Editing Gaza Strip (section)

==History==
{{split section|History of the Gaza Strip|date=February 2025|discuss=Talk:Gaza_Strip#Split_section_History}}
{{See also|History of Gaza|l1=History of Gaza City}}

Historically part of the [[Palestine region]], the area was controlled since the 16th century by the [[Ottoman Empire]]; in 1906, the Ottomans and the [[British Empire]] set [[Egypt–Gaza border|the region's international border]] with [[Egypt]].<ref name=":4">{{cite book |title=The Land of the Negev (English title) |publisher=[[Israeli Defense Ministry|Ministry of Defense]] Publishing |year=1978–79 |editor1=Gardus, Yehuda |language=he |editor2=Shmueli, Avshalom}} pp. 369–370.</ref> With the defeat of the [[Central Powers]] in [[World War I]] and the subsequent [[partition of the Ottoman Empire]], the British deferred the governance of the Gaza Strip area to Egypt, which declined the responsibility.<ref>James Kraska, 'Rule Selection in the Case of Israel's Blockade of Gaza:Law of Naval Warfare or Law of Sea?,' in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hYiIWVlpFzEC&pg=PA387 ''M.N. Schmitt, Louise Arimatsu, Tim McCormack (eds.,) Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102100657/https://books.google.com/books?id=hYiIWVlpFzEC&pg=PA387|date=2 November 2022}} Springer Science & Business Media, 2011 pp.367–395, p.387</ref> Britain itself kept and ruled the territory it occupied in 1917–18, from 1920 until 1948 under the internationally accepted frame of "[[Mandatory Palestine]]".

===1948–1959: All-Palestine government===
{{anchor|1948}}{{Main|All-Palestine Protectorate|All-Palestine Government}}

During the [[1948 Palestine war]] and more specifically the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], tens of thousands of [[Palestinian refugees]] [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|fled or were expelled]] to the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Reuters">{{Cite news |last1=Farrell |first1=Stephen |date=2023-11-02 |title=Israel-Gaza war: a timeline of the conflict's history |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gazas-centuries-war-brief-history-2023-10-30/ |access-date=2023-11-06 |archive-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106001524/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gazas-centuries-war-brief-history-2023-10-30/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the war, 25% of Mandatory Palestine's [[Arab]] population was in Gaza, though the Strip constituted only 1% of the land.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=71-72}} The same year, the [[United Nations]] Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ([[UNRWA]]) was established to administer various refugee programmes.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=76}}

On 22 September 1948 (near the end of the Arab–Israeli War), in the Egyptian-occupied [[Gaza City]], the [[Arab League]] proclaimed the {{Nowrap|All-Palestine}} Government, partly to limit [[Jordan|Transjordan]]'s influence over Palestine. The All-Palestine Protectorate was quickly recognized by six of the Arab League's then-seven members (excluding Transjordan): Egypt, [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[Iraq]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and [[Yemen]].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

After the cessation of hostilities, the [[Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement]] of 24 February 1949 established the line of separation between Egyptian and Israeli forces, as well as the modern boundary between Gaza and Israel, which both signatories declared not to be an international border. The southern border with Egypt was unchanged.<ref name=":4" />

Palestinians living in Gaza or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From the end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the [[Suez Crisis]] (1956), Gaza and the [[Sinai Peninsula]] were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The All-Palestine government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to [[Cairo]] and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian president [[Gamal Abdul Nasser]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

===1956–1957: Israeli occupation===
{{Main|Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip}}
{{Further|Suez Crisis}}
[[File:Gaza Strip (997008872766305171.jpg|thumb|Palestinians in an outdoor market in the Gaza Strip in 1956]]
During the 1956 Suez Crisis (the Second Arab–Israeli war), Israel invaded Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. On 3&nbsp;November, the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) attacked Egyptian and Palestinian forces at [[Khan Yunis]].<ref name="Varble, Derek, p. 45">{{harvnb|Varble|2003|p=45}}</ref> The city of Khan Yunis resisted being captured, and Israel responded with a heavy bombing campaign that inflicted heavy civilian casualties.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=96}} After a fierce battle, the Israeli 37th Armored Brigade's [[M4 Sherman|Sherman tanks]] broke through the heavily fortified lines outside of Khan Yunis held by the 86th Palestinian Brigade.<ref name="Varble, Derek, p. 46">{{harvnb|Varble|2003|p=46}}</ref>

After some street-fighting with Egyptian soldiers and [[Palestinian fedayeen]], Khan Yunis fell to the Israelis.<ref name="Varble, Derek, p. 46" /> Upon capturing Khan Yunis, the IDF committed [[Khan Yunis massacre|an alleged massacre]].<ref name="lat3">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-04-la-et-joe-sacco4-2010feb04-story.html Joe Sacco produces comics from the hot zones] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909182558/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-04-la-et-joe-sacco4-2010feb04-story.html |date=9 September 2024 }} . New York Times.</ref> Israeli troops started executing unarmed Palestinians, mostly civilians; in one instance men were lined up against walls in central square and executed with [[machine gun]]s.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=97}} The claims of a massacre were reported to the United Nations General Assembly on 15 December 1956 by UNRWA director [[Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr.|Henry Labouisse]], who reported from "trustworthy sources" that 275 people were killed in the massacre, of which 140 were refugees and 135 local residents.<ref>[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/6558f61d3db6bd4505256593006b06be?OpenDocument "UNRWA Report to the UN General Assembly November 1&nbsp;– December 14, 1956"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629110942/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/6558f61d3db6bd4505256593006b06be?OpenDocument|date=29 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="Sacco2">{{cite book |last=Sacco |first=Joe |url=https://archive.org/details/footnotesingaza0000sacc |title=Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel |publisher=Metropolitan Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8050-7347-8 |author-link=Joe Sacco |url-access=registration}}</ref>

On 12 November, days after the hostilities had ended, Israel [[1956 Rafah massacre|killed 111 people]] in the [[Rafah refugee camp]] during Israeli operations, provoking international criticism.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=99-100}}<ref name="lat3"/>

Israel ended the occupation in March 1957, amid international pressure. During the four-month Israeli occupation, 900–1,231 people were killed.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=105}} According to French historian [[Jean-Pierre Filiu]], 1% of the population of Gaza was killed, wounded, imprisoned or tortured during the occupation.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=105}}

===1959–1967: Egyptian occupation===
{{Main|Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt}}

[[File:Che Guevara in Gaza.jpg|thumb|[[Che Guevara]] visiting Gaza in 1959]]After the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy Gaza until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor.<ref>[http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000503 "How has the Gaza Strip influenced the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120155902/http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000503 |date=20 January 2012 }} entry at ProCon.org citing "An Historical Encyclopedia of the Arab–Israeli Conflict"</ref> The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of [[Palestinian refugee|those who fled or were expelled from their homes]] during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza<ref>Elisha Efrat, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hi59AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 ''The West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Geography of Occupation and Disengagement,''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102100714/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hi59AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 |date=2 November 2022 }} Routledge, 2006 pp.74–75.</ref> resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from Gaza, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment.<ref name="JB">{{cite journal |last=Baster |first=James |title=Economic Problems in the Gaza Strip |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=9 |issue=3 |year=1955 |pages=323–327 |jstor=4322725 }}</ref>

