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gaza introduction most of the world looks at gaza through a prism of news foota a a age comprised of missile attacks political turmoil and humania tarian crisis however gaza is a vital part of the palestinian entity and identity and its place in the middle of the palestinian a question makes it a prominent focus of global politics in efa fect the fate of gaza and the palestinian people of gaza will parallel that of the conflict as a whole nothing can be decided without factoring in the strip and the 1.5 million inhabitants a that represent 40 percent of the total population in the pala estinian territories with that in mind this bulletin intends to answer the basic questions that surround the territory and its place in the larger picture of the israeliapalestinian conflict it should be mentioned that when we talk of gaza we are talking of the entire gaza strip because the term can also refer to gaza city which is the eponymous city located in the north of the region gaza city is the area s largest metropolis it served as the philistine capital upon their capture of the area in the 13th century bc and became the capital of palestine in 1660 in fact it is one of the oldest cities in the world and has a history of prosperity and importance that stretches back to antiquity for the purposes of this bulletin however the term gaza will refer to the entire gaza strip rather than just gaza city other main centers of population include khan younis and rafah in the south of the territory 1 gazaataglance june 2008 there is a need to go further stereotypical images of gaza which is usually associated with violence and destitution moreover due to the current situation ­ i.e the physical and political separation between the gaza strip and the west bank and the importance of gaza for greater stability middle east ­ it is important to summarize current facts and figures about the gaza strip in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of related issues thus major elements from general statistics to a detailed map and a brief analysis of recent relations between the political tribes of fateh and hamas are provided in this bulletin symbolizingthelackofnormalcyin2008 even in the midst of crisis a simple game can often provide insight into the confusion egyptian football star mohamed aboutreika increased his already sizable popularity among egyptians and gazans alike when after a scoring a goal in the africa cup of nations he lifted his jera sey to show an undershirt with the words sympathize with gaza printed across the chest less than a year earlier the israeli army had decided to punish the palestinians in gaza by using artillery fire to level the only football stadium in the territory an israeli army spokesman was quick to point out that the act of collective punishment was justified saya a ing the terrorism is coming from within them and they need to know that they are the ones suffering 2 the israeli army went on to say the stadium was targeted to send a strong message to the palestinian people against terrorism yet despite the difficulties gazans face in merely engaging in a recreational activity like playing football a dedicated group of young men earned an invitation to compete against top profesa a sional teams in england in the summer of 2007 their chance to represent gaza on an international stage was quashed however when the british government decided to refuse the visa requests for the trip these three instances show how even a game like football can be used as either a symbol of a hope or just another example of the crushing effect the isa raeli occupation has on even the simplest aspects of daily life 2 last jeremy fifa consider action over air strike the jerusalem post 7 april 2006 area:365 km2 a boundaries:51 km israel to north east 11 km egypt to south 40 km mediterranean sea to westa population 1,499,369 people 2007 est a medianage:15.3 yearsa growthrate:3.8 b populationdensity:4,108 persons/km2 b urbanpopulation:63.5 b religion:muslim 99.3 almost all sunni chrisa a tian 7 a refugees 1,030,638 registered with unrwa as of june 2007 47 live in camps c realgdp2007estimate about $3,901 million 14 lower than its peak in 1999d povertyrate:35 or 67 if based only on housea a hold income excl remittances and food aidd 1 statistics from a passia diary 2008 b pcbs 2007 c unrwa june 2007 d world bank april 2008 palestinian academic society for the study of international affairs tel +972-2-6264426 ¢fax +972-2-6282819 ¢ email passia@passia.org ¢ website www.passia.org ¢ po box 19545 jerusalem passia

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gaza historicalbackground palestine maps the g is gaza just a product of the 1948 and 1967 refugee problems absolutely not gaza s roots can be traced back to antiquity and its place atop the headlines of today would be no surprise to those who have inhabited the land over the last few millennia as is the case with jerusalem the first written mentions of gaza come from the egyptians at one time or another this lucrative a strip of coastline has served as an important part of egyptian phila a istine israelite assyrian babylonian persian macedonian hasmoa nean and arab societies it has religious significance for all three monotheistic faiths and exchanged hands on numerous occasions during the crusader period thus the violence of recent years is nothing new for an area that has rarely seen peace a location has played a central role in gaza s importance to cona quering entities as gaza is essentially a bridge between three continents its cities were originally coveted as valuable ports and it served as the main egyptian lifeline to european and middle a eastern powers its allure as an economic artery brought suba sequent invaders and the area was often caught up in the other conflicts that came to historic palestine a the area also holds certain religious siga nificance in the christian and muslim faiths the bible puts gaza at the center of the lives of samson and deliah making it a target for the crusaders in the 12th century the armies of the islamic empire continued on to gaza soon after retaking a jerusalem from the crusaders in part bea cause hashim ibn abd alamanaf the great grandfather of the prophet muhammad is a supposedly buried there hence the hisa torical arab reference ghazzet hashim gaza s historic gold market israel beit lahiya jabalya shati rc rc al-atatra beit hanoun erez crossing west bank gaza gaza strip an-nuseirat rc deir al balah rc bureij rc al-mintar karni crossing al-maghazi rc khan yunis kissufim crossing israel rafah sufa crossing gaza airport 0 10 km map © jan de jong palestinian academic society for the study of international affairs gaza along with the west bank as the home of a new arab state passia tion plan had designated a large area of the coast and negev area this plan was largely rejected in the arab world and the 1948 war was the result by the time the egyptianaisraeli general armistice agreement was signed on 24 february 1949 egyptian forces had a made their way through gaza on their way to tel aviv and the tera ritory was consequently created as a smaller entity placed under egyptian control.the current border between gaza and egypt was formally established by the 1979 israelaegypt peace agreement how has gaza changed hands in modern times gaza along with the rest of palestine a has effectively been an occupied tera a ritory for the last 500 years the ota toman empire conquered the area in 1517 and their rule continued until it fell to the british in the third battle of gaza during the world war i wwi the first and second battles of gaza had ended in stalemates after wwi the territory came under the british mandate of palestine and remained so until 1947 when the british submitted rafah camp 1950 the palestine question to the united nations un in the immediate aftermath of the creation of the a state of israel in may 1948 and the subsequent partition of palesa a tine the population of gaza jumped from just under 100,000 peoa ple to nearly 300,000 due to the influx of refugees most of whom were fleeing the advancing zionist forces from the jaffa area and the negev postawar gaza found itself under egyptian rule while the west bank was controlled by jordan marking the beginning of palestine s division into two separate geographic entities when was gaza reduced to the strip of land that it is today before 1948 gaza was just one part of the continuous area known a as historic palestine and its main population center was an ima a portant coastal city in the ottoman empire the 1947 un partia when did egypt s influence in the area known as gaza begin as far back as we can trace the exa a istence of gaza so can we find an egyptian presence there groups a coming from egypt may have seta tled there as early as 3000 bc and the first mention of the name gaza dates from 1484 bc when the area came under the domain of pharaoh thutmose iii though the territory passed through many hands in the centuries that followed egypt maintained a political and social presence in mohammed ali of egypt gazan affairs.the fatimid dynasty a ­ a shi a caliphate based in cairo ­ gained control in the 10th cena tury and gaza became part of egypt in 1832 under mohammad ali ali and his son ibrahim pasha modernized much of the economic social and political practices in all of palestine during their short reign that lasted from 1832 until ibrahim s death in 1848 has egypt had a hand in gazan affairs in modern times gaza came under egyptian control once again as a result of the events in 1948 it was never annexed however and its residents a were still issued passports by the semi-official all-palestine government until the territory was lost to israel a invading with french and british cooperation a in the october 1956 suez war 2

