Here are eight maps that explain where Gaza is in the region, the historical context, who lives there and what it’s like on the ground.
Hamas, the Islamist political and militant organisation that governs Gaza, left the world reeling last weekend when it stormed across the border into Israel killing festival-goers, and families – including young children and elderly – in their homes, and taking about 200 Israeli hostages back to Gaza.
Here are nine maps that explain where Gaza is in the region, the historical context, who lives there and what it’s like on the ground.The Gaza Strip is one of two territories in the Middle East that comprise the Palestinian Territories. The other is the West Bank, which is much larger, to the east of Israel, and shares a border with Jordan along the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
Hamas, on the other hand, rejects a “two-state solution” and seeks to establish an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel. Hamas has been named by the US and British governments and the European Union as a terrorist organisation because of its armed resistance against Israel, which has included suicide bombings and rocket attacks over the border into Israeli towns.
“That really occurred as the migration of Jews from all over the world into Palestine started to occur under the British Mandate,” Parmeter says. “The question of expanding it could still be argued about, but they would have had something. As it is, they don’t have anything that they can call their own land,” Parmeter adds.When Britain withdrew from the region in 1948, Israel declared itself an independent state and a war ensued with Palestinian Arabs along with five Arab countries that attacked Israel in protest. However, Israel won the war a year later, and it took more territory than it had originally been granted by the UN.
Gaza’s population is packed mostly into five main cities spread out between the north and south of the territory, with Gaza City being the largest. Israel says the blockade is necessary to protect its citizens from Hamas, which gained popularity in Gaza because it was seen as less corrupt and had long advocated armed resistance aimed at overthrowing the Jewish state.
To circumvent the blockade where possible, the Palestinians have built tunnels along the border with Egypt that they use for smuggling arms and food and other goods. There had, however, been improvements this year with Israeli authorities increasing the number of exit permits for Gaza residents, with more exits granted compared with any time since the early 2000s, according to the UN.
Girls sit inside a classroom at an UNRWA school during the first day of a new school year in Gaza City in 2018.The blockade of Gaza by Israel has caused living conditions to deteriorate significantly and about 80 per cent of the population is considered to be living in poverty, according to the UN. The Gaza Strip faces high unemployment rates, with 44 per cent of the population unemployed in 2022, according to UNICEF. But, for those who are employed, there is a range of jobs.
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