===1967: Israeli occupation===
{{Main|Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip}}
{{See also|Israeli Military Governorate|Israeli Civil Administration}}
In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, IDF captured Gaza. Under the then head of Israel's Southern Command [[Ariel Sharon]], dozens of Palestinians, suspected of being members of the resistance, were executed without trial.<ref>Adam Shatz,[https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n21/adam-shatz/vengeful-pathologies Vengeful Pathologies,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107065245/https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n21/adam-shatz/vengeful-pathologies |date=7 November 2023 }} [[London Review of Books]] Vol. 45 No. 21 · 2 November 2023</ref>

Between 1967 and 1968, Israel evicted approximately 75,000 residents of the Gaza Strip who Golda Meir described as a "fifth column". In addition, at least 25,000 Gazan residents were prevented from returning after the 1967 war. Ultimately, the Strip lost 25% (a conservative estimate) of its prewar population between 1967 and 1968.<ref>Roy, S. M. (2016). The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development. United States: Institute for Palestine Studies USA, Incorporated.</ref> In 1970-1971 [[Ariel Sharon]] implemented what became known as a 'five finger' strategy, which consisted in creating military areas and settlements by breaking the Strip into five zones to better enable Israeli occupation, settlement and, by discontinuous fragmentation of the Palestinian zones created, allow an efficient management of the area. Thousands of homes were bulldozed and large numbers of Bedouin families were exiled to the Sinai.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ehud |last=Eiran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YHoxEAAAQBAJ |title=Post-Colonial Settlement Strategy |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-474-43759-2 |page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Fatina |last1=Abreek-Zubeidat |first2=Alona |last2=Nitzan–Shiftan |chapter="De-Camping" through Development: The Palestinian refugee Camps in the Gaza Strip under the Israeli Occupation |editor1-first=Claudio |editor1-last=Minca |editor2-first=Diana |editor2-last=Martin |editor3-first=Irit |editor3-last=Katz |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-TaDwAAQBAJ&dq=sharon%2Bfive+fingers%2BGaza&pg=PA144 |title=Camps Revisited: Multifaceted Spatialities of a Modern Political Technology |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]] |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-786-60580-1 |pages=137–158 [144]}}</ref><ref>[[Ramzy Baroud]], [https://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/ramzy-baroud/sharon-revisited-netanyahus-ultimate-aim-gaza-and-why-it-will-fail#google_vignette 'Sharon Revisited: Netanyahu’s Ultimate Aim in Gaza and Why It Will Fail,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240705171921/https://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/ramzy-baroud/sharon-revisited-netanyahus-ultimate-aim-gaza-and-why-it-will-fail#google_vignette |date=5 July 2024 }} [[The Jordan Times]] 3 July 2024.</ref>

Between 1973 (after the [[Yom Kippur War]]) and 1987, official policy on economic development in the Gaza Strip remained the same as in 1969 with limited local investment and economic opportunity coming primarily from employment in Israel.<ref name=":7" />
[[File:Gaza Strip (997009324715105171.jpg|thumb|Gaza City in 1967]]
According to [[Tom Segev]], moving the Palestinians out of the country had been a persistent element of Zionist thinking from early times.<ref name="TSegev">[[Tom Segev]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=ggLatcD7gW4C&pg=PA532 1967: ''Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East,''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102100701/https://books.google.com/books?id=ggLatcD7gW4C&pg=PA532 |date=2 November 2022 }} [[Henry Holt and Company]], 2007 p.532</ref> In December 1967, during a meeting at which the [[Security Cabinet of Israel|Security Cabinet]] [[brainstorming|brainstormed]] about what to do with the Arab population of the newly occupied territories, one of the suggestions Prime Minister [[Levi Eshkol]] proffered regarding Gaza was that the people might leave if Israel restricted their access to water supplies.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ofer |last=Aderet |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-pm-in-67-we-ll-deprive-gaza-of-water-and-the-arabs-will-leave-1.5465942 |title=Israeli Prime Minister After Six-Day War: 'We'll Deprive Gaza of Water, and the Arabs Will Leave |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |date=17 November 2017 |access-date=19 September 2018 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919033849/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-pm-in-67-we-ll-deprive-gaza-of-water-and-the-arabs-will-leave-1.5465942 |url-status=live }}</ref> A number of measures, including financial incentives, were taken shortly afterwards to begin to encourage Gazans to emigrate elsewhere.<ref name="TSegev" /><ref>[[Nur Masalha]], ''The politics of denial: Israel and the Palestinian refugee problem.'' Pluto Press, 2003 p.104.</ref> Following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, "various international agencies struggled to respond" and [[American Near East Refugee Aid]] was founded to help victims of the conflict by providing immediate emergency relief.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Anera {{!}} Palestinian Refugee Aid Organization |url=https://www.anera.org/who-we-are/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Anera |language=en-US |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708032420/https://www.anera.org/who-we-are/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990044372600205171).jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers in Gaza in 1969]]
Subsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first [[Israeli settlement]] bloc in the Strip, [[Gush Katif]], in the southwest corner near [[Rafah]] and the Egyptian border on a spot where a [[Kfar Darom|small kibbutz]] had previously existed for 18 months between 1946 and 1948. The kibbutz community had been established as part of the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency's]] "[[11 points in the Negev]]" plan, in which 11 Jewish villages were built across the Negev in a single night as a response to the [[Morrison-Grady Plan]], which threatened to exclude the Negev from a future Jewish State. In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory.
The [[Gross national product|economic growth rate]] from 1967 to 1982 averaged roughly 9.7 percent per annum, due in good part to expanded income from work opportunities inside Israel, which had a major utility for the latter by supplying the country with a large unskilled and semi-skilled workforce. Gaza's agricultural sector was adversely affected as one-third of the Strip was appropriated by Israel, competition for scarce water resources stiffened, and the lucrative cultivation of citrus declined with the advent of Israeli policies, such as prohibitions on planting new trees and taxation that gave breaks to Israeli producers, factors which militated against growth. Gaza's direct exports of these products to Western markets, as opposed to Arab markets, was prohibited except through Israeli marketing vehicles, in order to assist Israeli citrus exports to the same markets. The overall result was that large numbers of farmers were forced out of the agricultural sector. Israel placed quotas on all goods exported from Gaza, while abolishing restrictions on the flow of Israeli goods into the Strip. [[Sara Roy]] characterised the pattern as one of structural de-development.<ref name=":7">[[Sara Roy]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536651 'The Gaza Strip: A Case of Economic De-Development,'] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122195620/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2536651 |date=22 January 2019 }} [[Journal of Palestine Studies]], Vol. 17, No. 1 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 56–88.</ref>

On 26 March 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Israel's Fateful Hour |url=https://archive.org/details/israelsfatefulho00hark |url-access=registration |publisher=Harper & Row Publishers |location=New York |author=Harkabi, Yehoshafat |year=1988 |isbn=9780060916138}} p. 87.</ref> Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of the international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration. The Israeli military became responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services.

After the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the [[Philadelphi Route]] was established. The international border along the [[Philadelphi corridor]] between Egypt and Gaza is {{convert|11|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} long.

