The Gaza Strip or simply Gaza, is a pene-exclave region of Palestine on the eastern coast of

the Mediterranean Sea that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) and Israel on
the east and north along a 51 km (32 mi) border. Gaza makes up part of the Palestinian
territories which

includes

theWest

Bank,

and

in

2012

the United

Nations

General

Assembly "accorded Palestine non-Member Observer State status in the United Nations". [2]
In 1994, Israel granted the right of self-governance to Gaza through thePalestinian Authority. Prior to
this, Gaza had been subject to military occupation, most recently by Israel (196794) and
by Egypt (194867) (seeOccupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt), and earlier by Great Britain (1918
48) and Turkey when Gaza had been part of the Ottoman Empire. Gaza has, like Palestine, never
been

sovereign

state

or

territory.

Since

2007,

the

Gaza

Strip

has

been de

facto governed by Hamas, a Palestinian group claiming to be the representatives of the Palestinian
National Authority and the Palestinian people. Gaza forms a part of the Palestinian territory defined
in the Oslo Agreements and UNSC Resolution 1860.[3]
The territory is still considered to be "occupied" by the United Nations, International human rights
organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli
disengagement from Gaza.[4]Israel continues to maintain direct external control over Gaza and
indirect control over life within Gaza through controlling Gaza's air and maritime space, control of six
of Gaza's seven land crossings, reserving the right to reenter Gaza at will through regular military
incursions, maintaining a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory, and maintaining Gaza's
dependence on Israel for trade, water, sewage, electricity, currency, communication networks,
issuing IDs, and permits to enter and leave the territory and the Palestinian Population Registry.[4]
Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91% (2014 est.), the 13th highest in the world, and
is overcrowded.[5][6] There is a limited capability to construct new homes and facilities for this growth.
The territory is 41 kilometers (25 mi) long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, with a
total area of 365 square kilometers (141 sq mi).[7] As of 2014, Palestinians of the Gaza Strip
numbered around 1.82 million people. [6] Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the
Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in
the 1948 war, confirmed by the IsraelEgypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949.[8] Article V of
the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the
Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by theArab
League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority
of Egypt, functioning as puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and
dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the

Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor. Israel captured the Gaza
Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993,
thePalestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population
centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial watersand border crossings with
the exception of the land border with Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their
unilateral disengagement plan. In July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election,
Hamas became the elected government. In 2007 Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza.
This broke the Unity Government between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, creating two separate
governments for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In

2014,

following reconciliation

talks,

Hamas

and

Fatah

formed

a Palestinian

unity

government within the State of Palestine. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister
and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank.[9] In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents
between Hamas and Israel led to the 2014 IsraelGaza conflict.
Following the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the territory has been subjected to a blockade,
maintained by Israel and Egypt, with Israel arguing that it is necessary to impede Hamas from
rearming and to restrict Palestinian rocket attacks. Critics argue the blockade extends to drastic
reductions in basic construction materials, medical supplies, and food stuffs. Under the blockade,
Gaza is viewed by some critics as the "world's largest prison.