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gaza for 38 years before it entered a new phase in september 2005 during the 1970s and 1980s the israeli government undertook numerous measures to strengthen their presence in the gaza strip first and foremost confiscating large amounts of land to build settlements resentment stemming from israeli occupation a weak economy and a large refugee population soon made the region a center for palestinian activism and political unrest riots demonstrations and violent confrontations between israelis and palestinians developed into the first intifada which began in gaza s jabalia refugee camp on 9 december 1987 and quickly spread to jerusalem and the rest of the palestinian territories the all-palestine government formed in gaza in september 1948 pressure from the us and the international community soon forced israeli withdrawal and when egypt returned to the gaza strip in 1957 gamal abdul nasser emerged as a proponent of the palestinian cause nasser allowed freer political expression in order to gain wider a support and various palestinian political organizations were suba sequently created.this situation lasted only until 1967 when egypt a once again lost gaza to the israelis and yet the strip and its ina habitants have retained a prominent place in the political rhetoric of egypt and its arab neighbors for example the unilateral peace agreement between israeli prime minister menachem begin and egyptian president anwar sadat at camp david in 1978 caused a ripples throughout the middle east as it normalized relations bea a tween the two nations without a just solution for the palestina ians the camp david accords were in part i do not think nasser wanted war the two an egyptian attempt divisions he sent to the sinai would not have a at finally distancing itbeen sufficient to launch an offensive war self from gaza which he knew it and we knew it a they hoped would bea yitzhak rabin israel s chief of staff in 1967 come part of a future in le monde 28 february 1968 palestinian state the jabaliarefugee camp was estaba a lished in the extreme north of the gaza strip shortly after the creation of the state of israel in 1948 almost 40 years later in dea a cember 1987 a series a of protests in jabaa jabalia refugee camp lia camp grew into the first intifada today with a population of well over 100,000 crowded into an area that measures only 1.4 km2 jabalia is one of the most densely populated places on earth it is the largest of all the refugee camps in the occupied palestinian territories and has a very young population with children under 15 making up the majority of its inhabitants unrwa runs 25 schools in the camp all of which run on two shifts and have an average of 55 children per classroom ma an development center jabalia refugee camp www.maan-ctr.org what happened to gaza during and after the 1967 war t ension between israel and arab countries came to a peak in the a 1960s in may 1967 egyptian president nasser began making bela licose statements asked the un to withdraw its emergency force unef from sinai and the gaza strip and ordered the straits of tiran closed to israeli shipping despite those moves analysts such as avi shlaim in the iron wall and noam chomsky in the fateful triangle believe that nasser never intended to strike israel israel attacked the egyptians beginning on 5 june 1967 and occupied the gaza strip and sinai along with the west bank on the jordanian front and the golan heights on the syrian front in the course of the subsequent 1967 war a ceasefire was agreed to on 10 june a immediately after the war the israeli army issued an order declara ing the strip a closed military area and assumed control of land and water resources the war had also created another influx of refugees and the population of gaza city jumped to six times what it had been just twenty years earlier on 22 november 1967 un resolution 242 called for negotiations towards a permanent peace a between the parties and for israeli withdrawal from lands occua pied in the war since then the resolution has been invoked as the centerpiece for negotiating efforts though with no tangible results to date israel s military occupation remained unchanged in gaza what was gaza s status in the oslo accords in september 1993 israel and the plo signed the declaration of principles these were followed by the oslo i and oslo ii accords which were signed in 1994 and 1995 respectively and provided limited palestinian selfarule in gaza and jericho yasser arafat s return to gaza in 1994 before extending it to other parts of the west bank the first palestinian police forces entered the gaza strip on 10 may 1994 and on 13 may the several civil a spheres were handed over from israel to the palestinian authora ity pa one month later the palestinian security apparatus had a grown to 9,000 members and was divided into national prevena a tive presidential and public security branches on the administraa tive level members of the pa were appointed ministries were a established to form an organizational structure and several boda ies were founded to deal with the aid promised by international donors and other matters e.g pecdar palestinian center for energy etc on 1 july plo chairman yasser arafat crossed the rafah border into the gaza strip for the first time in 25 years a going so far as to purchase a home and make a pledge to revitala ize the territory however israel maintained control over israeli settlements foreign policy and security even though most of their armed forces had withdrawn from gaza by late may 1994 and the pa had assumed administrative control of the gaza north gaza city deir alabalah khan younis and rafah districts 3

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gaza the 1995 agreement also provided for palestinian elections which were held in january 1996;yasser arafat was voted president by a large majority and an 88amember palestinian legislative council plc was also elected hamas islamic jihad and other groups boycotted the elections.the council met for the first time in gaza city in march 1996 a although it withdrew its troops once again in august and sepa tember 2005 israel retains control of air space territorial waters offshore maritime access the population registry entry and exit points regarding both people and goods and the tax system on the other hand egypt has managed to be an intermediary of a sorts between the leaderships of hamas and israel egyptian ina a volvement has been accepted by prime minister olmert and dea fense minister barak on the israeli side and by hamas islamic jihad and others on the palestinian side in march and may 2008 the egyptians came to agreements with all palestinian factions including hamas that allowed them to reaopen the rafah crossing at brief intervals so as to allow patients into egypt for medical treatment it should be mentioned in this regards that egypt deals with hamas in a very different way than it does with a similar group active within its own borders the muslim brotherhood.while it declared the latter illegal and refuses to deal with them it has been willing to negotiate and create a relationship of reciprocity with hamas.their role as a facilitator in the israeli-palestinian conflict ­ similar to the role played by turkey in recent syrianaisraeli negotiations and that of qatar in the internal lebanese tensions ­ seems unlikely to change while a number of israeli politicians have hinted at their desire to turn gaza into an egyptian problem especially after the breach of the rafah crossing those sentiments have died down much to the relief of the egyptians and the palestinians what is the relationship between egypt and gaza today egypt is not completely removed from the current situation in gaza there exists a sentiment of solidarity with gaza among the egyptian public in response to the treatment of its inhabitants by a the occupying israelis though the actions of the egyptian governa ment do not always reflect that solidarity on a more tangible level gaza and egypt share an 11akmalong border control of that a border was handed over to egypt in september of 2005 and ana other agreement was finalized one month later in which egypt would share the responsibility of patrolling the boundary with the newly created eu border assistance mission in rafah see box rafahborder the rafah crossing into egypt is the only exit from gaza that does not pass through israel and as such represents the gazans best hope for access to the wider world however in 1993 it came under israeli military control under the terms of the oslo accords and during the second intifada the israeli army demolished thousands of homes in order to clear a buffer zone near the border to hamper the smuggling of weapons through tunnels to egypt in addition they erected a fortification system with walls and armored outposts to keep palestinians imprisoned in the gaza strip as part of its disengagement from gaza in september 2005 the israeli army handed over control and security responsibilities of the rafah crossing to egypt under eu supervision since hamas took over the gaza strip in june 2007 however the border has been closed it was opened only briefly on january 23 2008 with the explosive breach of the sixameterahigh border wall in which thousands of desperate gazans flooded into egypt to purchase muchaneeded provisions egyptian forces could do little to stem the human traffic from gaza at first but they eventually resealed the border on 3 february it is estimated that palestinians ­ with the blessing of egyptian president hosni mubarak ­ spent hundreds of millions of dollars in that span on the essential goods such as food fuel and cement that were either unavailable or unaffordable back home in gaza the future of the crossing remains unclear with eu observers long gone and egypt acting carefully so as not to challenge israel it is likely that the israelis will continue to exercise significant control over the border it may be that the january breach of the border which so startled egypt will lead president mubarak to adopt a more reasoned strategy towards the crossing and allow some movement of people and goods for now however israel s voice on the issue remains the loudest and their call for security and control continues to drown out the legal and humanitarian concerns for those in gaza gazans bring home fuel bought during the rafah breach in january 2008 disengagementandlegalstatus why did sharon propose disengagement israel s unilateral disengagement plan was first announced during prime minister sharon s address to the fourth herzliya conference on 18 december 2003 and officially introduced in february 2004 at a time when the overall standing of israel and its prime minister was not at its strongest in the diplomatic arena the international criticism of sharon s separation barrier had peaked with the international court of justice hearings in the hague just ahead in addition israel s economy had suffered considerably due to the ongoing conflict with the palestinians 4

