The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. Inhabited by mostly Palestinian refugees and their descendants, Gaza is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. An end of 2024 estimate puts the population of the Strip at 2.1 million. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. The territory has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
Rehavam Ze'evi was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating for cleansing of the complete Palestinian population through population transfer.
The Gaza–Israel barrier is a border barrier located on the Israeli side of the Gaza–Israel border. Before the Israel–Hamas war, the Erez Crossing, in the north of the Gaza Strip, used to be the only crossing point for people and goods coming from Israel into the Gaza Strip. A second crossing point, the Kerem Shalom border crossing, is used exclusively for goods coming from Egypt as Israel did not allow goods to go directly from Egypt into Gaza through the Egypt–Gaza border, except for the Salah Al Din Gate, which opened in 2018.
Rafah is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine. It is the capital of the Rafah Governorate of the State of Palestine, located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. As a result of massive bombardment and ground assaults in Gaza City and Khan Yunis by Israel during the Israel–Hamas war, about 1.4 million Palestinians are believed to be sheltering in Rafah as of February 2024.
The Philadelphi Corridor, also called Philadelphi Route, is the Israeli code name for a narrow strip of land, some 100 metres wide and 14 km long, situated along the entirety of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Yesha is a Hebrew acronym for "Judea, Samaria, Gaza" – a geographical area, roughly corresponding to the West Bank and Gaza Strip combined. Yesha is one of a number of terms used to describe the areas of former Mandatory Palestine, occupied by Egypt and Jordan and later became a part of a military governorate.
Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. In August 2005, the Israel Defense Forces removed the 8,600 Israeli residents from their homes after a decision from the Cabinet of Israel. The communities were demolished as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian territories was split between Egypt and Jordan, which occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, where Israel has transferred parts of its population and built large settlements, is the longest military occupation in modern history.
The 2006 Gaza–Israel conflict, known in Israel as Operation Summer Rains, was a series of battles between Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during summer 2006, prompted by the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006. Large-scale conventional warfare occurred in the Gaza Strip, starting on 28 June 2006, which was the first major ground operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel's unilateral disengagement plan was implemented between August and September 2005.
On 23 January 2008, Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip set off an explosion near the Rafah border crossing, destroying part of the 2003 wall. The United Nations estimates that as many as half the 1.5 million population of the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to fears that militants would acquire weapons in Egypt, Israeli police went on increased alert.
The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when about 200,000 of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes settled in the Gaza Strip as refugees. Since then, Israel has been involved in about 15 wars involving organizations in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza war (47,000+) is higher than the death toll of all other wars in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict combined.
Sufa is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 233.
The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing point. The blockade's current stated aim is to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza; previously stated motivations have included exerting economic pressure on Hamas. Human rights groups have called the blockade illegal and a form of collective punishment, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits Gazans' freedom of movement. The blockade and its effects have led to the territory being called an "open-air prison".
Operation Bringing Home the Goods was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners wanted by Israel, whose incarceration was monitored by British and American wardens. In early 2006, the newly elected Hamas government announced that it intended to release the prisoners.
The Ministry of Intelligence was a government ministry in Israel. It oversaw policies related to the operation of the intelligence organizations, the Mossad and the Shabak, in support of the national security of the State of Israel, in coordination with and under the guidance of the prime minister.
Events in the year 2006 in Palestine.
Egypt–Palestine relations are the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Palestine. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and he favored self-determination for the Palestinians. Although the Egyptian government has maintained a good relationship with Israel since the Camp David Accords, most Egyptians strongly resent Israel, and disapprove of the close relationship between the Israeli and Egyptian governments.
Israel's tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi was assassinated shortly before 7 am (GMT+2) on Wednesday, 17 October 2001 at the former Hyatt Regency Hotel in Jerusalem by a squad of Palestinians acting on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant organization. Ze'evi was the first Israeli minister to be assassinated since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the most senior Israeli person to be killed by Palestinian militants during the entire Arab–Israeli conflict.
The Gaza envelope encompasses the populated areas in the Southern District of Israel that are within 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of the Gaza Strip border and are therefore within range of mortar shells and Qassam rockets launched from the Gaza Strip.
Israel had dismantled its settlements in Gaza in its unilateral withdrawal from the area in 2005, after 38 years of settlers living in the Gaza Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that, "Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population," he further alleged that, "Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law". In the context of the Israel–Hamas war, some Israelis have proposed expulsion of or creating conditions leading to the exodus of Palestinians from the area and a new wave of resettlement of the Gaza Strip.