===1987: First Intifada===
{{Main|First Intifada}}
[[File:Intifada in Gaza Strip, 1987 VI Dan Hadani Archive.jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers opposite Palestinian protesters in the strip during the [[First Intifada]] in 1987]]

The First Intifada was a sustained series of protests and violent riots carried out by [[Palestinians]] in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[Palestinian territories]] and Israel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/intifada-begins-on-gaza-strip|title=Intifada begins on Gaza Strip|website=HISTORY|date=9 February 2010 |language=en|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215013023/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/intifada-begins-on-gaza-strip|url-status=live}}</ref> It was motivated by collective Palestinian frustration over Israel's military occupation of the [[West Bank]] and the Gaza Strip, as it approached a twenty-year mark, having begun after Israel's victory in the [[Six-Day War|1967 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref name="LockmanBeinin1989_5">[[#LockmanBeinin1989|Lockman; Beinin (1989)]], p.&nbsp;[https://books.google.com/books?id=KYPVNdzXUJkC&pg=PA5 5.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418105653/https://books.google.com/books?id=KYPVNdzXUJkC&pg=PA5 |date=18 April 2023 }}</ref> The uprising lasted from December 1987 until the [[Madrid Conference of 1991]], though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the [[Oslo Accords]].

The intifada began on 9 December 1987,<ref name="LockmanBeinin1989_5" /> in the [[Jabalia Camp|Jabalia]] [[refugee camp]] of the Gaza Strip after an Israeli army truck collided with a civilian car, killing four Palestinian workers.<ref name="OmerMan2001">Michael Omer-Man [http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/The-accident-that-sparked-an-Intifada The accident that sparked an Intifada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215150108/https://www.jpost.com///features/in-thespotlight/the-accident-that-sparked-an-intifada |date=15 December 2022 }}, 12/04/2011</ref> Palestinians charged that the collision was a deliberate response for the killing of an Israeli in Gaza days earlier.<ref>David McDowall,''Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond'', University of California Press, 1989 p. 1</ref> Israel denied that the crash, which came at time of heightened tensions, was intentional or coordinated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The accident that sparked an Intifada|url=https://www.jpost.com/features/in-thespotlight/the-accident-that-sparked-an-intifada|access-date=2020-08-21|website=The Jerusalem Post|date=4 December 2011|archive-date=15 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215150108/https://www.jpost.com///features/in-thespotlight/the-accident-that-sparked-an-intifada|url-status=live}}</ref> The Palestinian response was characterized by protests, [[civil disobedience]], and violence.<ref name="books.google.com">Ruth Margolies Beitler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FVd5dJGBYMsC&pg=PR11 ''The Path to Mass Rebellion: An Analysis of Two Intifadas''], Lexington Books, 2004 p.xi.</ref><ref name="Lustick 1993 560–594">{{Cite journal|last=Lustick|first=Ian S.|date=1993|editor-last=Brynen|editor-first=Rex|editor2-last=Hiltermann|editor2-first=Joost R.|editor3-last=Hudson|editor3-first=Michael C.|editor4-last=Hunter|editor4-first=F. Robert|editor5-last=Lockman|editor5-first=Zachary|editor6-last=Beinin|editor6-first=Joel|editor7-last=McDowall|editor7-first=David|editor8-last=Nassar|editor8-first=Jamal R.|editor9-last=Heacock|editor9-first=Roger|title=Writing the Intifada: Collective Action in the Occupied Territories|journal=World Politics|volume=45|issue=4|pages=560–594|doi=10.2307/2950709|jstor=2950709|s2cid=147140028 |issn=0043-8871}}</ref> There was [[graffiti]], [[barricade|barricading]],<ref name="BBC NEWS">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/1987.stm|title=Palestinian intifada|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731193109/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/1987.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Walid Salem 2005, pp. 179">Walid Salem, 'Human Security from Below: Palestinian Citizens Protection Strategies, 1988–2005,' in Monica den Boer, Jaap de Wilde (eds.), ''The Viability of Human Security,''Amsterdam University Press, 2008 pp. 179–201 p. 190.</ref> and widespread [[Palestinian stone-throwing|throwing of stones]] and [[Molotov cocktail]]s at the IDF and its infrastructure within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These contrasted with civil efforts including [[general strikes]], [[boycott]]s of [[Israeli Civil Administration]] institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, an economic [[boycott]] consisting of refusal to work in Israeli settlements on Israeli products, refusal to pay taxes, and refusal to drive Palestinian cars with Israeli licenses.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref name="Lustick 1993 560–594"/><ref name="BBC NEWS"/>

===1994: Gaza under Palestinian Authority===
In May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip came under Palestinian control, except for the settlement blocs and military areas. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by [[Yasser Arafat]], chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) signed [[Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip|a second agreement]], extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns.

Between 1994 and 1996, Israel built the [[Gaza–Israel barrier]] to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the [[Second Intifada]] in September 2000.<ref name="Doron Almog">{{Cite journal |title=Lessons of the Gaza Security Fence for the West Bank |last=Almog |first=Doron |publisher=Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs |date=23 December 2004 |journal=Jerusalem Issue Briefs |volume=4 |issue=12 |url=http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief004-12.htm |access-date=1 February 2009 |archive-date=13 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213141925/http://jcpa.org/brief/brief004-12.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2000: Second Intifada===
{{Main|Second Intifada}}
[[File:IDF-D9-demolishes-Palestinian-structure-01.jpg|thumb|An [[IDF Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]] demolishing a house in the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada]]
The Second Intifada was a major [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] uprising in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[Palestinian territories]] and Israel. The general triggers for the unrest are speculated to have been centred on the failure of the [[2000 Camp David Summit]], which was expected to reach a final agreement on the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]] in July 2000.{{sfn|Pressman|2003|p=114}} Outbreaks of violence began in September 2000, after [[Ariel Sharon]], then the [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Israeli opposition leader]], made a provocative visit to the [[Al-Aqsa]] compound on the [[Temple Mount]] in [[Jerusalem]];{{sfn|Pressman|2003|p=114}} the visit itself was peaceful, but, as anticipated, sparked protests and riots that Israeli police put down with rubber bullets and tear gas.{{sfn|Byman|2011|p=114}} The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from the Gaza Strip, especially by the [[Hamas]] and [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] movements.

High numbers of casualties were caused among civilians as well as combatants. Israeli forces engaged in gunfire, [[Targeted killings by the Israel Defense Forces|targeted killings]], and tank and aerial attacks, while Palestinians engaged in [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|suicide bombings]], gunfire, [[Palestinian stone-throwing|stone-throwing]], and [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rocket attacks]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Samy |chapter=Botched Engagement in the Intifada |date=2010 |title=Israel's Asymmetric Wars |pages=73–91 |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |doi=10.1057/9780230112971_6 |isbn=978-1-349-28896-0}}"The al-Aqsa Intifada ushered in an era with a new brand of violence.1 It began with a popular uprising following Ariel Sharon's visit to Temple Mount on September 28, 2000. But unlike the first Intifada, which was basically a civil uprising against the symbols of an occupation that has lasted since June 1967, the second Intifada very quickly lapsed into an armed struggle between Palestinian activists and the Israeli armed forces. Almost from the very start, armed men took to hiding among crowds of Palestinians, using them as cover to shoot from. The IDF retaliated forcefully, each time causing several casualties."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kober |first=Avi |date=2007 |title=Targeted Killing during the Second Intifada:: The Quest for Effectiveness |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2009-v29-jcs_27_1/jcs27_1_1art06/ |journal=Journal of Conflict Studies |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=94–114 |issn=1198-8614 |quote=Based on the assumption that there was no longer one front or one line of contact, Israel was carrying out dozens of simultaneous operations on the ground and in the air on a daily basis, including TKs, which were supposed to have multi-dimensional effects. According to Byman, TKs were mostly attractive to Israelis as they satisfied domestic demands for a forceful response to Palestinian terrorism. Byman also believes that by bolstering public morale, the TKs helped counter one of the terrorists' primary objectives – to reduce the faith of Israelis in their own government. |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405160428/https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2009-v29-jcs_27_1/jcs27_1_1art06/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Palestinian suicide bombings were a prominent feature of the fighting and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting with the relatively less violent nature of the [[First Intifada]].<ref name="NMRR">{{Cite journal |last1=Matta |first1=Nada |last2=Rojas |first2=René |date=2016 |title=The Second Intifada: A Dual Strategy Arena |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-sociology-archives-europeennes-de-sociologie/article/abs/second-intifada/CEF937E5D28EFA4F4F684E6D946942BF |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie |language=en |volume=57 |issue=1 |page=66 |doi=10.1017/S0003975616000035 |s2cid=146939293 |issn=0003-9756 |quote=Suicide terror, lethal attacks indiscriminately carried out against civilians via self-immolation, attained prominence in the Palestinian repertoire beginning in March 2001. From that point until the end of 2005, at which point they virtually ceased, 57 suicide bombings were carried out, causing 491 civilian deaths, 73% of the total civilians killed by Palestinian resistance organizations and 50% of all Israeli fatalities during this period. While not the modal coercive tactic, suicide terror was the most efficient in terms of lethality, our basic measure of its efficacy. |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405161756/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-sociology-archives-europeennes-de-sociologie/article/abs/second-intifada/CEF937E5D28EFA4F4F684E6D946942BF |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>
*{{Cite journal |last1=Brym |first1=R. J. |last2=Araj |first2=B. |date=2006-06-01 |title=Suicide Bombing as Strategy and Interaction: The Case of the Second Intifada |journal=Social Forces |volume=84 |issue=4 |page=1969 |doi=10.1353/sof.2006.0081 |s2cid=146180585 |issn=0037-7732 |quote=In the early years of the 21st century, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza became the region of the world with the highest frequency of - and the highest per capita death toll due to - suicide bombing.}}
*Schweitzer, Y. (2010). The rise and fall of suicide bombings in the second Intifada. ''Strategic Assessment'', ''13''(3), 39–48. "As part of the violence perpetrated by the Palestinians during the second intifada, suicide bombings played a particularly prominent role and served as the primary effective weapon in the hands of the planners."
*Schachter, J. (2010). [https://strategicassessment.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/antq/fe-3427267573.pdf The End of the Second Intifada?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930061049/https://strategicassessment.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/antq/fe-3427267573.pdf |date=30 September 2021 }}. ''Strategic Assessment'', ''13''(3), 63–70. "This article attempts to identify the end of the second intifada by focusing on the incidence of suicide bombings, arguably the most important element of second intifada-related violence."
*Sela-Shayovitz, R. (2007). Suicide bombers in Israel: Their motivations, characteristics, and prior activity in terrorist organizations. ''International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV)'', ''1''(2), 163. "The period of the second Intifada significantly differs from other historical periods in Israeli history, because it has been characterized by intensive and numerous suicide attacks that have made civilian life into a battlefront."</ref> With a combined casualty figure for combatants and civilians, the violence is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.<ref name=casualties2005>[http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/Casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=15&eM=1&eY=2005&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before B'Tselem – Statistics – Fatalities 29.9.2000–15.1.2005], [[B'Tselem]]. {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20130414103627/http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/Casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=15&eM=1&eY=2005&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before |date=14 April 2013 }}</ref>

Between December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004.<ref name="Anne Barnard">{{Cite news |title=Life in Gaza Steadily Worsens |first=Anne |last=Barnard |work=The Boston Globe |date=22 October 2006 |url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/10/22/life_in_gaza_steadily_worsens/ |access-date=16 April 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235137/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/10/22/life_in_gaza_steadily_worsens/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The main crossing points are the northern [[Erez Crossing]] into Israel and the southern [[Rafah Border Crossing|Rafah Crossing]] into Egypt. The eastern [[Karni crossing|Karni Crossing]] used for cargo, closed down in 2011.<ref name="Greg Myre">{{Cite news |title=Gaza Crossing:Choked Passages to Frustration |first=Greg |last=Myre |work=The New York Times |date=4 March 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/international/middleeast/04gaza.html |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=6 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106110814/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/international/middleeast/04gaza.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5122404.stm |title=Gaza crisis: key maps and timeline |work=BBC News |date=6 January 2009 |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125084904/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5122404.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. "Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182738#.U8LcArFhs6I |title=Egypt Opens Gaza Border Crossing for the Injured – Middle East – Arutz Sheva |date=10 July 2014 |publisher=Israelnationalnews.com |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713002958/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182738#.U8LcArFhs6I |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2005: Israel's unilateral disengagement ===
{{main|Israeli disengagement from Gaza}}
[[File:Gush Katif-N-Dekalim02.jpg|thumb|[[Neve Dekalim]] was [[Gush Katif]]'s urban center and its largest community]]
In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and dismantled its settlements.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/control_on_air_space_and_territorial_waters |title=Israel's control of the airspace and the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip |work=btselem.org |access-date=13 July 2014 |archive-date=28 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628105536/http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/control_on_air_space_and_territorial_waters |url-status=live }}</ref> Israel also withdrew from the [[Philadelphi Route]], a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border after the [[Agreement on Movement and Access]], known as the [[Rafah Agreement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reut-institute.org/en/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1180 |title=Philadelphi Route |publisher=Reut Institute |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714202343/http://www.reut-institute.org/en/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1180 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Gaza Strip was left under the control of the [[Palestinian Authority]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 October 2023 |title=Timeline of conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/conflict-between-israel-palestinians-gaza-2023-10-07/ |access-date=11 May 2024 |website=[[Reuters]] |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007105909/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/conflict-between-israel-palestinians-gaza-2023-10-07/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Post-2006: Hamas takeover ===
{{main|Fatah–Hamas conflict}}

In the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election|Palestinian parliamentary elections]] held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%).<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/25/africa/web.0125pals.php Counting underway in Palestinian elections], International Herald Tribune, 25 January 2006. {{dead link |date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1557518.htm Election officials reduce Hamas seats by two], ABC News Online, 30 January 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629015352/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1557518.htm |date=29 June 2011}}</ref> When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the EU, Russia and the UN demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/world/middleeast/22cnd-mideast.html |title=Hamas Refuses to Recognize Israel |work=The New York Times |date=22 September 2006 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209055114/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/world/middleeast/22cnd-mideast.html |url-status=live}}</ref> they [[2006–07 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority|cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority]], although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weisman |first=Steven R. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/08/world/middleeast/08hamas.html |title=U.S. and Europe Halt Aid to Palestinian Government |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=8 April 2006 |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511222935/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/08/world/middleeast/08hamas.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/09/international/i104249S77.DTL |title=More Palestinians flee homelands |access-date=15 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515044844/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2006%2F12%2F09%2Finternational%2Fi104249S77.DTL |archive-date=15 May 2007}}, Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, 9 December 2006.</ref>

[[File:Gaza City.JPG|thumb|[[Gaza City]] skyline, 2007]]

In January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and [[Fatah]]. The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip. On 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100198_pf.html ''Palestinian Cease-Fire Holds on 1st Day''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020070636/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100198_pf.html |date=20 October 2017}}. Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press, 31 January 2007</ref> After a few days, new fighting broke out. On 1&nbsp;February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' [[Palestinian Presidential Guard]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/wl_nm/palestinians_dc |title=Six killed in Hamas ambush on Gaza convoy |access-date=6 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206223752/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070201/wl_nm/palestinians_dc |archive-date=6 February 2007}}. Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters, 1 February 2007. On web.archive.org</ref> Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-02-02-gaza_x.htm ''Gaza erupts in fatal clashes after truce''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113215206/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-02-02-gaza_x.htm |date=13 January 2014}}. Associated Press, 2 February 2007 (on usatoday.com)</ref> In May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians |title=Hamas kills 8 in Gaza border clash |access-date=17 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517061856/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians |archive-date=17 May 2007}}, By Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press Writer, 15 May 2007.</ref> Interior Minister [[Talab al-Qawasmi|Hani Qawasmi]], who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_34;_ylt=AjoLFAN_35SNS_Y9GqjHedwUvioA Top Palestinian security official quits] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142039/https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_34%3B_ylt%3DAjoLFAN_35SNS_Y9GqjHedwUvioA |date=2 April 2015}} By Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, 14 May 2007; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6653437.stm Resignation deepens Gaza crisis], BBC, 14 May 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121307/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467655416&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

Fighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring the end of the [[Palestinian government of March 2007|Fatah-Hamas coalition government]], and possibly the end of the Palestinian authority.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070516/ts_nm/palestinians_dc Israel attacks in Gaza amid factional violence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609072031/https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070516/ts_nm/palestinians_dc |date=9 June 2007}}, by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Associated Press, 16 May 2007.</ref> Hamas spokesman [[Mousa Abu Marzook]] blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the "real explosion."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708616387&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |title=Hamas Blames World |work=Jerusalem Post |date=16 May 2007 |access-date=21 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121359/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708616387&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> From 2006 to 2007 more than 600 Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3409548,00.html |title=Over 600 Palestinians killed in internal clashes since 2006 |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=12 December 2010 |archive-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130195941/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3409548,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref> 349 Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Palestinians killed each other in June alone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/English/Inter_Palestinian_Violations/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510125140/http://www.btselem.org/English/Inter_Palestinian_Violations/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 May 2008 |title=Violations of the human rights of Palestinians by Palestinians – Severe human rights violations in inter-Palestinian clashes |publisher=Btselem.org |date=12 November 2007 |access-date=12 December 2010}}</ref>

=== 2007: Fatah–Hamas conflict ===
[[File:2007 Gaza - 5323908000.jpg|thumb|Gaza City in 2007]]
{{main| Battle of Gaza (2007) | Fatah–Hamas conflict }}	

Following the victory of Hamas in the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election]], Hamas and [[Fatah]] formed the [[Palestinian authority national unity government]] headed by [[Ismail Haniyeh]]. Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza (June 2007),<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |title=Hamas takes control of Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/15/israel4 |access-date=3 June 2010 |newspaper=Guardian |date=15 June 2007 |location=London |first1=Ian |last1=Black |first2=Mark |last2=Tran |archive-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831134036/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/15/israel4 |url-status=live}}</ref> seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own.<ref name="intern_fight_p14-15">{{cite book |title=Internal fight: Palestinian abuses in Gaza and the West Bank |pages=14–15 |author2=Human Rights Watch |first1=Fred |last1=Abrahams |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |year=2008|author2-link=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip. [[President of the Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian president]] [[Mahmoud Abbas]] responded by declaring a [[state of emergency]], dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. [[Preventive Security Service|PNA security forces]] in the [[West Bank]] arrested a number of Hamas members.

In late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as "the sole legitimate Palestinian government". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/874106.html |title=Mubarak calls Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip a 'coup' |work=Haaretz |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=25 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625201301/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/874106.html |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Saudi Arabia]] and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. After the takeover, Israel and Egypt [[blockade of the Gaza Strip|closed their border crossings with Gaza]]. Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the [[Rafah Border Crossing]], on the Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed.<ref name="EU_flee_Rafah_crossing">{{cite web |last=Dudkevitch |first=Margot |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1139395602714 |title=EU monitors flee Rafah border crossing |work=Jerusalem Post |date=14 March 2006 |access-date=21 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121459/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1139395602714 |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas.<ref name="Abbas wins Egypt backing on border">{{cite web |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/01/2008525125823983496.html |title=Middle East&nbsp;— Abbas wins Egypt backing on border |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=28 January 2008 |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-date=3 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203155552/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/01/2008525125823983496.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380807070&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |title=Egypt finds 60 Gaza tunnels in 10 months |work=Jerusalem Post |date=13 November 2007 |access-date=21 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121629/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380807070&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

====Egyptian border barrier breach====
[[File:War in Gaza 023 - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|thumb|Gaza in January 2009]]

On 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which the steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947775.html |title=Gaza source: Hamas planned border wall blast for months |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428003448/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947775.html |archive-date=28 April 2010}} Ha'aretz</ref> [[Breach of the Gaza-Egypt border (2008)|Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall]] dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of [[Rafah]]. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian president [[Hosni Mubarak]] ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across the border.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7205668.stm |title=Egypt 'won't force Gazans back' |work=BBC News |date=23 January 2008 |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-date=12 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312225519/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7205668.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel–Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai "without delay."

In February 2008, the [[Gaza–Israel conflict]] intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to [[Operation Hot Winter|Israeli military action]] on 29 February 2008, resulting in over 110 Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group [[B'Tselem]] estimated that 45 of those killed were not involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7274929.stm |title=Israeli Gaza operation 'not over' |work=BBC News |date=3 March 2008 |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115103648/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7274929.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2008–2009: Gaza War===
{{Main|Gaza War (2008–2009)}}
[[File:Damaged housing gaza strip april 2009.jpg|thumb|right|Buildings damaged during the 2008-2009 Gaza war]]

On 27 December 2008,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html |work=The New York Times |title=Israelis Say Strikes Against Hamas Will Continue |first1=Taghreed |last1=El-Khodary |first2=Ethan |last2=Bronner |date=28 December 2008 |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511223019/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Israeli [[F-16]] fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfblog.com/2012/04/16/timeline-terror-2001-2012/ |title=A Timeline of Terror: 2001 to 2012, The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces |publisher=Idfblog.com |date=16 April 2012 |access-date=25 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122185506/http://www.idfblog.com/2012/04/16/timeline-terror-2001-2012/ |archive-date=22 January 2013}}</ref> Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/world/middleeast/04mideast.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 January 2009 |title=Israeli Troops Launch Attack on Gaza |first1=Isabel |last1=Kershner |first2=Taghreed |last2=El-Khodary |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=9 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409005842/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/world/middleeast/04mideast.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Various sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck from the air : police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mozgovaya |first=Natasha |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053233.html |title=IDF shell kills 30 in Gaza UN school; Israel mulls appeal over Hamas fire from UN facilities |work=Haaretz |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401074434/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053233.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Israel said that the attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2008|over 3,000 in 2008]], and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister [[Ehud Barak]] instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ravid |first=Barak |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/iaf-strike-followed-months-of-planning-1.260363/ |title=IAF strike followed months of planning |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=28 December 2008 |access-date=25 January 2013 |archive-date=24 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324160347/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/iaf-strike-followed-months-of-planning-1.260363 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:أحد شوارع غزة 2012.jpg|thumb|Gaza City in 2012]]
A total of 1,100–1,400<ref>{{cite news |last=Kasher |first=Asa |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168061 |title=Analysis: A moral evaluation of the Gaza War |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |publisher=Jpost.com |access-date=12 December 2010 |archive-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221144352/http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168061 |url-status=live }}</ref> Palestinians (295–926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8428883.stm |work=BBC News |title=Slow recovery from wounds of Gaza conflict |date=27 December 2009 |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228174738/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8428883.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes,<ref>{{cite web |title=IOM Appeal for Gaza Focuses on Health and Recovery |url=http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAF/cache/offonce/lang/en?entryId%3D21830 |access-date=24 June 2010 |date=2009-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310183754/http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAF/cache/offonce/lang/en?entryId=21830 |archive-date=10 March 2012 |url-status=dead |publisher=International Organization for Migration}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lappin |first=Yaakov |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1237727552054&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |title=IDF releases Cast Lead casualty |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511121653/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1237727552054&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=11 May 2011 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=26 March 2009}}</ref> 15 of Gaza's 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ochaopt_who_gaza_health_fact_sheet_20100120_english.pdf |title=Gaza Health Fact Sheet |access-date=2014-08-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308014019/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ochaopt_who_gaza_health_fact_sheet_20100120_english.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2015}}</ref> 800 water wells,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47273 |title=MIDEAST: Attack on Water Brings Sanitation Crisis – IPS |publisher=Ipsnews.net |date=18 June 2009 |access-date=12 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204070226/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47273 |archive-date=4 December 2010}}</ref> 186 greenhouses,<ref>{{cite web |title=Environmental Assessment of the Gaza Strip |url=http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Gaza_EA.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514204950/http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Gaza_EA.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-14 |url-status=live |access-date=2014-08-02}}</ref> and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms;<ref>{{cite web |title=The humanitarian situation in Gaza and FAO's response |url=http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/tc/tce/pdf/FAO_brief_on_Gaza_23_Jan_09.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214100134/http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/tc/tce/pdf/FAO_brief_on_Gaza_23_Jan_09.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-14 |url-status=live |access-date=2014-08-02}}</ref> leaving 50,000 homeless,<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |title=Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |work=BBC News |date=20 January 2009 |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-date=25 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125181742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> 400,000–500,000 without running water,<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk" /><ref name="Gaza: Humanitarian situation">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7845428.stm |work=BBC News |title=Gaza: Humanitarian situation |date=30 January 2009 |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-date=8 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208132149/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7845428.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> one million without electricity,<ref name="Gaza: Humanitarian situation" /> and resulting in acute food shortages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wfp.org/content/wfp-launches-emergency-food-distributions-families-gaza |title=Launches Emergency Food Distributions to Families in Gaza &#124; WFP &#124; United Nations World Food Programme – Fighting Hunger Worldwide |publisher=WFP |access-date=12 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511084335/http://www.wfp.org/content/wfp-launches-emergency-food-distributions-families-gaza |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> The people of Gaza still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.

===2014: Gaza War===
On 5 June 2014, Fatah signed a unity agreement with the Hamas political party.<ref name="bbc.com">{{cite web |title=Palestinian unity government sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27660218 |publisher=BBC |date=2 June 2014 |access-date=5 June 2014 |archive-date=3 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603033348/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27660218 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[2014 Gaza War]], also known as Operation Protective Edge, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip. Following the [[2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers|kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers]] in the [[West Bank]] by Hamas-affiliated [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] militants, the IDF initiated ''Operation Brother's Keeper'', in which some 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of the active Hamas militants in the West Bank, were arrested.<ref name="nathanthrall">{{cite journal |author=Nathan Thrall |date=1 August 2014 |title=Hamas's Chances |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n16/nathan-thrall/hamass-chances |journal=London Review of Books |volume=36 |issue=16 |access-date=8 October 2023 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416032651/https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n16/nathan-thrall/hamass-chances |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="HamasAcc">Jack Khoury, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.611676 Hamas claims responsibility for three Israeli teens' kidnapping and murder'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010052244/https://www.haaretz.com/hamas-admits-kidnap-murder-of-3-teens-1.5260283/ |date=10 October 2020 }}, ''[[Haaretz]]'', 21 August 2014.</ref><ref name="HamasAcc2">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4562328,00.html 'Mashal: Hamas was behind murder of three Israeli teens'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916104726/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4562328,00.html |date=16 September 2023 }}, [[Ynet]], 22 August 2014.</ref> Hamas [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in 2014|subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel]] from Gaza, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict|open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians]] in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and [[List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict|Israeli airstrikes]] resulted in thousands of deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zonszein|first=Mairav|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/israel-kills-more-palestinians-2014-than-any-other-year-since-1967|title=Israel killed more Palestinians in 2014 than in any other year since 1967|date=2015-03-27|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-03|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=12 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412025048/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/israel-kills-more-palestinians-2014-than-any-other-year-since-1967|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2018–2019: Great March of Return===
{{Main|Great March of Return}}
[[File:OCHAoPT 2018 Gaza border protests 31 may 2018.png|thumb|right|UN OCHA map of the Great March of Return protests, 31 May 2018]]

In 2018–2019, [[2018–2019 Gaza border protests|a series of protests]], also known as the Great March of Return, were held each Friday in the Gaza Strip near the [[Israel–Gaza barrier]] from 30 March 2018 until 27 December 2019, during which a total of 223 [[Palestinians]] were killed by Israeli forces.<ref name="B'tselem21">[https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20210524_whitewash_time 'And now for the whitewashing,' ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017132258/https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20210524_whitewash_time |date=17 October 2023 }} [[B'tselem]] 24 May 2021</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-gaza-protest-20180330-htmlstory.html|title=15 Palestinians reported killed by Israeli fire as Gaza border protest builds |last=Alouf |first=Abu |date=30 March 2018|website=Los Angeles Times|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519031927/http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-gaza-protest-20180330-htmlstory.html|archive-date=19 May 2018}}</ref> The demonstrators demanded that the [[Palestinian refugees]] must be [[Palestinian right of return|allowed to return]] to lands they were displaced from in what is now Israel. They protested against Israel's [[blockade of the Gaza Strip|land, air and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip]] and the [[United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel]].<ref name="Toameh">Khaled Abu Toameh, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-vows-gaza-protests-to-continue-until-they-return-to-all-of-palestine "Hamas vows Gaza protests last until Palestinians return to all of Palestine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007054949/https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-vows-gaza-protests-to-continue-until-they-return-to-all-of-palestine/ |date=7 October 2023 }}, ''[[The Times of Israel]]'', 9 April 2018.<br />"The protests are an uprising for "Jerusalem, Palestine, and the right of return", he said, referring to the demand that Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to their former homes in Israel."</ref><ref name="NY2" >David M. Halbfinger, Iyad Abuheweila, Jugal K.Patel [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/gaza-fence-aerial.html "300 Meters in Gaza: Snipers, Burning Tires and a Contested Fence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422065743/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/gaza-fence-aerial.html |date=22 April 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' 15 May 2018.’ Most Gazans are Palestinian refugees or their descendants, and marching on the fence highlights their desire to reclaim the lands and homes from which they were displaced 70 years ago in the war surrounding Israel's creation.’</ref><ref>
*{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-mass-gaza-border-clashes-52-killed-by-israeli-gunfire-2-410-wounded-1.6091548|title=Mass Gaza Border Clashes: 58 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Gunfire, 1,113 Wounded|last1=Khoury|first1=Jack|date=15 May 2018|work=Haaretz|access-date=14 May 2018|last2=Kubovich|first2=Yaniv|last3=Zikri|first3=Almog Ben|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514195751/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-mass-gaza-border-clashes-52-killed-by-israeli-gunfire-2-410-wounded-1.6091548|archive-date=14 May 2018}}
*David M. Halbfinger & Iyad Abuheweila, [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-protests.html "One Dead Amid Violence in 3rd Week of Protests at Gaza-Israel Fence"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517222949/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-protests.html|date=17 May 2018}} ''[[The New York Times]]'', 13 April 2018.<br />"They are objecting to Israel's 11-year-old blockade of Gaza and seeking to revive international interest in Palestinian claims of a right of return to the lands they were displaced from in 1948."
*Adam Rasgon, [https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Masses-of-Gazans-head-to-border-fence-to-demand-right-of-return-547367 "Masses of Gazans head to border area for 'right of return' says organizer"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505122635/https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Masses-of-Gazans-head-to-border-fence-to-demand-right-of-return-547367|date=5 May 2018}} ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', 28 March 2018.<br />"Masses of Palestinians are expected to come to the Gaza border on Friday and move into tents there for a planned six-week-long protest 'to demand the right of return to the homes and villages that they were expelled from in 1948'", Ahmad Abu Ratima, an organizer of the protest, told ''The Jerusalem Post''.</ref>