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gaza and palestinian resistance groups had managed to carry out painful attacks against israeli forces increasing the cost of keeping an extensive military presence in the gaza strip sharon came under further pressure when part of the israeli left came up with a new agenda ­ the geneva accord of december 2003 ­ that promoted the notion that separation from the palestinians was the only solution to preserve a jewish and democratic israeli state picking up the demographic threat idea sharon managed to hijack the geneva agenda ­ which was supported by europe and higharanking pa personalities ­ and proposed israel s unilateral withdrawal from gaza including evacuation of the settlers there while stressing that israel would never cede jerusalem and the west bank in april 2004 sharon gained us president george w bush s support for the plan on 6 june the israeli cabinet approved it and on 25 october it was endorsed by the parliament however before reaching that point it had met with considerable backlash from the israeli public indeed sharon had actually run a winning campaign based on a rejection of disengagement and any negotiations with palestinians his original proposal for evacuating settlers was struck down in a national referendum and the final approved plan was a revised version a in contrast the measa ure was praised intera a nationally by leaders in europe the un and the us for their part palestinians called a for a complete witha drawal from all their occupied territories not only from gaza pm sharon sweeping the settlements from gaza furthermore they to the west bank ad-dustur 27/7/2005 were convinced that a the plan was first and foremost demographically motivated with israel hoping that by ridding itself of responsibility for the 1.5 million palestinians living in gaza while continuing to exercise exclusive control over the borders and consolidating and expanding control over the west bank it will make up the the significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process when you majority of the popua freeze that process you prevent the establishm a m lation longer than is ment of a palestinian state and you prevent a m currently forecasted discussion on the refugees the borders and jem i.e 2020 israel fura rusalem disengagement supplies the amount of a ther hoped to garner formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the palestinians international support dov weissglas pm sharon s chief of staff quoted in ha aretz 6 oct 2004 a for expanding settlea ments in the west bank in exchange for dumping gaza and to jeopardize the posa a sibility of a viable palestinian state what supports this argument is that sharon could have moved at least a portion of the settlers much earlier as polls have repeatedly indicated that a significant percentage of the settlers were willing to move if compensated evacuated21gazasettlements settlement yearofestablishment atzmona 1979/82 bedolah 1986 dugit 1990 elei sinai 1983 gadid 1982 gan or 1983 ganei tal 1979 kfar darom 1970 kfar yam 1983 katif 1985 morag 1972 netzar hazani 1973 netzarim 1972 neve dekalim 1983 nisanit 1984 pe at sade 1989 rafiah yam 1984 kerem atzmona 2001 shirat hayam 2000 slav 2001 tel katifa 1992 total population endof2004 646 217 79 407 351 351 400 491 10 404 221 461 496 2,671 1,064 104 143 24 40 50 60 8 ,692 source israeli cbs quoted by americans for peace now disengagement profiling the settlements july 2005 the four settlements marked with a are not on the cbs database israel declared a formal end to military rule in the gaza strip on 11 september and the last israeli soldier had left the strip by the next day although large areas of israeli greenhouses were transferred to the palestinians the world bank had already warned as early as june 2004 that the economic benefits of disengagement would be very limited if internal closures are not or only partly eased and the border trade regime is not changed in the pullout s immediate aftermath palestinians rejoiced and a there was talk of a revitalized economy growing in gaza this opa timism did not last long however as the situation in gaza has only deteriorated the palestinians in gaza are effectively locked in a prison and they are worse off by all metrics physically emotiona a ally and economically how was the plan implemented on 16 feb 2005 the knesset passed the disengagement implemena a tation law paving the way for the pullout on 15 august 2005 the gaza strip was closed off to prepare for the evacuation which began a two days later israel then pulled out its troops removed military apa a paratuses and a community of bedouins who were seen as israeli cola laborators and therefore feared for their safety and evacuated some 8,600 jewish settlers a less than 0.7 of the total population in gaza a from 21 settlements 17 alone in the katif bloc in southwest gaza what is the legal status of the gaza strip today israel was hoping to make the world believe that its disengagement from gaza also implied the end of the occupation and that it was thus no longer bound by the provisions of the geneva conventions a and hague regulations concerning occupied territory in its treata ment of gaza residents this is not the case however and israel clearly remains an occupying power with all the corresponding legal responsibility attached to it 5

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gaza under article 42 of the 1907 the hague regulations which are a generally recognized as reflecting customary international law a territory is occupied when a foreign entity exerts effective control over it in terms of military and administrative matters the actual a presence of an army inside the territory is thus not necessarily rea quired to be recognized an occupying power in the case of gaza israel retains control of all land borders air space and sea access revised disengagement plan of 6 june 2004 art 3.1 and reserves the right to prevent the pa from reaopening its airport or building a seaport art 6 a moreover israel controls the population registry including decia sions on who is a resident of gaza and the supply of electricity fuel gas medicines merchandise and water as well as the entry and exit of goods and people to and from the strip art 8 art 10 even with regard to the border with egypt israel a according to the rafah agreement signed on 16 nov 2005 a still retains some power and has been able to order the crossing points closure on several occasions full and exclusive sovereignty of the pa over the gaza strip is further violated by the selfaproclaimed israeli right to use force against palestinians on the pretext of security art 3.3 in addition the ongoing applicability of the 1994 paris economic protocol allows israel to continue to control revenues from taxes and customs including withholding their transfer as it pleases art 10 another important issue addressed by international law is the targeting of civilians collective punishment a enacting punitive measures against a population because of the actions of a few a is expressly forbidden by international law and is prohibited by israel s own laws as well additionally the `general welfare of the civilian population is a responsibility of the occupying power in both cases israel has abandoned and ignored their obligations moreover israel has even adjusted their rules of engagement in a move that makes civilian casualties even more likely before 2006 a artillery shells could not be targeted within 300 meters of resia dential areas but the `safety zone has now been reduced to 100 meters which happens to fall within the kill radius of the shells the opening of yasser arafat international airport near rafah in november 1998 signaled the optimism among palestinians for the future of a palestinian state the terminals were busy 364 days out of the next the destroyed airport year ­ closing only for the jewish holiday of yom kippur ­ and us president bill clinton was among the first passengers that came through more than half a million palestinians per year took advantage of the $86amillion facilities and the opportunity of international travel but that freedom proved to be short lived the airport was open for a mere 23 months before israeli authorities ordered it to be closed following the outbreak of the alaaqsa intifada in september 2000 the radar station and control tower were destroyed by israeli aircraft in 2001 and in january 2002 bulldozers cut the runway apart appeals for the israelis to compensate the palestinian people for the damage and allow the airport to be repaired have so far gone unheeded what are the implications of israel s declaring gaza a hostile entity the israeli government declared the entire gaza strip a hostile entity on 19 september 2007 citing the threats posed by hamas rule and continued palestinian rocket attacks israel s goal in using such terminology was to reduce their responsibility for the safety and wellabeing of gaza s civilian population though this assertion was promptly rejected by the un and others in the international community.yet additional restrictions on gaza followed including the complete closure of all border crossings de facto sealing the strip from the rest of the world disruption of power supplies and fuel shipments increased monitoring of funds a cessation of visits to prisoners and the allowing of only essential food and medicine to be brought into gaza these measure are meant to further erode the quality of life and make it harder for hamas to effectively govern a humanitarian crisis has been the result with i call for israel to reconsider this many considering the israeli decision such a step would be conm m actions to be collective punisha trary to israel s obligations toward a m ment and even crimes against the civilian population under interm national humanitarian and human humanity even so the internaa a rights law tional community has stayed ban ki-moon un secretary-general relatively silent and done little on israel s decision to declare gaza a hostile entity 20 september 2007 to bring about change are there any legal actions that can be taken as of now israeli aggression in gaza continues unabated in january 2008 israel s supreme court upheld the government s decision to reduce the amount of fuel and electricity being supplied to gaza the judges deemed the actions to be a form of economic warfare and agreed with government assertions that the measures were appropriate retaliation for rocket attacks on southern israel so far gazans have found little solace in the international courts and have had to rely on civil society and the outcomes of individual cases which have provided few successes palestinians cannot bring their concerns to the international criminal court without a state and since israel has refused to ratify the icc treaty they are also outside of the court s sovereignty a the israeli courts have thus far managed to find ways around condemning the actions of their government and the international community has been able to do even less though the un eu and international judicial bodies acknowledge the actions of israel a as contrary to intera a national law their hola low condemnations have had no effect on a the situation the isa raeli stranglehold on the civilian population of gaza continues and the rocket attacks on southern israel a israeli occupation shows no signs of easing which are also illegal and must be stopped a do not show signs of abating this much is clear there will be no resolution for the civilians of gaza as long as political struggles continue to usurp legal considerations to sum up disengaged gaza remains an openaair prison under israeli control the palestinians living there are denied their right to security freedom of movement economic opportunity and a connection with their west bank brethren 6

