Editing Israeli settlement (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Israeli settlement timeline}}

=== Occupied territories ===
Following the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], Israel [[military occupation|occupied]] a number of territories.<ref name="fmep1">{{cite web |url=http://www.fmep.org/reports/special-reports/special-report-on-israeli-settlement-in-the-occupied-territories/PDF |title=Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories |publisher=Foundation for Middle East Peace |access-date=2012-08-05 }}{{dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It took over the remainder of the Palestinian Mandate territories of the [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|West Bank including East Jerusalem]], from [[Jordan]] which had [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|controlled the territories]] since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and the [[Gaza Strip]] from [[Egypt]], which had [[Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt|held Gaza under occupation since 1949]]. From Egypt, it also captured the [[Sinai Peninsula]] and from [[Syria]] it captured most of the [[Golan Heights]], which [[Status of the Golan Heights|since 1981 has been administered under the Golan Heights Law]].

=== Settlement policy ===
As early as September 1967, Israeli settlement policy was progressively encouraged by the [[Thirteenth government of Israel|Labor government]] of [[Levi Eshkol]]. The basis for Israeli settlement in the West Bank became the [[Allon Plan]],<ref name=HRW_Separate-IV>[https://www.hrw.org/en/node/95059/section/5 ''Separate and Unequal''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214012536/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/95059/section/5 |date=14 December 2014 }}, Chapter IV. Human Rights Watch, 19 December 2010</ref><ref>Akiva Eldar, [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988828.html "A matter of a few dozen meters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122050804/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988828.html |date=22 November 2008 }}. ''Haaretz'', 1 June 2008</ref> named after its inventor [[Yigal Allon]]. It implied Israeli annexation of major parts of the [[Israeli-occupied territories]], especially [[East Jerusalem]], [[Gush Etzion]] and the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]].<ref>Ian S. Lustick, [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/lustick13.html ''For the land and the Lord: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722235336/https://www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/lustick13.html |date=22 July 2021 }}, chapter 3, par. ''Early Activities of Gush Emunim''. 1988, the Council on Foreign Relations</ref> The settlement policy of the government of Yitzhak Rabin was also derived from the Allon Plan.<ref name=Knesset>Knesset Website, [https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/gush_em_eng.htm Gush Emunim] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927142607/https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/gush_em_eng.htm |date=27 September 2020 }}. Retrieved 27-02-2013</ref>

