Editing Gaza Strip (section)

==Government==
{{Main|Government of Palestine}}
===Hamas government===
{{Main|Gaza Strip under Hamas}}
[[File:UNSchool DestrMoInterior.jpg|thumb|Damaged UN school and remmants of the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City, December 2012]]

Since its takeover of Gaza, Hamas has exercised executive authority over the Gaza Strip, and it governs the territory through its own ''[[ad hoc]]'' executive, legislative, and judicial bodies.<ref name="freedomhouse">{{cite web |date=4 January 2018 |title=Gaza Strip |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/gaza-strip |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007111428/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/gaza-strip |archive-date=7 October 2018 |access-date=7 October 2018 |website=[[Freedom House]]}}</ref> The Hamas government of 2012 was the second Palestinian Hamas-dominated government, ruling over the Gaza Strip, since the split of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007. It was announced in early September 2012.<ref name=hurriyet0209>{{cite web |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hamas-announces-cabinet-reshuffle-in-gaza.aspx?pageID=238&nID=29198&NewsCatID=352 |title=Hamas announces cabinet reshuffle in Gaza |date=2 September 2012 |publisher=Hurriyetdailynews.com |access-date=25 January 2013 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012085350/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hamas-announces-cabinet-reshuffle-in-gaza.aspx?pageID=238&nID=29198&NewsCatID=352 |url-status=live }}</ref> The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza-based Hamas MPs from the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]] or parliament.<ref name=hurriyet0209/> Since the Hamas takeover in 2007, the Gaza Strip has been described as a "''de facto'' [[one-party state]]", although it tolerates other political groups, including leftist ones such as the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) and the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]].<ref>
*{{Cite web |title=Gaza Strip: Freedom in the World 2020 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/gaza-strip/freedom-world/2020 |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Freedom House |language=en |quote=Since 2007, Gaza has functioned as a de facto one-party state under Hamas rule |archive-date=27 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327190234/https://freedomhouse.org/country/gaza-strip/freedom-world/2020 |url-status=live }}
*{{Cite news |title=How powerful is Hamas? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/10/10/how-powerful-is-hamas |access-date=2023-10-17 |issn=0013-0613 |quote=In 2006, a year after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas won a majority of seats in a Palestinian election and later formed a new unity government with Fatah, its nationalist rival. In June 2007, after a brief civil war, it assumed sole control of Gaza, leaving Fatah to run the Palestinian Authority (pa) in the West Bank. In response Israel and Egypt imposed a suffocating blockade on the coastal strip in 2007, strangling its economy and in effect confining its people in an open-air prison. There have been no elections since. Hamas has run Gaza as an oppressive one-party state, leaving some Palestinians there disenchanted with its leadership. Nevertheless, Palestinians widely consider it more competent than the ailing, corrupt pa. |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114121410/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/10/10/how-powerful-is-hamas |url-status=live }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Burton |first=Guy |date=2012 |title=Hamas and its Vision of Development |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41507185 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=525–540 |doi=10.1080/01436597.2012.657491 |jstor=41507185 |s2cid=144037453 |issn=0143-6597 |quote=The joint Hamas-Fatah government did not last long. Within months the two sides were fighting again, eventually leading to a political split of the occupied territory, with Fatah controlling the West Bank and Hamas establishing a virtual one-party state in Gaza |access-date=17 October 2023 |archive-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023080017/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41507185 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto1" />

The legal code Hamas applies in Gaza is based on Ottoman laws, the British Mandate's 1936 legal code, [[Palestinian law|Palestinian Authority law]], [[Sharia law]], and Israeli military orders. Hamas maintains a judicial system with civilian and military courts and a public prosecution service.<ref name=freedomhouse/><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.academia.edu/2984906 |title=Ideology and Practice: The Legal System in Gaza under Hamas |first=Nicolas |last=Pelham |date=2010 |via=www.academia.edu |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628143849/https://www.academia.edu/2984906 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gaza Strip was ranked 6th least electoral [[democracy in the Middle East and North Africa]] according to [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] in 2024 with a score of 0.136 out of one.<ref name="report">{{Cite web |url=https://v-dem.net/documents/43/v-dem_dr2024_lowres.pdf |title=Democracy Report 2024, Varieties of Democracy |access-date=16 March 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312185522/https://v-dem.net/documents/43/v-dem_dr2024_lowres.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Security===
The Gaza Strip's security is mainly handled by Hamas through its military wing, the [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]], internal security service, and civil police force. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades have an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 operatives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-gains-credibility-fighting-force-analysts-say-371780262 |title=Hamas growing in military stature, say analysts |website=Middle East Eye |access-date=6 October 2018 |archive-date=7 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007040321/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-gains-credibility-fighting-force-analysts-say-371780262 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Other groups and ideologies===
[[File:2013 Fatah anniversary rally in Gaza (04).jpg|thumb|A rally in support of [[Fatah]] in Gaza City in January 2013]]
Other Palestinian militant factions operate in the Gaza Strip alongside, and sometimes opposed to Hamas. The [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine]], also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is the second largest militant faction operating in the Gaza Strip. Its military wing, the [[Al-Quds Brigades]], has an estimated 8,000 fighters.<ref>
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1658443.stm Who are Islamic Jihad?] BBC. 9 June 2003. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327035852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1658443.stm |date=27 March 2009 }}
*{{cite web |url=https://www.dni.gov/index.php/nctc-home |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016214230/http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/pij.html |url-status=dead |title=Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) |publisher=NCTC |archive-date=16 October 2014 |website=www.dni.gov}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/WWW/nationalsecurity.nsf/Page/What_Governments_are_doing_Listing_of_Terrorism_Organisations_Palestinian_Islamic_Jihad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126041704/http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/WWW/nationalsecurity.nsf/Page/What_Governments_are_doing_Listing_of_Terrorism_Organisations_Palestinian_Islamic_Jihad |url-status=dead |title=Australian Government: Listing of Terrorism Organisations |archive-date=26 January 2014}}</ref><ref name=IslamicJihad>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/islamic-jihad-chief-dies-after-clash-with-hamas-police/#ixzz2X8KLrgkS |title=Islamic Militant Group |publisher=Foxnews.com |date=23 June 2013 |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-date=24 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624121949/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/23/islamic-jihad-chief-dies-after-clash-with-hamas-police/#ixzz2X8KLrgkS |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2013, the Islamic Jihad broke ties with Hamas leaders after Hamas police fatally shot the commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing.<ref name=IslamicJihad/> The third largest faction is the [[Popular Resistance Committees]]. Its military wing is known as the [[Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades]].