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gaza hamas,fateh,andgaza spoliticalfuture why has gaza become associated with hamas while media coverage and the international community may make it seem like hamas and gaza are synonymous they have always been two separate entities hamas is a political party that was elected by the palestinian people in what eu observers deemed fair and democratic elections with edward mcmillanascott,vicea president of the european parliament and chairman of the ep delegation saying the conduct of these elections has provided a model for the wider arab region and has clearly demonstrated the commitment of the palestinian people to democracy hamas won a majority in the 2006 elections thanks to muslim christian and secular voters throughout the west bank and gaza strip israel and the international community have since forced hamas s hand and isolated gazans from their fellow palestina a ians in the west bank and from the rest of the world in the proca a ess and for better or worse hamas leaders have become the de facto spokesmen for the palestinians in gaza it has been relegated to administering gaza by itself rather than sharing the governing responsibilities of the entire palestinian territories even though they have never had designs on replacing the pa and have puba a licly pledged allegiance to the results of the democratic elections so while hamas is seen by many people inside the west bank and gaza as a legitimate defender a both politically and militarily a of the palestinian people most foreign governments do not share this viewpoint palestinians living under occupation often feel that israel and its allies have stacked the deck against them and hamas is seen as the only party willing a to fight back against occupation yet the party a has been labeled a tera rorist organization by the united states japan canada and israel the group has been banned in jordan the united kingdom and australia gazans celebrate hamas s 20th anniversary only consider the military a wing of hamas a the izzeddin alaqassam brigades a to be a tera rorist group and the eu refers to hamas as involved in terrorist attacks since their electoral victory therefore hamas has been the target of a campaign aimed at marginalizing them and eroding a their influence the isolation of hamas has been stated as the primary goal of the siege on gaza and the group has been excluded a from the peace process despite a majority of israeli citizens saya ing they would prefer peace talks with hamas to ignoring them3 these israelis may have the right idea because hamas has the ability to play the spoiler if any tangible progress is ever made in the peace process in any case it is likely that hamas s reign in gaza ­ and therefore the link between the party and the territory ­ will continue unabated as long as gaza remains closed off and under siege why is hamas so powerful in gaza and not the west bank gaza the january 2006 elections their hold has always been strongest in gaza it was there that hamas was officially founded as a resistance movement in 1987 and its origins go back much further one of its founders sheikh ahmed yassin was active in the religious and charitable life of gaza and the west a bank in the 1960s when israeli oca cupation was in its early stages and new political outlets were growing out of the urge to throw off the grip of the israelis yassin and others had a strong ties to the muslim brothera hood in egypt and founded a gaza branch at the outbreak of the first a intifada in december 1987 its origia a nal charter marked by palestinian naa sheikh ahmed yassin tionalism and antiaisrael sentiments came out in august 1988 since then the group has undergone an evolution of sorts from social movement to political party hamas has maintained its religious roots but it is the militant wing that has stirred up the most recrimination still support for hamas was a largely built upon the services it provides for the needy and its cora ruptionafree image rather than their violent attacks on israelis the popularity of hamas reached the point that the group transitioned into electoral politics in 2005 while it boycotted the presidential election in january of that year which ended with mahmoud abbas replacing the deceased yasser arafat it did participate in the municipal elections and won control of over one third of the councils they further challenged the palestinian political establishment a mainly the ruling fateh party a which had been derided as corrupt and ineffective when contesting in the parliamentary elections of 2006 from which they emerged victorious their list of change and reform earned 42.9 of the vote and 74 of the 132 seats what caused the rift between hamas and fateh actually the two factions have clashed almost since the creation of hamas at the beginning of the first intifada at that time the nascent islamic resistance movement presented a new challenge to the plo factions that had organized under the banner of the united national leadership of the uprising unlu when fateh and the plo accepted un resolution 242 in the 1988 pnc it succeeded in demonstrating its pragmatism to the world but a ceded some sympathies and credibility among the people to haa mas which henceforth appeared as the steadfast alternative to the weakened fateh which had implicitly recognized israel hamas gained further popularity during the intifada years through a israel s campaigns of arrest and deportation of hundreds of haa mas s activists israel s declaring hamas an illegal organization and a the movement s antiapeace process stand first violent clashes bea a tween the two groups occurred in 1991 and 1992 and their posia tions drifted further apart during the period of the oslo accords which hamas not only opposed but tried to jeopardize through series of deadly attacks and suicide bombings against israeli targets in the wake of these attacks the newly established pa run by arafat and fateh were pressured by israel and the us to crack down on a hamas as a precondition for future negotiations when hamas rea jected a call by the pa made in meetings in cairo in 1995 to join the pa reduce violence and back peace pa security jailed hundreds of hamas operatives due to its objection to the oslo process hamas also refused to participate in the 1996 elections for the presidency is where the muslim brotherhood was established in the 1930s and a where the roots of the hamas movement lie though the movea ment made considerable strides in the west bank as evidenced by 3 poll most israelis back direct talks with hamas on shalit ha aretz 27 february 2008 7

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gaza timelineofevents sept 2000 july 2002 march 2003 jan 6 2004 alaaqsa intifada begins senior hamas leader salah shehadeh is assassia a nated by israel in gaza a leader of hamas s military wing ibrahim alamakada meh is assassinated by israel in gaza hamas official abdel aziz al-rantissi offers a 10 year a truce hudna in exchange of israel s complete witha drawal to the 1967 borders in gaza a hamas founder sheikh ahmad yassin is assasa sinated by israel in gaza replaced by abdel aziz alarantissi a hamas s abdel aziz alarantissi is assassinated by isa rael in gaza khaled masha al is named new overall leader and mahmoud zahar new leader in gaza sheikh izzeddin khalil in charge of hamas s military wing outside the opt is assassinated in damascus assistant of military wing leader mohammed deif adnan ghoul is assassinated by israel in gaza plo chairman and pa president yasser arafat dies plo chairman mahmoud abbas is elected in the a presidential elections to replace yasser arafat haa mas boycotts the elections hamas participates successfully in several rounds of municipal elections hamas proclaims tahdiyah a period of calm hamas wins 74 of the 132 seats in the plc eleca a tions fateh refuses to join a government formed by haa a mas first round of heavy fighting mecca accord is signed between fateh and hamas the plc approves the new national unity governa a ment second round of heavy fighting new fighting begins dubbed the battle of gaza hamas fighters take control of the fateh hq in gaza hamas completes takeover of the gaza strip pres abbas dissolves the national unity governa a ment declares state of emergency pres abbas installs an emergency cabinet headed by pm salam fayyad haniyeh still exercises de facto authority in the gaza strip march 22 2004 april 17 2004 helped consolidate hamas s political power hamas won their seats with an electoral a strategy that was more reaa soned and pragmatic than that of fateh which appeared disunited and had to struggle a with accusations of corrupa tion furthermore in many a races multiple fateh candia a dates ran for a post simultanea ismail haniyeh celebrates after the 2006 elections ously splitting votes amongst themselves and subsequently losing to a single hamas figure sept 26 2004 oct 2004 nov 11 2004 jan 2005 2005 march 2005 jan 25 2006 march 17 2006 dec 2006 feb 8 2007 march 17 2007 may 2007 june 10 2007 june 12 2007 june 14 2007 june 15 2007 june 17 2007 why did the hamas-fateh hostilities increase after the hamas election victory in 2006 when israel and the west demanded that newlyaelected hamas renounce violence recognize the jewish state and promise to abide by past peace agreements such as the 1993 oslo accords hamas leaders only went as far as omitting its call for the destruction of a israel from its election manifesto calling instead for the establisha ment of an independent state whose capital is jerusalem as a result international sanctions were imposed upon the palestinians foreign aid to the pa was suspended and israel stopped the transfer of palestinian taxes leading a to a severe liquidity cria sis and an unprecedented a deterioration of the loa cal economy especially in gaza officials from fateh a and hamas began criticiza ing each other and the tensions began to boil over hamas fighters in gaza into violence after dozens of deaths in the internecine fighting that followed a hasty truce was brokered by king abdullah of saudi arabia meeting in mecca in february 2007 the leaders of fateh and hamas signed a an agreement to stop the clashes and form a national unity governa ment this was presented to the plc on 17 march but violence soon flared up again with dozens of street battles kidnappings and property seizures dubbed the battle of gaza the fighting led to hamas prevailing in gaza and securing control of the strip in the a aftermath president abbas dissolved the national unity governa ment in june and appointed a provisional caretaker government under prime minister salam fayyad although he had no power to affect hamas s hold on the gaza strip israel which had suspended all contacts with the pa when hamas won the elections resumed meetings between president abbas a and pm olmert after the dissolution of the hamasaled governa ment a move regarded by hamas as proof of the collaboration between fateh and the israeli government and the plc though several members ran independently and won a during those years the profile of hamas rose as the main opposition to yasser arafat s plo of which it has never been a member a hamas stepped in to fill the void created by a weakened the socioa economic and political infrastructure due to continued israeli aga a gression and a stalemate in the peace process it provided social cula tural and educational services running clinics schools and welfare projects in addition to its militant resistance to the occupation in the following years the two factions struggled to coexist and with the beginning of the second intifada in september 2000 the a national and islamic forces a thirteenamember coordination coa alition of fateh hamas islamic jihad and others was even formed though hamas recognizing its growing strength and influence at the expense of its rival fateh a continued to refuse offers to join the pa a the latest wave of factional fighting can be traced back to the aftermath of the death of yasser arafat in november of 2004 and the subsequent presidential municipal and legislative elections that hamas disperses a pro-fateh demonstration in gaza city in august 2007 8

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gaza how much support does hamas really have there is no question that hamas is in charge in gaza after its coup in june 2007 there were isolated incidents of interafactional violence over the latter half of 2007 hamas forcibly dispersed public demonstrations organized by fateh and expressions of supa a port for the caretaker government in ramallah became taboo the breaching of the rafah border crossing in late january 2008 the israeli military incursions that followed in february and the stagnation of the annapolis process all contributed to the rise in support for hamas polling conducted in march of 2008 showed the popularity ratings of hamas growing and approaching those of fateh in both the west bank and gaza with more respondents naming the administration of ismail haniyeh as the legitimate gova a ernment than that of salam fayyad at the same time haniyeh s popularity had reached its highest point since hamas s electoral victories in 2006 and a presidential election between him and abbas would have been a dead heat in gaza fateh s foothold has been almost completely eroded though there are ostensibly still a few operatives working in the territory they have extremely limited funds with which to run any sort of initiatives the preventive security forces led by moa a hammad dahlan were routed in the hamas takeover a chain of events that was slightly surprising given the number and strength of fateh fighters that were in the strip at the time and the group is no longer functional there 4 proposals and wait for hamas to become more flexible in its dea mands while it is true that hamas is a resistance movement the group s roots in islam provide it with a model for pursuing peace rather than war working towards a tahdiya a a calming down rather than a final truce may be the only option hamas has due to the internal palestinian struggles and their desire to avoid legita a imizing the israeli occupation however israel s policies of labeling hamas a terrorist organization condemning all of gaza because of the hamas presence declaring the strip a hostile entity and refusing to take an official stance on hamas s offers of peace have severely damaged the prospects of a lasting truce it seems that any progress towards at least a temporary end to the violence in gaza is quickly followed by comments or events that make a truce seem almost impossible in june of 2008 haa a mas relayed a letter from the kidnapped israeli soldier gilad shalit to his family as a sign of goodwill to the israelis at the same time egyptian leaders were working to find some sort of common ground between israel and hamas that would allow for a ceasea fire yet israeli officials were still discussing the possibility of a fullascale military invasion of gaza showing once again that the state of israel neither believes in nor wants a diplomatic solution when it comes to gaza yet even in this seemingly impossible climate egyptian officials managed to broker a tentative ceasefire between hamas and israel in early june 2008 the deal included a temporary stoppage of attacks from both sides an israeli promise of very limited relaxation of border controls in order to allow more supplies to enter gaza and the possible return of gilad shalit still the agreement was extremely short term and the merits of its implementation remain to be seen both the israelis and the palestinians have internal political obstaa a cles that must be overcome before they will have the strength to sign a truce much like ariel sharon had to build up his influence and credibility within israel before he could push his disengagea a ment plan so too must the current palestinian and israeli leadera a ships consolidate their power before either side can come to the negotiating table with anything tangible to offer how likely is reconciliation between hamas and fateh the early summer of 2008 saw the possibility of reconciliation between the two main palestinian factions grow stronger than it had been since the devastating events of june 2007 the yemeni initiative that brought the two sides together in march 2008 may not have delivered a lasting resolution but it laid the groundwork for future agreements by early june a a full year after hamas took over in gaza a president abbas was publicly inviting all factions to participate in comprehensive talks and he did so without putting forth any conditions as his hope for an agreement between hima a self and israeli prime minister ehud olmert fades and as palesa a tinians increasingly lose faith in his ability to bring about change president abbas has become galvanized in his efforts to avoid a complete collapse of the palestinian political structure another meeting between hamas and fateh officials took place in senegal in june 2008 and was mediated by senegalese presia a dent aboulaye wade who also serves as the chairman of the organization of the islamic conference oic hamas leader khaled mashaal subsequently stated that the group was ready for a national palestinian dialogue for reconciliation and abbas asserted that such a dialogue is the only thing that would lead to improvement in gaza arab leaders a especially those in riyadh and cairo a have welcomed the initiative and come with offers to host future talks the arab world could become increasingly involved in gazan affairs as there have even been mentions of an arab administration assuming control of the strip with the end of his term on the horizon abbas has pledged supa a port for early presidential and legislative elections if substantial progress is made towards reconciiation between hamas and fateh yet many questions still remain as uncertainty hangs over the moa a tives of abbas the willingness of hamas to cede gaza and the outcomes of any future elections where is gaza heading the rift that has developed between the two preeminent parties in the palestinian poa a litical spectrum has been a disaster for the people they govern in the west bank and gaza now more than ever the two territories are separate entities and they are drifting a hamas gunman outside fateh s gaza headquarters farther apart each day it has reached the point that palestinians have taken to calling the split wakseh which means `humiliation or `ruin in arabic in the end all of the parties involved must realize that they must strive for the same thing a united and democratic palestinian state the international response to the hamas takeover was to isolate gaza a move leaders in the west hoped would drive hamas into collapse or at least force them to ease their harsh rhetoric.when president abbas swore in a new caretaker government on 17 june 2007 and declared the hamas authority in gaza illegal israel and the international community endorsed those moves and began to reinstate financial and technical assistance in actuality quarantina ing hamas and propping up the new emergency pa led by aba a bas and prime minister salam fayyad has not broken the hamas regime in gaza and yet it seems the us israel and the quartet are still willing to gamble on ignoring hamas and the influence they could wield over the peace process what are the prospects for ending the siege in gaza while hamas has repeatedly offered to agree with israel on a break in the fighting the israelis have been content to ignore the 4 palestinian center for policy and survey research psr palestinian public opinion poll no 27 13a15 march 2008 9

