Gaza is a region in the Palestinian Territories, home to nearly 1.5 million people. It has a rich history and has been a key trade route since ancient times. It has been controlled by various powers, including Egypt and Israel, and is currently under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority. The region is not part of any recognized sovereign nation, leaving it in an unusual position. A civil war broke out in 2007, resulting in Hamas taking power and creating tension with other nations.
Gaza is usually used to refer to the Gaza Strip region of the Palestinian Territories. It can also be used to refer to Gaza City, the largest city in the region. It is unusual in that it is not part of any recognized sovereign nation, but is not claimed by other sovereign nations and is instead part of an emerging state.
The Gaza Strip runs along the Mediterranean coast, bordering Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south. It is approximately 25 miles (41 km) long and ranges from 4 to 7 miles (6 to 12 km) wide, with a total area of just under 140 square miles (360 square km). It is home to nearly 1.5 million people, making it the sixth most densely populated independent territory on earth.
The region has been prosperous and important since ancient times and has been a key trade route along the Mediterranean, linking Syria and Mesopotamia with Egypt since ancient times. Arabs conquered Gaza during the 7th century and it later experienced a brief period of Crusader control during the 12th century. The Ottoman Turks took it in the early 16th century and it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I. The British administered the region after the war as part of the Palestinian Territories.
In 1929, following an uprising by Zionist mobs, a series of anti-Jewish riots broke out across Gaza, resulting in the deaths of many and the eventual expulsion of large segments of the Jewish population. Following this, the British imposed a ban on Jews settling in the area, although it became less stringent towards the end of the 1940s.
After World War II, the territory was occupied by Egypt during the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. The Egyptians controlled it for most of the next two decades, except for a brief period in the mid-1950s when Israel occupied the region. Even during the period of Egyptian rule, however, Gazans were never treated as true citizens. Egypt ruled Gaza as a territory, under a military leader, and the inhabitants enjoyed few of the benefits of true Egyptians.
In 1967, Israel took control of the area. He administered it directly until 1994, when Gaza came under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, as stipulated in the Oslo Accords. In 2005, Israel withdrew further, dismantling all of its settlements in the region, as well as a number in the related West Bank region, and removing all Israeli settlers.
Israel’s withdrawal from the region has created a strange situation, as the Palestinian Authority is not currently recognized as a truly sovereign state. This leaves the territory in the unusual position of being a large tract of settled and contiguous land, not owned or claimed by any actual state.
In 2007, a civil war broke out within the Palestinian Territories between the Palestinian Liberation Movement, or Fatah, and the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. Hamas won the elections and ousted Fatah from power. The situation in the Gaza Strip has since become quite tense, with Hamas claiming a legitimate right to rule and many nations, including Israel, refusing to cooperate or recognize what they consider a terrorist organization.
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