51 Facts About The Gaza Strip

1.

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 The Gaza Strip's economy was on the verge of collapse and that it was essential to lift the blockade.

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2.

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

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3.

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

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4.

The Gaza Strip was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom, Egypt, and then Israel, which in 1993 granted the Palestinian Authority in The Gaza Strip limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords.

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5.

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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6.

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

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7.

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.

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8.

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

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9.

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.

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10.

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

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11.

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

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12.

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

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13.

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

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14.

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

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15.

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 The Gaza Strip resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living.

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16.

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.

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17.

The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994.

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18.

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

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19.

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

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20.

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

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21.

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".

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22.

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.

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23.

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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24.

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

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25.

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

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26.

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.

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27.

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

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28.

Economic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996.

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29.

Usually, diesel for The 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.

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30.

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.

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31.

The 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.

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32.

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

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33.

In October 2012 The 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.

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34.

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

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35.

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

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36.

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

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37.

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.

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38.

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

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39.

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

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40.

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

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41.

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

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42.

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

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43.

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

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44.

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

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45.

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

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46.

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

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47.

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

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48.

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

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49.

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.

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50.

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

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51.

People living in The 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.

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