The first settlement was [[Kfar Etzion]], in the southern West Bank,<ref name=HRW_Separate-IV /><ref>Donald Macintyre, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080611213726/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/secret-memo-shows-israel-knew-six-day-war-was-illegal-450410.html "Secret memo shows Israel knew Six Day War was illegal"]. ''Independent'', 26 May 2007. (on web.archive)</ref> although that location was outside the Allon Plan. Many settlements began as [[Nahal settlement]]s. They were established as military outposts and later expanded and populated with civilian inhabitants. According to a secret document dating to 1970, obtained by [[Haaretz]], the settlement of [[Kiryat Arba]] was established by confiscating land by military order and falsely representing the project as being strictly for military use while in reality, Kiryat Arba was planned for settler use. The method of confiscating land by military order for establishing civilian settlements was an open secret in Israel throughout the 1970s, but publication of the information was suppressed by the [[Israeli Military Censor|military censor]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Berger|first=Yotam|date=2016-07-28|title=Secret 1970 document confirms first West Bank settlements built on a lie|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-document-confirms-first-settlements-built-on-a-lie-1.5416937|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112161204/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-document-confirms-first-settlements-built-on-a-lie-1.5416937|archive-date=2019-11-12|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Haaretz|language=en|quote=In minutes of meeting in then defense minister Moshe Dayan's office, top Israeli officials discussed how to violate international law in building settlement of Kiryat Arba, next to Hebron […] The system of confiscating land by military order for the purpose of establishing settlements was an open secret in Israel throughout the 1970s}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Haaretz |title=Israel Used Military Censor to Conceal First Settlements From Public, Document Reveals |date=7 September 2016 |author=Yotam Berger |url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.740778 |quote='The seizure for military needs can easily be defended from a legal point of view,' Ben Horin writes. 'Civilian enterprises are another thing entirely.' |access-date=8 September 2016 |archive-date=14 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314053738/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.740778 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1970s, Israel's methods for seizing Palestinian land to establish settlements included requisitioning for ostensibly military purposes and spraying of land with poison.<ref>{{cite news|last=Aderet|first=Ofer|date=23 June 2023|title=Israel Poisoned Palestinian Land to Build West Bank Settlement in 1970s, Documents Reveal|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-06-23/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-poisoned-palestinian-land-to-build-west-bank-settlement-in-1970s-documents-reveal/00000188-e8aa-df52-a79d-fcabdd200000|work=|location=Haaretz|access-date=24 June 2023|archive-date=23 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623175116/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-06-23/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-poisoned-palestinian-land-to-build-west-bank-settlement-in-1970s-documents-reveal/00000188-e8aa-df52-a79d-fcabdd200000|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Likud government of Menahem Begin, from 1977, was more supportive to settlement in other parts of the West Bank, by organizations like [[Gush Emunim]] and the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]]/World Zionist Organization, and intensified the settlement activities.<ref name=Knesset /><ref name=DPR>Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/B658E2F2D24BC43885256C780054B750 ''Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, Part II''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203123155/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/B658E2F2D24BC43885256C780054B750 |date=3 December 2013 }}, chapter III. "The magnitude of settlements". 1 July 1984. [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/B795B2D7FE86DA4885256B5A00666D70 ''Part I''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309145732/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/B795B2D7FE86DA4885256B5A00666D70 |date=9 March 2012 }}</ref><ref name=Lustick>Ian S. Lustick, [http://www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/lustick13.html ''For the land and the Lord: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722235336/https://www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/lustick13.html |date=22 July 2021 }}, chapter 3, par. "Gush Emunim and the Likud". 1988, the Council on Foreign Relations</ref> In a government statement, Likud declared that the entire historic Land of Israel is the inalienable heritage of the Jewish people and that no part of the West Bank should be handed over to foreign rule.<ref>Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/23%20Government%20statement%20on%20recognition%20of%20three%20se 23. "Government statement on recognition of three settlements"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925205750/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/23%20Government%20statement%20on%20recognition%20of%20three%20se |date=25 September 2020 }}. 26 July 1977</ref> Ariel Sharon declared in the same year (1977) that there was a plan to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank by 2000.<ref>Robin Bidwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KKrCgxsRBkEC&pg=PA442 ''Dictionary Of Modern Arab History''], Routledge, 2012 p. 442</ref> The government abrogated the prohibition from purchasing occupied land by Israelis; the "Drobles Plan", a plan for large-scale settlement in the West Bank meant to prevent a Palestinian state under the pretext of security became the framework for its policy.<ref name=Drobles>Division for Palestinian Rights/CEIRPP,
[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/76B24E9B635C44C185256D5C004C5C4C ''SUPR Bulletin No. 9-10''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203122735/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/76B24E9B635C44C185256D5C004C5C4C |date=3 December 2013 }} (letters of 19 September 1979 and 18 October 1979).<br />Original UNGA/UNSC publication of the "Drobles Plan" in pdf: [http://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N79/268/98/pdf/N7926898.pdf?OpenElement ''Letter dated 18 October 1979 from the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People addressed to the Secretary-General''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926034551/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N79/268/98/pdf/N7926898.pdf?OpenElement |date=26 September 2020 }}, see ANNEX (doc.nrs. A/34/605 and S/13582 d.d. 22-10-1979).</ref><!----------START CITATION----------><ref group="upper-alpha">Citations from the ''[[Matityahu Drobles|Drobles]] Plan'' (October 1978): [http://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N79/268/98/pdf/N7926898.pdf?OpenElement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926034551/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N79/268/98/pdf/N7926898.pdf?OpenElement|date=26 September 2020}}<br /><br />
''"Settlement throughout the entire Land of Israel is for security and by right. A strip of settlements at strategic sites enhances both internal and external security alike, as well as making concrete and realizing our right to Eretz Israel."''<br /><br />
''"The disposition of the settlements must be carried out not only <u>around</u> the settlements of the minorities, but also <u>in between them</u>."''
[Note: "minorities" refers to the Arab population in Israel and the [[Palestinian territories]]. The West Bank had some 98% Arabs in 1978.]<br /><br />
"''<u>New settlements will be established only on State-owned land</u>, and not on private Arab-owned land which is duly registered. We should ensure that there is no need for the expropriation of private plots from the members of the minorities."''<br /><br />
''"As is known, it is the task of the land settlement department to initiate, plan and implement the settlement enterprise according to the decisions of the Government and of the joint Government-World Zionist Organization Committee for Settlement."''<br /><br />
''"This will enable us to bring about the dispersion … to the presently empty areas of J&S."''<br /><br /></ref><!----------END CITATION----------> The "Drobles Plan" from the [[World Zionist Organization]], dated October 1978 and named "Master Plan for the Development of Settlements in Judea and Samaria, 1979–1983", was written by the Jewish Agency director and former Knesset member [[Matityahu Drobles]]. In January 1981, the government adopted a follow-up plan from Drobles, dated September 1980 and named "The current state of the settlements in Judea and Samaria", with more details about settlement strategy and policy.<ref name=Drobles2>UNGA/UNSC, [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3E5D731750EEB69E8525696600663AD0 ''Letter dated 19 June 1981 from the Acting Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to the Secretary-General''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203121935/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3E5D731750EEB69E8525696600663AD0 |date=3 December 2013 }} (A/36/341 and S/14566 d.d.19-06-1981).<br /></ref><!----------START CITATION----------><ref group="upper-alpha">Citations from the Matityahu Drobles follow-up plan (September 1980): [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3E5D731750EEB69E8525696600663AD0] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203121935/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3E5D731750EEB69E8525696600663AD0|date=3 December 2013}}<br /><br />
THE SETTLEMENT STRATEGY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA<br /><br />
''"In light of the current negotiations on the future of Judea and Samaria, it will now become necessary for us to conduct a race against time. During this period, everything will be mainly determined by the facts we establish in these territories and less by any other considerations. This is therefore the best time for launching an extensive and comprehensive settlement momentum, particularly on the Judea and Samaria hilltops which are not easily passable by nature and which preside over the Jordan Valley on the cast and over the Coastal Plain on the west."''

