What is the Gaza Strip, where is it located, why Hamas rules it (and why Israel blocks it)

O Gaza stripscenario of a new war with Israel Since Saturday, it has been a Palestinian enclave governed by the Islamic movement Hamas which suffers conflicts, poverty and blockages.

Since Saturday, almost 700 Palestinians have died in the bombings of Israel against Link in retaliation for the Hamas attack on its territory that left more than 900 people dead. Furthermore, on Monday, Israel ordered a “total siege” of the Range.

LOOK: How could Hamas carry out the worst attack against Israel without anyone detecting it?

“We are imposing a total siege Link (…) no electricity, no food, no water, no gas, everything closed,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “We are fighting animals and we act accordingly,” he added.

In this note, we present 5 keys to understanding the situation in the Gaza Strip:

The Gaza Strip. (AFP).

1.- Small territory

Bordered to the north and east by Israeli territory, to the west by the Mediterranean and to the south by Egypt, The Gaza Strip is a narrow territory of 360 km241 km long and 6 to 12 km wide.

More than two million Palestinians live in overcrowded conditions there.or almost 6,000 inhabitants per km², one of the highest population densities in the world.

2.- More than 5,000 years of history

Thanks to the discovery of the Tell es-Sakan site in 1998, archaeologists can attest that A fortified Canaanite city was occupied continuously from 3200 to 2000 BC in today’s Gaza Strip.

Subsequently, Gaza was successively under Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, Arab and Christian rule.

In the 20th century, Gaza came under Egyptian administration in 1948, shortly after the proclamation of the State of Israel.

Israel annexed the Gaza Strip in 1967at the end of the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis.

On September 12, 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip.managed since 2007 by Hamasa Palestinian Islamic movement considered terrorist by Israel.

3.- Blocking

In June 2006, Israel imposes land, air and sea blockade on the enclave in retaliation for the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, who will be released in 2011.

Israel reinforced the blockade in June 2007, when Hamas take power Link and expels the Palestinian Authority from the president Mahmoud Abbas.

Since 2018, Egypt He kept open most of the time the Rafah border post, the only transit point outside Israeli control.

4.- Poverty

Devoid of natural resources, The Gaza Strip suffers from chronic water and fuel shortages.

He unemployment It affects half the population, including three-quarters of young people.

More than two-thirds of the population depend on humanitarian aid.

The same proportion lives below the poverty line.

5.- Six wars in 15 years

At the end of 2008, Israel launches an air and then land offensive to end rocket fire: 1,440 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died.

At the end of 2012, the Israeli army carried out the selective assassination of the Israeli military leader HamasAhmad Jaabari.

Eight days of airstrikes left 174 Palestinians dead. Six Israelis also die.

In July 2014, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge to prevent the launch of the rocket and destroy the tunnels dug in the enclave.

The war left 2,251 dead on the Palestinian side, the vast majority of them civilians, and 74 dead on the Israeli side, almost all of them soldiers.

In May 2021, A new war in Gaza leaves 232 dead on the Palestinian side and 12 on the Israeli side in 11 days.

Two years later, in May 2023, 35 Palestinians, including leaders of Islamic Jihad, were eliminated in five days of war.

Source: Elcomercio