region with Egypt.

Port of Gaza Strip has been an important and active port since antiquity.

Gaza Strip has rudimentary land line telephone service provided by an open-wire system, as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel and Israeli providers such as Cellcom.

Gaza Strip is serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL and dial-up customers.

People living in Gaza Strip have access to FTA satellite programs, broadcast TV from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority.