Editing Gaza Strip (section)

===Buffer zone===
Part of the territory is depopulated because of the imposition of buffer zones on both the Israeli and Egyptian borders.<ref name=bbc_hard_times>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11721118 ''Hard times drive Gazans into perilous ′buffer zone′''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624140117/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11721118 |date=24 June 2017 }}. BBC, 10 November 2010</ref><ref name=pchr_enforced_live_fire>[http://www.imemc.org/article/71548 ''PCHR-Gaza: Israeli Buffer Zone Policies Typically Enforced with Live Fire''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017193835/http://www.imemc.org/article/71548 |date=17 October 2015 }}. PCHR, 11 May 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765776 ''Israeli forces release 5 detained fishermen in Gaza''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120084302/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765776 |date=20 November 2015 }}. Ma'an, 4 June 2015</ref>

Initially, Israel imposed a 50-meter buffer zone in Gaza.<ref name=imemc_2011-04-05>[http://www.imemc.org/article/61003 ''Palestinian Killed in Gaza Buffer Zone''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101014608/http://www.imemc.org/article/61003 |date=1 January 2016 }}. IMEMC, 5 April 2011</ref> In 2000, it was expanded to 150 meters.<ref name=pchr_enforced_live_fire/> Following the 2005 [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza]], an undefined buffer zone was maintained, including a no-fishing zone along the coast. The ultimate effect of the enforcement of the no-fishing zone was that the fishing industry in Gaza "virtually ceased."<ref>Roy, S. M. (2016). The Gaza Strip: The political economy of de-development, expanded third edition. United States: Institute for Palestine Studies p. l</ref>

In 2009/2010, Israel expanded the buffer zone to 300 meters.<ref name=ocha_factsheet_july_2015/><ref name=imemc_2011-04-05/><ref>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=255137 Peaceful march reaches Gaza buffer zone] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120081557/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=255137 |date=20 November 2015 }}. Ma'an News Agency, 18 January 2010</ref> The Israeli military stated that this buffer zone extended to 300 meters from the security fence, although UN bodies and other organizations operating in the region reported that the area extended at least a kilometer from the security fence before 2012. The buffer zone before the implementation of the [[2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip#Ceasefire|ceasefire that followed the 2012 clashes]] accounted to 14% of the whole territory of the Strip and contained 30–55% of its total [[arable land]]. A 2012 UN report estimated that 75,000 metric tons of potential produce were lost per year as a result of the buffer zone, amounting to US$50.2&nbsp;million per year.<ref>Roy, S. M. (2016). The Gaza Strip: The political economy of de-development, expanded third edition. United States: Institute for Palestine Studies p. xlix</ref> The [[Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre|IDMC]] estimated in 2014 that 12% of the population of Gaza was directly affected by the land and sea restrictions due to the buffer zone.<ref>IDMC, Access Restricted Areas in the Gaza Strip, p. 1.</ref><ref name=bbc_hard_times/><ref name=imemc_2011-04-05/>

On 25 February 2013, pursuant to a November 2012 ceasefire, Israel declared a buffer zone of 100 meters on land and 6 nautical miles offshore. In the following month, the zone was changed to 300 meters and 3 nautical miles. The 1994 [[Gaza Jericho Agreement]] allows 20&nbsp;nautical miles, and the 2002 Bertini Commitment allows 12&nbsp;nautical miles.<ref name=ocha_factsheet_july_2015/><ref name=pchr_enforced_live_fire/>

In August 2015, the IDF confirmed a buffer zone of 300 meters for residents and 100 meters for farmers, but without explaining how to distinguish between the two.<ref name=gisha_idf_spokesman>[http://gisha.org/legal/4577 IDF spokesman provides contradictory answers regarding the width of the "no-go zone" which residents of the Gaza Strip are prohibited from entering] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002014109/http://gisha.org/legal/4577 |date=2 October 2015 }}. Gisha, August 2015</ref> {{As of|2015}}, on a third of Gaza's agricultural land, residents risk Israeli attacks. According to [[Palestinian Centre for Human Rights|PCHR]], Israeli attacks take place up to approximately {{cvt|1.5|km|1}} from the border, making 17% of Gaza's total territory a risk zone.<ref name=pchr_enforced_live_fire/>

Israel says the buffer zone is needed to protect Israeli communities just over the border from sniper fire and rocket attacks. In the 18 months until November 2010, one Thai farm worker in Israel was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza. In 2010, according to IDF figures, 180 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel by militants. In 6 months, 11 Palestinians civilians, including four children, had been killed by Israeli fire and at least 70 Palestinian civilians were injured in the same period, including at least 49 who were working collecting rubble and scrap metal.<ref name=bbc_hard_times/>

[[Egypt–Gaza border#Buffer zone by Egypt|A buffer zone]] was also created on the Egyptian side of the Gaza–Egypt border. In 2014, scores of homes in [[Rafah, Egypt|Rafah]] were destroyed for the buffer zone.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/22/look-another-homeland/forced-evictions-egypts-rafah ''"Look for Another Homeland"''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205100025/https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/22/look-another-homeland/forced-evictions-egypts-rafah |date=5 December 2021 }}. Human Rights Watch, September 2015</ref> According to Amnesty International, more than 800 homes were destroyed and more than 1,000 families evicted.<ref name=haaretz_abbas/> Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas agreed with the destruction of [[Gaza Strip smuggling tunnel#Measures taken by Egypt|smuggling tunnels]] by flooding them, and then punishing the owners of the houses that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their houses, arguing that the tunnels had produced 1,800&nbsp;millionaires, and were used for smuggling weapons, drugs, cash, and equipment for forging documents.<ref name=haaretz_abbas>[https://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.629397 ''Abbas: Egypt Right to Create Buffer Zone on Gaza Border''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820105818/https://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.629397 |date=20 August 2015 }}. Jack Khoury, Haaretz, 1 December 2014 (premium). ″Abbas believed the destruction of the tunnels was the best solution. The Palestinian president said he had recommended previously the sealing or destruction of the tunnels by flooding them and then punishing the owners of the homes that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their homes.″</ref>