The recent violence by Hamas against Israel has once again shifted the world’s eyes back to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hamas who run the impoverished, blockaded Gaza Strip fired thousands of rockets and infiltrated forces into Israel on Saturday.
The violence throws a spotlight on disputes between Israel and the Palestinians that dates back to the 1950s.
What is the Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip is 140 square miles or 365 square kilometres of land located in the southwest corner of Israel, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It shares a border with Egypt to the south.
It has a population of 2.1 million people and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. According to reports, Israel has waged four wars on the Palestinian territories since 2008, killing thousands of people.
The Gaza strip is only 41 km long and divided in five governorates: North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah. Israel severely restricts the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza with devastating humanitarian impact, as per Human Rights Watch.
What is West Bank?
West Bank is another area of land located within the country of Israel, but it is much larger than the Gaza Strip at 5,860 square kilometres.
The Palestinian territory is home to around three million Palestinians. It stretches across the eastern border of Israel along the west banks of the Jordan River and most of the Dead Sea, thus how it received its name.
Who Rules Gaza Strip and the West Bank?
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are two Palestinian territories that were part of Palestine and captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. There are over 5 million Palestinians living in the two territories.
In 1967, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria were involved in a conflict, popularly known as the Six-Day War. Prior to 1967, the Gaza Strip was under Egypt’s control and the West Bank was under Jordan’s control.
However, after the Six-Day War, both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were seized by Israel. Since the war, the tension between Israelis and Palestinians living in the territories has been constant, often ending in violence.
Israel controls all access into the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Palestinians living there are under military occupation and are subject to Israeli restrictions, often depending on aid for food, water, and supplies.
According to Human Rights Watch, Israel has occupied Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem for over 55 years and rely routinely on forcible displacement and excessive force.
Gaza and West Bank’s Conflict with Israel
The Palestinian territories have been conflict with Israel ever since its creation on May 14, 1948, sparking the first Arab-Israeli War. In the first war, that ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory, 750,000 Palestinians were displaced and Israel gained some territory which were under Palestine.
The erstwhile Palestine territory was divided into 3 parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.
Then, in June 1967, Israel attacked Egyptian and Syrian air forces starting the Six-Day War and managed to capture Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem and Golan Heights. Since then, the Palestinian territories of Gaza and West Bank have been in conflict with continuous wars including the First Intifada (1987-1993), Second Intifada (2000-2005), in 2008 and 2012 and so on.
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