Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.A tiny scrap of land wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, the Gaza Strip has been a military and political flashpoint for much of its history.
On May 15, 1948, the day after Britain’s official departure, war broke out between Israel and Arab countries including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. The town of Gaza became strategically important to Egyptian forces as they moved north after their assault bogged down nearby, says Dr Ran Porat, an analyst on Israel and Middle Eastern Affairs at Monash University.
Today, there are eight official refugee camps within Gaza accommodating more than 600,000 people. Some of the camps were set up to house Palestinians fleeing the first Arab-Israeli war. About 81 per cent of the population lives in poverty and the unemployment rate is nearly half, says the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which provides services for refugees in Gaza. Around 1 million people rely on daily food aid.
The United States disapproved significantly of this plan and prevented it coming to full fruition, but it did lead to a war.” Israel subsequently occupied the Gaza Strip for several months before relinquishing it to Egypt, who remained in charge for the next decade.Credit:By 1967, Israel, surrounded by hostile Arab states that potentially threatened its existence, had acquired a large and well-trained army.
The PLO formally agreed to give up resistance through violent means as a method for establishing a Palestinian state or for liberation. The accords led in 1994 to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority.Credit:Palestinian National Authority president Yasser Arafat died in 2004, a political figure who historians now consider came closest to uniting the Palestinian cause.