2023-10-12 16:23:58
The Gaza Strip is the subject of news around the world. The first attacks came from there last weekend towards Israel. Furthermore, he was the target of harsh responses from the IDF. But what is it, where is it and how do its inhabitants live?
The history of the Gaza Strip
Like many cities in the Middle East, Gaza is a territory with a long history. It was a royal city for the Philistines and the place where the Hebrew hero Samson died. Later in time, it was a centerpiece for the government of Egypt.
Already when a participation plan was being debated, that is, there would be two states in the place, one Palestinian and the other Israeli, before Great Britain left control of the region, Gaza was an area destined for Arab peoples.
In 1948, during the so-called Israeli War of Independence, Egypt attacked the newly declared country through Gaza. Although Cairo lost the war, Gaza remained under its control and it was then that the arrival of Palestinian refugees to that territory began.
Egypt’s control over Gaza remained stable until 1967, when war broke out between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, the so-called Six-Day War. After this war, Israel finally took control of Gaza. This was the case until 1994. However, Israel’s soldiers did not fully withdraw until 2005.
Gaza, after one of the last bombings. Photo: EFE.
In 2006, Hamas, founded in 1987 as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, won the Palestinian legislative elections and took over the government. Since then, there have been recurring conflicts with Israel.
Lack of water and extreme poverty, life in the Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip is only 41 km long and 10 km wide. It is an enclave of 360 km2 delimited by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt. 2.3 million Palestinians live there, making it one of the most densely populated territories in the world.
For comparison, if London has a population density of 5,700 people per square kilometer, in Gaza it is more than 9,000 inhabitants.
Gaza’s economy, plagued by military conflict, has an unemployment rate of more than 46%, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
More than 80% of the population lives in poverty and the World Food Program considers that 63% of Gazans are “food insecure.” Furthermore, according to the United Nations, 600,000 refugees live there in eight camps.
It is estimated that 95% of the population does not have drinking water and according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, most homes only had electricity for three hours a day.
At this time, Israel announced the total siege of Gaza. This is a military strategy that consists of completely surrounding and blocking a territory or city, preventing the entry and exit of people and supplies, thus completely cutting off the electricity supply.
According to Amnesty International, Israel’s blockade and repeated military offensives “have taken a heavy toll on Gaza’s essential infrastructure and further weakened its health system and economy, leaving the area in a state of disarray. of perpetual humanitarian crisis.” This, they say, is seen in the “shortage of housing, drinking water and electricity, and the lack of access to medicine.”
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, between 2007 and 2018, the Palestinian economy shrank from 31% to 18% and poverty increased, from 40% in 2007 to 56% in 2017. This consolidated dependence on more than 80% of the population of international assistance.
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