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gaza socio-economicsituation why has gaza such a high population density the demographic problem goes back to the un partition plan of 1947 which divided palestine into two states ­ one jewish and one arab ­ whereby gaza was part of the arab state during the subsequent war of 1948 some 200,000 palestinian refugees flooded into the gaza strip from parts of palestine that had come under jewish control thereby doubling its population this influx has created many problems as the local economic and political structures were not able to support the large population which has been largely dependant on the support of the united nations relief and works agency for palestinian refugees in the near east unrwa ever since what has become of gaza s traditional social order the deacentralized clan system had always been an integral part of gazan society and with the weakening of the influence of the a fatehaled palestinian authority in gaza as the postaarafat era bea a gan various prominent families stepped in to share the governa ing responsibilities by mida2006 the authority of these clans had developed to the point that they armed their own militias and a instituted social programs within their territories in short the ara eas controlled by clans amounted to autonomous regions within gaza so when hamas took control of gaza in june of 2006 they had to contend with a social structure that was ingrained in the culture of the strip at first the clans resisted violently against hamas rule clashes among rival clans shifting allegiances between fateh and hamas and general disarray characterized the months following the hamas takeover even the high-profile kidnapping of bbc journalist alan johnston stemmed from these feuds and hamas s ability to secure a his release ­ albeit after johnston had already spent 114 days in capa a tivity ­ was a symbol of the progress the party had made in restora ing order to gaza johnston had been seized by the army of islam a marginal group dominated by the powerful dughmush clan which a demanded a prisoner exa change with great britain a and the release of promia nent islamist abu qatada in their campaign to curb the power of the clans a hamas confiscated weapons banned masks and a roadblocks and succeeda ed in limiting clan activity throughout the territory ismail haniyeh and alan johnston after the latter s release in july 2007 still it would be a mistake to assume that the powerful families in gaza are unconditionally loyal to hamas and there is little doubt that their influence will be felt the moment their constituents interests are threatened in the end many gazans are socially and economically dependent on the patronage of their clan and their allegiances lie with those powerful families before party or country cent years can be at least partly attributed to the a correlation between pova a erty and radicalism meana ing it is rooted in gaza s dire economic situation a furthermore the exista ence of different dialects unconnected economies almost no intermarriage and a travel ban between the west bank and gaza strip has made it difficult for the people to think alike and make joint decisions even parliamentarians and employees of the same ministry ­ when there is one in ramallah and another in gaza ­ can only interact via electronic media a plans for a physical connection between the palestinian territoa a ries have never come to fruition the 1993 declaration of princia ples asserted that gaza and the west bank are a single territorial unit and the 1995 oslo ii interim agreement proposed the idea of a safe passage for palestinians between the two entities yet the concept never moved past the bargaining table as the israeli government has made the chances of a bridge rail line or other connection very remote 5 how has the gazan economy fared in recent years while gaza has never been an economic powerhouse the decia a mated state of its economy today is unheard of in the region the israeli closures and military strikes that began with the first intifada and only intensified during the second intifada have been taken to another level since hamas s electoral victory in 2006 leaving economic opportunities in gaza all but nonexistent sala a ary payments to about 160,000 civil servants were suspended by early march 2007 and later only m partially covered through the gaza risks becoming a virtum m eu s temporary international ally 100 percent aidmdependm ent closedmdown and isolated mechanism and bilateral donor community within a matter of funds public investment in the months or weeks if the present last two years has nearly died regime of closure continues away most private businesses filippo grandi deputy head have ceased their operations and of unrwa 9 august 2007 importaexport restrictions have caused 95 of industrial activity to be suspended.6 the number of new company registrations had declined to zero by the end of 20077 the public infrastructure has been devastated first by repeated israeli military incursions and then by a lack of tools and cement to make even minor repairs.the damage done to homes land and a infrastructure amounts to tens of millions of us dollars palestina ians in gaza cannot get access to the raw materials they need and even if they could the possibility of exporting products are slim to none this along with the threat of destruction has kept away any potential donors or investors the agricultural sector has been particularly ravaged as farma a ers must contend with israeli regulations that restrict them to growing only crops that do not rise above 40 centimeters.8 these measures have ostensibly been put in place for security reasons 5 see justin lonergan connecting the west bank and gaza strip questions of `safe passage presented at a conference at roger williams university spring 2004 6 unsco socio-economic fact sheet november 2007 7 ibid 8 oxfam et al the gaza strip a humanitarian implosion joint agency report march 2008 do palestinians in gaza differ from those in the west bank palestinians are palestinians whether they are from the west bank a or gaza but circumstances have pushed the two territories fura ther apart in recent years and exaggerated the differences between gazans and west bankers palestinians in gaza have traditionally a been more conservative than their brethren the west bank for exa a ample but much of the rise in militancy and religiosity in gaza in rea 10

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gaza agriculture in the strip was once dominated by citrus crops bea a fore israel intervened in 1968 the israeli citrus market did not want the competition from gaza and the israeli army claimed militants could take cover in the groves even the strawberries and carnations that gaza was known for more recently can no longer be shipped outside of the territory and are often left to rot at closed checkpoints strawberriesandcarnations gazan strawberries were once a ubiquitous delight found throughout the region as the fruit grows especially well in gaza soil partly because of the high content of clay and sand strawberries a one of the few small crops that can be grown in gaza a have become so important to the economy that usaid s development efforts have turned to projects based on the cultivation of strawberries the fruit combines with large quantities of carnations to make up the bulk of the agricultural output in gaza today however none of these efforts are profitable for the farmers who having been cut off from international markets are left to either feed their yield to livestock or leave it to rot according to a poll released in early 2008 economic hardship a was the most worrying issue for 30 of gazans a shocking statisa tic in a place where security concerns and political turmoil would be expected to be the primary causes of distress.9 by public salaries it is no wonder then that both sides have organa a ized protests around the issue of unpaid salaries in an attempt to discredit the other party the hardships of rising that gaza has been associated with violence unemployment and is indisputable that this violence is a direct the corresponding dea outgrowth of economic decline and social a crease in incomes have fracture is equally indisputable been compounded by sara roy failing peace gaza and the palestinianisraeli conflict london 2007 p 170 a soaring prices intera national humanitarian agencies have been frustrated by the difficulty in gaining clearance a for their goods be they raw materials or food since israel has lima ited the supplies entering gaza to the point that the daily imports equal only about 15 of what they were before the blockade began in 2007.12 the only class of expenditures listed in the consumer price index that have declined in any meaningful way in recent years is recreational and cultural goods and services while prices for all other goods and services a medical food transport etc a have ina a creased in 2007 households spent an average of 62 of their total income on food compared with 37 just three years before.13 how has this affected jobs and living standards the lack of commerce and trade has led to an unprecedented increase in unemployment which a had reached approxia mately 50 in may 2008.10 over 35,000 people were a employed in 3,900 factoa ries throughout gaza in june of 2005 but those numbers had fallen to only 1,700 employees and 195 factories just over two years later.11 also a lack of feul has crippled the once-thriving fishing industry in gaza leaving many fisherman without work ironically the gazan economy was once deeply intertwined with a israel s and the economic implications of the closures are exaca erbated by the loss of such a partner in 2000 there were 24,000 gazans who were employed in israel today there are zero the continuous increase in public sector employment is a direct result a of this situation the hamas takeover created many new adminisa trative jobs which have become increasingly sought after but the a distribution of salaries has been sporadic and there is little cona fidence among civil servants that their positions offer a steady paycheck on which they can support their families in all over onea third of all palestinians in the occupied territories are supported 9 palestinian center for policy and survey research psr palestinian public opinion poll no 27 13a15 march 2008 see also http www.pcpsr.org 10 oxfam et al the gaza strip a humanitarian implosion joint agency report march 2008 11 ibid a girl searching garbage near beit hanoun until foreign governments are willing to accompany their monetary handouts a with corresponding poa a litical efforts their investa ments will be going to shraga brosh chairman of the waste overall the benefits israeli association of industrialists a of development under oca quoted in gisha s commercial closure deleting gaza s economy a cupation tend to be illusoa from the map july 2007 ry and negligible but they are nonexistent in gaza a one thing is sure little will change in gaza without a commita ment to international law no matter how much money the outside world is willing to throw at the palestinians the economic boycott on the gaza strip will result in a humanitarian disaster fueling flames and leading to deterioration of the security situation m a situation that will be destructive to the israeli economy how does gaza s economy compare with that of the west bank the world bank reports that the economic backbone of gaza has been eroded while both the west bank and gaza have seen increased poverty rates in recent years that number has surged in gaza to the point that twoathirds of the population lives in poverty based on household incomes.14 as a result the economic divide between the two territories is just another in a long line of factors that separate palestinians in gaza from those in the west bank while the west bank at least has some semblance of economic 12 ibid 13 unsco socio-economic fact sheet november 2007 14 world bank west bank and gaza economic developments and prospects march 2008 11