Most of the demonstrators [[peaceful demonstration|demonstrated peacefully]] far from the border fence. Peter Cammack, a fellow with the Middle East Program at the [[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]], argued that the march indicated a new trend in Palestinian society and Hamas, with a shift away from violence towards non-violent forms of protest.<ref>Daoud Kuttab, [https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/05/gaza-protests-israel-claims-hamas-violence-self-defense.html "The truth about Gaza"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618203125/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/05/gaza-protests-israel-claims-hamas-violence-self-defense.html|date=18 June 2018}} ''[[Al-Monitor]]'', 23 May 2018;<br />"This is clearly a new trend in Palestinian society that attempts to expand the notions of resistance and nonviolent protests."</ref> Some demonstrators were setting tires on fire and launching Molotov cocktails and rocks toward the troops on the opposite side of the border.<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-protest-clashes.html |title=Israeli Military Kills 15 Palestinians in Confrontations on Gaza Border |last1=Kershner |first1=Isabel |date=30 March 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=6 April 2018 |last2=Abuheweila |first2=Iyad |issn=0362-4331 |author1-link=Isabel Kershner |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407212623/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-protest-clashes.html |archive-date=7 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Haaretz30March">{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-five-palestinians-reportedly-killed-by-israeli-army-as-thousands-rally-for-mass-gaza-protests-1.5962159 |title=15 Killed, Dozens Wounded, as Thousands Gather on Gaza-Israel Border for "March of Return" |last1=Khoury |first1=Jack |last2=Kubovich |first2=Yaniv |date=30 March 2018 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=6 April 2018 |last3=Zikri |first3=Almog Ben |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406102032/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-five-palestinians-reportedly-killed-by-israeli-army-as-thousands-rally-for-mass-gaza-protests-1.5962159|archive-date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref>
* {{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/israeli-forces-kill-3-palestinians-land-day-protests-180330100034136.html |title=At least 14 Palestinians killed in Land Day protests |work=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=30 March 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330120808/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/israeli-forces-kill-3-palestinians-land-day-protests-180330100034136.html |archive-date=30 March 2018}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.newsx.com/world/at-least-5-palestinians-shot-dead-by-israeli-troops-as-thousands-march-on-gaza-israel-border-for-march-of-return |title=At least 5 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops as thousands march on Gaza-Israel border for 'March of Return' |date=30 March 2018 |publisher=newsx.com |access-date=3 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331041009/https://www.newsx.com/world/at-least-5-palestinians-shot-dead-by-israeli-troops-as-thousands-march-on-gaza-israel-border-for-march-of-return |archive-date=31 March 2018}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/2/17188162/gaza-protest-israel-border-violence-demonstrations-palestinian |title=The recent violence at the Gaza-Israel border, explained |last=Williams |first=Jennifer |date=2 April 2018 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |access-date=9 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408205748/https://www.vox.com/2018/4/2/17188162/gaza-protest-israel-border-violence-demonstrations-palestinian |archive-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> Israeli officials said the demonstrations were used by Hamas as cover for launching attacks against Israel.<ref name="jpost1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-warns-of-larger-military-response-to-Gaza-protest-547595 |title=IDF warns of larger military response to Gaza protest |date=31 March 2018 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410044009/http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-warns-of-larger-military-response-to-Gaza-protest-547595 |archive-date=10 April 2018}}</ref>
[[File:2018 Gaza border protest.jpg|thumb|[[2018 Gaza border protests]], [[Bureij]] refugee camp in Gaza]]
In late February 2019, a [[United Nations Human Rights Council]]'s [[United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the 2018 Gaza border protests|independent commission]] found that of the 489 cases of Palestinian deaths or injuries analyzed, only two were possibly justified as responses to danger by Israeli security forces. The commission deemed the rest of the cases illegal, and concluded with a recommendation calling on Israel to examine whether [[war crime]]s or [[crimes against humanity]] had been committed, and if so, to bring those responsible to trial.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/un-independent-commission-of-inquiry-on-protests-in-gaza-presents-its-findings-press-release/ |title=UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Protests in Gaza Presents its Findings - Press Release - Question of Palestine |website=[[United Nations]] |access-date=12 October 2023 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009065103/https://www.un.org/unispal/document/un-independent-commission-of-inquiry-on-protests-in-gaza-presents-its-findings-press-release/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - A/HRC/40/74 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIOPT/A_HRC_40_74.pdf |publisher=[[UNHRC]] |date=28 February 2019 |access-date=12 October 2023 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIOPT/A_HRC_40_74.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 28 February 2019, the Commission said it had {{"'}}reasonable grounds' to believe Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes and shot at journalists, health workers and children during protests in Gaza in 2018." Israel refused to take part in the inquiry and rejected the report.<ref name="CNN1111">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/middleeast/israel-gaza-un-intl/index.html|title=UN: Israel may have committed war crimes during Gaza protests |first1=Milena |last1=Vaselinovic |first2=Oren |last2=Liebermann |work=[[CNN]] |date=28 February 2019 |access-date=12 October 2023 |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014022301/https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/middleeast/israel-gaza-un-intl/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===2021: Israel–Palestine crisis===
Before the [[2021 Israel–Palestine crisis]], Gaza had 48% unemployment and half of the population lived in poverty. During the crisis, 66 children died (551 children in the previous conflict). On 13 June 2021, a high level World Bank delegation visited Gaza to witness the damage. Mobilization with UN and EU partners is ongoing to finalize a needs assessment in support of Gaza's reconstruction and recovery.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Toll of War on Palestinians in Gaza |date=27 June 2021 |publisher=[[The World Bank]] |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2021/06/27/the-toll-of-war-on-palestinians-in-gaza |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204711/https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2021/06/27/the-toll-of-war-on-palestinians-in-gaza |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[2022 Gaza–Israel clashes|Another escalation]] between 5 and 8 August 2022 resulted in property damage and displacement of people as a result of airstrikes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-august-2022-escalation-dashboard-09-august-2022 |title=Gaza August 2022 Escalation Dashboard (09 August 2022) - occupied Palestinian territory &#124; ReliefWeb |website=reliefweb.int |date=9 August 2022 |access-date=16 August 2022 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816140543/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-august-2022-escalation-dashboard-09-august-2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/content/escalation-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-2-august-2022 |title=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory &#124; Escalation in the Gaza Strip and Israel &#124; Flash Update #2 as of 18:00, 8 August 2022 |website=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory |date=8 August 2022 |access-date=16 August 2022 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812012844/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/escalation-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-2-august-2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===2023–present: Gaza war===
{{Main|Gaza war|Outline of the Gaza war|Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip|Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip|Gaza genocide}}
{{see also|Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)|Gaza Strip evacuations|Potential American ownership of the Gaza Strip}}
[[File:SoI-War 23-10-31 IDF 05-04.jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip on 31 October 2023]]
On 7 October 2023, the paramilitaries in Gaza, led by the Hamas's [[Al-Qassam Brigades]], [[2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel|invaded]] southwest Israel, targeting Israeli communities and military bases, killing at least 1,300 people and taking at least 236 hostages.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hutchinson |first=Bill |date=22 November 2023 |title=Israel-Hamas War: Timeline and key developments |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=30 November 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016214718/https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 9 October 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas and imposed a [[2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip|"total blockade" of the Gaza Strip]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-09 |title=Israel announces 'total' blockade on Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/9/israel-announces-total-blockade-on-gaza |website=www.aljazeera.com |access-date=9 October 2023 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009105304/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/9/israel-announces-total-blockade-on-gaza |url-status=live }}</ref> with Israeli defense minister [[Yoav Gallant]] declaring, "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel announces 'complete siege' of Gaza, cutting its electricity, food, water, and fuel |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10 |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=9 October 2023 |access-date=9 October 2023 |archive-date=2 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102181111/https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TimesOfIsrael_GazaHostages">{{cite news |author=Fabian |first1=Emanuel |last2=Magid |first2=Jacob |date=16 October 2023 |title=IDF notifies relatives of 199 people that their loved ones are Gaza hostages |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-notifies-relatives-of-199-people-that-their-loved-ones-are-gaza-hostages/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102181257/https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-notifies-relatives-of-199-people-that-their-loved-ones-are-gaza-hostages/ |archive-date=2 November 2023 |access-date=17 October 2023 |work=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> Gallant changed his position after pressure from US president [[Joe Biden]], and a deal was made on 19 October for Israel and Egypt to allow aid into Gaza.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-03-02 |title=Fergal Keane: Aid convoy tragedy shows fear of starvation haunts Gaza |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68456718 |access-date=2024-03-15 |language=en-GB |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315042049/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68456718 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gaza is currently undergoing a severe [[Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)|humanitarian crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanitarian crisis in Gaza could get far worse, warns UN relief chief |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143712 |website=[[UN News]] |date=17 November 2023 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-date=22 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122172445/https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143712 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 13 November 2023, one out of every 200 people in Gaza were killed, becoming one out of every 100 by January 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Gaza reports more than 11,100 killed. That's one out of every 200 people. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/gaza-rising-death-toll-civilians/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121134705/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/gaza-rising-death-toll-civilians/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Gaza death toll continues to rise nearly 3 months after Hamas attack on Israel |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240106_25/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |work=[[NHK World]] |language=en |archive-date=6 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106175632/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240106_25/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{as of|2024|10|29}}, according to the [[Gaza Health Ministry]], at least 43,000 Palestinians, including over 16,000 children, have been killed.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 October 2024 |title=Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live Tracker |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker |access-date=31 October 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |archive-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124091434/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker |url-status=live }}</ref> More than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza, or around 1.9&nbsp;million people, were internally displaced.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Israel's Aerial Bombardments Intensify, 'There Is No Safe Place in Gaza', Humanitarian Affairs Chief Warns Security Council |url=https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm |work=United Nations |date=12 January 2024 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219184609/https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> As of January 2024, Israel's offensive has either damaged or destroyed 70–80% of all buildings in northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |title=Over 50% of Gaza buildings damaged or destroyed in Israel's bombardment |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/01/14/gaza-building-damage-israel-war |work=Axios |date=5 January 2024 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205085440/https://www.axios.com/2024/01/14/gaza-building-damage-israel-war |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The numbers that reveal the extent of the destruction in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/08/the-numbers-that-reveal-the-extent-of-the-destruction-in-gaza |work=The Guardian |date=8 January 2024 |access-date=18 January 2024 |archive-date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220030015/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/08/the-numbers-that-reveal-the-extent-of-the-destruction-in-gaza |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Gaza war 2023 - 2025 IMG 8182.png|thumb|The ruins of Gaza after Israeli airstrikes]]
After the outbreak of the [[Gaza war]] in 2023, there has been a renewed campaign to return Israeli settlers to [[Gush Katif]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Yerushalmi |first=Shalom |date=24 October 2023 |title=As war with Hamas rages, a campaign gets underway for a return to Gaza's settlements |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-war-with-hamas-rages-a-campaign-gets-underway-for-a-return-to-gazas-settlements/amp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106190724/https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-war-with-hamas-rages-a-campaign-gets-underway-for-a-return-to-gazas-settlements/amp/ |archive-date=6 November 2023 |access-date=23 April 2024 |work=Times of Israel}}</ref> including [[Hanan Ben Ari]] singing "We return to Gush Katif" to Israeli troops.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rousseau |first=Daphne |date=26 October 2023 |title=Some Israelis dream of return to Gaza settlements as IDF readies to go back in |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/some-israelis-dream-of-return-to-gaza-settlements-as-idf-readies-to-go-back-in/amp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118134117/https://www.timesofisrael.com/some-israelis-dream-of-return-to-gaza-settlements-as-idf-readies-to-go-back-in/amp/ |archive-date=18 November 2023 |access-date=23 April 2024 |work=Times of Israel}}</ref>