Other factions include the [[Army of Islam (Gaza Strip)|Army of Islam]] (an Islamist faction of the [[Doghmush clan]]), the Nidal Al-Amoudi Battalion (an offshoot of the West Bank-based Fatah-linked [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]]), the [[Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades]] (armed wing of the PFLP), the [[Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade]] ([[ISIL]] offshoot), Humat al-Aqsa, [[Jaysh al-Ummah (Gaza)|Jaysh al-Ummah]], [[Katibat al-Sheikh al-Emireen]], the Mujahideen Brigades, and the [[Abdul al-Qadir al-Husseini Brigades]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/06/analysis-17-palestinian-militant-factions-identified-in-recent-gaza-conflict.php |title=Analysis: 17 Palestinian militant factions identified in recent Gaza conflict |author=Joe Truzman |work=[[FDD's Long War Journal]] |date=4 June 2021 |access-date=5 June 2021 |archive-date=5 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605024417/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/06/analysis-17-palestinian-militant-factions-identified-in-recent-gaza-conflict.php |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some [[Islamist anti-Hamas groups in the Gaza Strip|Salafi-Jihadis operating in Gaza]] have been using as part of their name the term ''ʻArḍ al-Ribat'' "Land of the [[Ribat]]", as a name for Palestine, literally meaning "the land of standing vigilant watch on the frontier", but understood in the context of ''global'' jihad, which is fundamentally opposed to local, [[Palestinian nationalism]].<ref>"[https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1059351/1226_1301926747_104-20radical-20islam-20in-20gaza.pdf Radical Islam In Gaza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023184546/https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1059351/1226_1301926747_104-20radical-20islam-20in-20gaza.pdf |date=23 October 2023 }}" (PDF), [[International Crisis Group]], Middle East Report N°104, 29 March 2011, pp. 6-7 with note 61. Accessed 22 Oct 2023.</ref>

===Administrative divisions===
The territory is divided into five governorates: the [[North Gaza Governorate]], [[Gaza Governorate]], [[Deir al-Balah Governorate]], [[Khan Yunis Governorate]] and [[Rafah Governorate]].

===Legality of Hamas rule===
After Hamas's June 2007 takeover, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to [[Amnesty International]], under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed.<ref name="AI_torn">{{cite web |date=24 October 2007 |title=Torn apart by factional strife |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde21/020/2007/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313044927/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde21/020/2007/en/ |archive-date=13 March 2015 |access-date=23 October 2007 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]]}}</ref> Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of [[Yasser Arafat]]'s death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hamas kills seven at Arafat rally in Gaza |url=http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/hamas_kills_seven_at_arafat_rally_in_gaza_135015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070813050106/http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/hamas_kills_seven_at_arafat_rally_in_gaza_135015 |archive-date=13 August 2007 |access-date=1 June 2016}}, AFP, (via SBS World News Australia), 13 November 2007.</ref>

Hamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israeli MFA |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Missile+fire+from+Gaza+on+Israeli+civilian+targets+Aug+2007.htm#statistics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011023634/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%2BObstacle%2Bto%2BPeace/Palestinian%2Bterror%2Bsince%2B2000/Missile%2Bfire%2Bfrom%2BGaza%2Bon%2BIsraeli%2Bcivilian%2Btargets%2BAug%2B2007.htm#statistics |archive-date=11 October 2007 |access-date=1 June 2010 |publisher=Mfa.gov.il}}</ref> In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting [[collective punishment]] on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in short supply,<ref>{{cite news |date=6 January 2009 |title=Profile: Gaza Strip |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5122404.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518081735/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5122404.stm |archive-date=18 May 2014 |access-date=21 May 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenberg |first1=Hanan |date=20 June 1995 |title=IDF official rejects claims of humanitarian crisis in Gaza |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3496654,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523062831/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3496654,00.html |archive-date=23 May 2011 |access-date=21 May 2011 |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com}}</ref>

The Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied.<ref>Dana Weiss and Ronen Shamir (2011) Corporate Accountability to Human Rights: The Case of the Gaza Strip. Harvard Human Rights Journal, Vol. 24, 1, 155–183.</ref>