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gaza opportunity a march 2008 report by the world bank asserts that gaza has been transformed into a consumer economy driven by public sector salaries and humanitarian assistance only 15 about 80 of the gazan population a relies on some form of un humania tarian assistance and according to a the palestinian federation of indusa tries approximately 95 of gaza s a industrial operations have been susa pended due to israeli restrictions drivers are forced to run their cars on cooking oil israeli restrictions on what crops can be farmed and a the lack of an export mara a ket have made it imposa sible for gazans to grow their own food making a matters worse israeli ema bargoes have created a situation in which there is little affordable food left in gazans are dependent on external food aid gaza as a result food prices have risen as supply has dwindled a limited access to fresh food and water chronic power cuts affecta ing electric water pumps have left 50 of gaza households short of fresh drinking water has furthermore led to unprecedented levels of malnutrition it is estimated that about half the children are mildly malnourished while 32 are suffering secondadegree and 16 thirdadegree malnutrition.19 according to the palestinian central bureau of statistics 10.7 of gazan children under five are suffering stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition health sanitation israeli policy of limiting the daily amount of fuel and electricity to gaza has not only made healthcare unreliable and inadequate but leaves entire hospitals without electricity for 8 to 12 hours per day they are dependent on backup generators which in turn depend on fuel water and sewage plants cannot function without power leaving an estimated 25a30 of gazans without running water while 40a50 million clean drinking water is sparse in gaza liters of sewage floods untreated into the sea each day.20 in general gaza lacks the tools and cement to make any significant repairs to its infrastructure additionally the needs of the sick and injured are ignored by the israeli authorities from october to december 2007 alone who reported that 20 patients including five children died because they were not allowed to cross the border into israel in order to receive medical treatment in december 2007 over oneathird of patients who applied for a temporary permit to leave the strip via israel were denied moreover,who figures suggested that in january 2008 19 of necessary medicines and 31 of vital medical equipment were lacking in gaza and many departments in emergency medical centers and ambulances ceased operation due to lack of fuel 21 education if gaza ever gets the chance to develop it will need bright and open minds to lead the way forward in gaza however providing children with an education under the stranglehold of israeli occupation is next to impossible even the students who are lucky enough to still be able to attend school have been forced to make due with a a crippled educational system shortages of power inadequate texta books and a lack of safety have rendered the educational system almost completely broken unrwa reported in late 2007 that nearly 80 of children in grades four through nine failed to pass their classes over 2,000 children dropped out of school during the 19 pchr report 15 february 2008 20 the gaza strip a humanitarian implosion op.cit 21 b tselem the gaza strip grave dearth of medical supplies and lifesaving treatments 15 may 2008 see http www.btselem.org/english/gaza_strip/20080515_medical_system.asp what key recommendations does the world bank suggest for palestinian economic recovery?16 for the government of israel · removal of checkpoints and barriers as conflict and economic · developing gazaawest bank transa crisis feed one another in a a malevolent cycle a genm m port links · improving the management of bora eration of young men and a women is growing up in der passages and facilities an environment of curfews · increase shortaterm access of pala movement restrictions and a urban decay their experim m estinian labor to israel m · strengthen implementation of the ence is reflected in declinm ing grades high levels of a 1994 paris protocol governing ecoa dysfunctional stress and as nomic relations between israel and frequently shown in credm m the palestinian territories ible opinion polls widem m for the palestinian authority against israelis · establish civilian authority of secua the world bank disengagea rity services ment the palestinian economy and the settlements · undertake judicial reforms june 2004 · efficiently manage public recurrent expenditure · develop a proactive antiacorruption strategy · ensure transparent management and disposal of settlement assets that are handed over humanitariancrisis spread support for violence how has israel s siege affected the people of gaza israel s actions resulted in the worst humanitarian crisis in gaza since at least 1967 it is a manamade plight not one brought on by a natural disaster as the crisis faced by gazans is rooted in israeli measures of collective punishment international calls for restraint on the part of the israelis have gone unheeded and the siege continues with no end in sight the impact is felt in almost every part of life food and nutrition the situation in gaza has devolved to the point that civilians face a dayatoaday struggle to feed themselves and their families over 80 of gazans now rely on humanitarian assistance from international a sources with over 1.1 million people getting their daily nourisha ment from food aid.17 there are ten times more people dependant on unrwa food aid alone than there were just ten years ago.18 15 16 17 18 ibid world bank questions and answers http go.worldbank.org/kst8hj6ct0 bbc news online fuel crisis halts gaza food aid 24 april 2008 oxfam et al the gaza strip a humanitarian implosion joint agency report march 2008 12

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gaza 2007 academic year compua a ter classes science labs and extracurricular activities had been largely cut out because they consume too much a power a recent study estia mated that to reach at least current west bank standards children in rafah get a ride to school gaza s educational system needs at least 7,616 additional teachers and 4,749 new classrooms by 2010.22 however education carries far less weight in an area so devoid of hope israeli policy and aga a gression is damaging gaza s future just as much as its present in september 2007 unrwa a which has taken responsibility for the education of 200,000 school children in gaza or about half the total a stated that 30 of their students were without texta a a books which the israeli army prevented from entering in addia tion as the texts used in the paarun public schools are printed in gaza and the israeli ban on supplies was extended to raw materia a als such as paper and ink a severe shortage in textbooks evolved when the school year began the palestinian education ministry said 27 of its textbooks had not been printed after the closing of rafah crossing in june 2007 722 palestina a ian university students studying abroad were trapped in gaza a about 30 study in us universities and 10 in the uk another 2,000 students enrolled in foreign schools were also trapped they are a part of the 7,500 gazans who need permission to continue their work education or medical treatment outside of gaza in january 2008 there were 625 gaza students still trapped in gaza and unable to continue their studies source the right to education fact sheet right to education campaign birzeit university 17 may 2008 studentstrapped externalplayers what is the position of the united states according to president bush reaching a lasting peace between a israel and the palestinians devela oped into a serious goal of his administration during his second a term in 2005 he endorsed shaa ron s disengagement plan as a positive step towards the road map for peace bush made his first olmert and abbas with us visit to israel and the occupied secretary of state condoleeza rice palestinian territories in january 2008 and a push for more purposeful negotiations soon followed the merits of the bush administration s efforts remain to be seen but it is clear that the israeli-palestinian conflict had been on their radar long before the public maneuvering of the annapolis process in march 2008 reports surfaced that confirmed hamas claims that covert actions of the united states had been a primary factor in the split between hamas and fateh a split that left gaza isolated and under siege.25 leaked documents and statements from former top officials showed that the us had been caught off guard by the hamas victory in the 2006 elections in response it set out to implode the subsequent unity government by essentially fomenting a palestinian civil war.the american plan was to arm certain groups within fateh and influence them to push hamas officials from any position of power the hamas takeover of gaza was a response instead of a provocation it was essentially a preemptive maneuver to deflect the american influence since that time the united states has claimed to approach the peace process with a new resolve but in reality it has maintained a policy of ignoring and isolating gaza and hamas and stepped up the proaisraeli rhetoric to new levels president bush during his visit to israel in may 2008 continued to pledge his support for the jewish state and made repeated references to israel s biblical right to land and security in a speech to the knesset in may 2008 students from gaza are also forbidden from attending palestinian unia a versities in the west bank.the argument used by the state was that a once they were given permits to leave they would become informaa a tion carriers while prior to thealaaqsa intifada gaza students coma prised 25 of the students of west bank universities including 350 students at birzeit university alone23 there are close to none today through israeli imposed movement restrictions students have a also been systematically deprived of their right to enroll and cona tinue their education abroad whether in the arab world or other countries this is a clear form of collective punishment which is prohibited by international law.24 in may 2008 the us state department revoked all fulbright scholarships that had been granted to exceptional palestinian students in gaza because they feared israel would not let the students leave gaza to study abroad the official israeli rea sponse was that education does not fall under the umbrella of humanitarian concerns which are the only instances in which palestinians would be allowed to leave gaza however gova a ernment spokespeople also said that the state department never even asked to get visas for the students instead of chala a lenging israel on the oppressive closure policy in gaza the us chose to punish palestinian students source u.s withdraws fulbright grants to gaza new york times 30 may 2008 22 harvard university population projections for socioeconomic development in the gaza strip june 2006 23 the right to education fact sheet right to education campaign birzeit university 17 may 2008 24 ibid u swithdrawsfulbrightgrants what role does the un play in gaza following the 1948 war a and the creation of the pala estinian refugee problem a the un established una rwa to carry out direct a aid programs for the refua gees originally envisaged as a temporary organization unrwa s mandate has children play in the streets of nuseirat refugee camp south of gaza city been repeatedly renewed in the absence of a solution to the refugee problem over the years unrwa adjusted its programs to meet the changing needs and has evolved into the main provider of basic services a education health and social services a to over 4.4 million registered palestine refugees in the middle east jordan lebanon syria the west bank and the gaza strip in the gaza strip over threeaquarters of the current estimated population of some 1.5 million are registered refugees the un was in favor of israel s 2005 disengagement as a first step towards a resumption of the peace process in accordance with a the road map since then however its various agencies operata a ing in gaza have repeatedly warned that the ongoing israeli milia tary attacks and counterattacks which come on top of an already deteriorating humanitarian situation are pushing the palestinians into an ever deeper crisis 25 rose david the gaza bombshell vanity fair april 2008 13