On 19 January 2025, [[2025 Gaza war ceasefire|a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas]] took effect. It lasted until 18 March, when Israel launched a surprise attack.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shurafa |first1=Wafaa |last2=Mednick |first2=Sam |date=March 18, 2025 |title=Israel launches deadly wave of airstrikes across Gaza after ceasefire talks stall |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-ceasefire-hostages-03-17-2025-b8753b9458a44f10ab08aa9b12582780 |access-date=April 1, 2025 |work=[[AP News]] |location=[[Deir al-Balah]], [[Gaza Strip]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 5 February 2025, in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, US president [[Donald Trump]] asserted that the US would "[[Donald Trump's Gaza Strip proposal|take over the Gaza Strip, we'll own it.]]" The remark sparked discussions regarding US policy in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valdez |first=Jonah |date=2025-02-05 |title=Trump: 'The U.S. Will Take Over the Gaza Strip' |url=https://theintercept.com/2025/02/04/trump-netanyahu-gaza-palestinians-displace/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Liptak |first=Kevin |date=2025-02-04 |title=Trump says US will 'take over' Gaza Strip and doesn't rule out using American troops |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/netanyahu-trump-white-house-meeting/index.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Trump says U.S. will "take over the Gaza Strip" in presser with Netanyahu |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-says-us-will-take-over-gaza-strip-presser-netanyahu/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website= CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref> The following day, Trump said the proposed transfer of Gaza would happen after the conclusion of the war and the resettlement of population elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jana |first=Choukeir |date=6 February 2025 |title=Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting, no US troops needed |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-defense-minister-orders-army-prepare-gaza-residents-departure-media-2025-02-06/ |work=REUTERS}}</ref>