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gaza the un considers the blockade of gaza as a form of collective punishment for the strip s population and as such a violation of international law it has repeatedly urged israel to guarantee unrestricted and secure access to gaza for humanitarian supplies and relief workers on numerous occasions the un has also condemned israel for using excessive force in the gaza strip and demanded a halt to its offensives.the un shares the position that gaza is still occupied security isthereanylevelofinternalsecurityingazatoday personal security in gaza has reached an allatime low since the recent israeli siege with no place where one can feel safe a not in the schools not at home not anywhere israeli military actions a ostensibly in response to the rockets27 that continue to land in isa raeli towns like sderot and ashkelon that lie near the border are a a constant threat.the israeli human rights organization b tselem esa timates that 47 of the 2,679 palestinians killed in gaza between a september 2000 and february 2008 were civilians not participata ing in hostilities.the number was already added to in march when over 100 people were killed in indiscriminate israeli attacks what is the position of the european union in recent years the involvea a a ment of european couna tries has become more consolidated and focused on providing assistance to a palestinians the paris doa nor s conference in 2007 was organized by european leaders and resulted in $7.4 billion in aid being pledged prime minister salam fayyad appealed to the to the palestinians european nations for financial suuport with respect to gaza though european leaders have done little a beyond calling for restraint during israel s siege despite recogniza a ing the 2006 palestinian elections as free and fair and despite shara ing the position that gaza is still occupied the eu has joined in the a isolation of hamas and gaza europe was gaza s main export mara ket before the israeli siege and yet the eu has been quiet on the economic disaster that donors in my view would be ill advised has since transpired in to inject large additional sums of money gaza it is doubtful that today unless the policy conditions are the paris conference put in place that will enable palestinian will show any benefits economic recovery it s simply a waste for gaza much more of money a likely it was just ana world bank s regional director nigel roberts quoted in world bank condiother move to bolster tions not right for massive investment in mahmoud abbas and pa ap/guardian 7 july 2005 support development under occupation israeli forces fire artillery shells into gaza what has the arab league done with regard to gaza the answer is unfortunately not much while the crisis in gaza and the internal fighting between hamas and fateh have appalled the arab league they have accomplished little in bringing an end to either situation.they have of course been critical of the israeli army and their actions in gaza classifying the death and destruction there as crimes against humanity 26 in response to the overall israeli-palestinian conflict the arab league has repeatedly called for an independent palestinian state made up of the west bank gaza and a capital of east jerusalem this proposed solution was first outlined by the league in its arab peace initiative in march 2002 and has been reiterated ever since the league has also offered to play a mediating role between hamas and fateh much like it has done throughout the recent instability in lebanon and president abbas began touring arab countries in june 2008 in order to appeal for help in bridging the divide between hamas and fateh yet despite having kept gaza at the forefront of their discussions and thoughts the arab league has been unable to have any tangible effect on the ground 26 ha aretz via reuters 3 may 2008 www.haaretz.com the circumstances are skewed in favor of the israeli forces which a have obvious advantages in training and weaponry over their couna terparts in gaza prior to the disengagement israeli army tactics a included dooratoadoor raids and ground offensives attempting to dea stroy the infrastructure of tunnels and rocket launching sites since the army has left the strip the use of artillery shells and missile strikes has increased significantly in all 2371 palestinians in and around gaza were killed by israeli military actions more a than half them were civilians in cona trast 147 israelis died over the same period including 50 civilians.28 on numerous occasions un bodies the un secretaryageneral and many others have called for israel to halt its disproportionate and excessive use of force against the palestinians israeli airstrike on gaza city people a the closure regime that has been imposed on gaza has also cona tributed to the lack of safety in the territory it not only denies many people access to medical assistance it also has made the crossings a focal point of violence with civilians soldiers and even passing government officials having been victims in addition politically motivated violence mainly fighting between political factions a has increased especially since the 2005a2006 elections it is carried out between the various security forces and their affiliates with most of the fighting being hamas s execua tive force against the fatehadominated presidential guard and preventive security 27 the first qassam rocket was launched by the izz eddin al-qassam brigades into israeli territory ­ hitting sderot on 5 march 2002 meanwhile some rockets reach 15a20 km far it is estimated that as of may 2008 several thousand rockets had been launched from gaza territory mainly causing damage but also having killed 15 people and injuring others 28 justin alexander conflict economic closure and human security in gaza oxford research group october 2007 14

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gaza it must also be said howa a ever that after its takeover in gaza hamas s concerta a ed effort to recruit a large police force even instating allafemale units succeeded a in almost completely eradia cating the phenomenon of kidnapping afinalnote the contemporary story of gaza is one of sadness and loss as occupation and isolation have made recent years some of the most trying in the territory s long history it is not even clear which of the current woes is the most dire is it the lack of food and fuel the constant military operations the tragic split between palestinians in gaza and the west bank or one of the many other tribulations one year after the hamas takeover and almost three years since israel s unilateral disengagement the fate of gaza remains largely outside of palestinian control while the most pressing issue for the palestinian leadership is ending the factional discord they must also contend with the numera a ous outside entities that for better or worse are influencing the direction of the conflict the us and the eu nations have held to their standard line of calling on all palestinians to reject terrorism and recognize isa a rael while president bush has repeatedly expressed his support for a solution that creates two democratic states he has also overseen a failing peace process and contributed to the division between gaza and the west bank in june 2008 for example he addressed the palestinians in a speech given in paris you supa a port us and you re going to get a state you support hamas and you re going to get gaza take your pick 29 in terms of political action the eu nations have done little to free the palestinians in gaza and bring an end to the conflict and they have rarely deviated from us policy leaders in the arab world have welcomed intraapalestinian dialogue though there has been no visible presence to ensure that there is followathrough on any agreements that are reached egypt has been more active than any other arab nation when it comes to gaza as the egyptians have acted as liaisons on three fronts negotiating with hamas on control of the rafah crossing mediating talks between hamas and israel towards a ceasefire and attempting to broker an agreement between hamas and fateh even with all of these outside influences it is clear to palestinians that the events of june 2007 and the deepening divide between the two territories may be the only issue that is within their control to resolve the hamasafateh split has distorted the palestinian identity and shaken the people s confidence in the national cause and the aspirations of palestinians in gaza have been minimized to daily battle concerning food salaries and movement in a cula a ture of survival there is an absence of strong leadership in a time when palestinians are looking for a hero to end the tragedy in gaza and a national strategy that can restore hope for freedom and independence in palestine dr mahdi abdul hadi chairman of passia fateh-aligned forces in gaza when a palestinian child paints a picture of the sky there s always an israeli helicopter there too avi dichter former head of the israeli general security service 31 may 2005 how much of a concern is crime that does not stem from israeli actions or fighting between hamas and fateh nonapolitical violations occurred as a result of the pa s inabila a ity to enforce the law a circumstance that has been used as a pretext by families and clans in order to apply their own private justice which led to increased confrontations and revenge a acts including incidents of kida nappings and deadly shootings the interrelation between rivala a ing security forces resistance groups lawlessness and family feuds was most clearly reflected a in the phenomenon of the aba ductions of foreigners between september 2005 the first month after disengagement and the takeover by hamas in june 2007 28 foreign journalists or aid workers were kidnapped by armed a groups in gaza in most cases to press for internal palestinian dea mands such as provision of jobs or firing of corrupt officials.though most abductions ended after a few hours or days the case of bbc correspondent alan johnston was a notable exception since taking power however hamas has effectively put a stop to the abduction of foreigners and made crime reduction a top priority furtherreading · gisha a legal center for freedom of movement israel undermines higher education and its own best interest in gaza october 2007 · gisha a legal center for freedom of movement disengaged occupiers the legal status of gaza jan 2007 · international crisis group ruling palestine i gaza under hamas middle east report no 71 19 march 2008 · international crisis group inside gaza:the challenge of clans and families middle east report no 71 20 december 2007 · international crisis group after gaza middle east report no 68 august 2007 · international crisis group enter hamas:the challenges of political integration middle east report no 49 18 january 2006 · ocha gaza strip humanitarian fact sheet gaza strip humanitarian situation report and gaza strip access and closure map regular updates http www.ochaopt.org · oxfam et al the gaza strip:a humanitarian implosion joint agency report march 2008 · paltrade gaza terminals report [released monthly www.paltrade.org · pchr gaza students face denial of international education opportunities february 2008 · right to education campaign the right to education fact sheet birzeit university 17 may 2008 29 president bush participates in joint press availability with president sarkozy of france transcript on www.whitehouse.gov 14 june 2008 kindly supported by the friedrich ebert foundation fes jerusalem 15

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