''"It is therefore significant to stress today, mainly by means of actions, that the autonomy does not and will not apply to the territories but only to the Arab population thereof. This should mainly find expression by establishing facts on the ground. Therefore, the state-owned lands and the uncultivated barren lands in Judea and Samaria ought to be seized right away, with the purpose of settling the areas between and around the centers occupied by the minorities so as to reduce to the minimum the danger of an additional Arab state being established in these territories. Being cut off by Jewish settlements the minority population will find it difficult to form a territorial and political continuity."''

''"There mustn't be even the shadow of a doubt about our intention to keep the territories of Judea and Samaria for good. Otherwise, the minority population may get into a state of growing disquiet which will eventually result in recurrent efforts to establish an additional Arab state in these territories. The best and most effective way of removing every shadow of a doubt about our intention to hold on to Judea and Samaria forever is by speeding up the settlement momentum in these territories."''

SETTLEMENT POLICY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA<br /><br />
''"Thus, it is necessary to establish additional settlements near every existing settlement in Judea and Samaria, so as to create settlement clusters in homogenous settlement regions ..."''

''"Over the next 5 years it is necessary to establish 12–15 rural and urban settlements per annum in Judea and Samaria, so that in five years from now the number of settlements will grow by 60–75 and the Jewish population thereof will amount to between 120,000 and 150,000 people."''<br /><br /></ref><!----------END CITATION---------->

[[File:2012.01.16.HebronGilbertCheckpoint.2.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Israeli soldiers searching a Palestinian in [[Tel Rumeida]], 2012]]
Since 1967, government-funded settlement projects in the West Bank are implemented by the "Settlement Division" of the [[World Zionist Organization]].<ref name=JP_Cabinet_seeks_limit>[http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Cabinet-seeks-to-limit-Baraks-say-on-settlements "Cabinet seeks to limit Barak's say on settlements"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225202657/http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Cabinet-seeks-to-limit-Baraks-say-on-settlements |date=25 February 2021 }}. Tovah Lazaroff and Herb Keinon, ''Jerusalem Post'', 20 June 2011</ref> Though formally a [[non-governmental organization]], it is funded by the Israeli government and leases lands from the Civil Administration to settle in the West Bank. It is authorized to create settlements in the West Bank on lands licensed to it by the Civil Administration.<ref name=HRW_Separate-IV /> Traditionally, the Settlement Division has been under the responsibility of the Agriculture Ministry. Since the Oslo Accords, it was always housed within the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). In 2007, it was moved back to the Agriculture Ministry. In 2009, the Netanyahu Government decided to subject all settlement activities to additional approval of the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. In 2011, Netanyahu sought to move the Settlement Division again under the direct control of (his own) PMO, and to curtail Defense Minister Ehud Barak's authority.<ref name=JP_Cabinet_seeks_limit />

At the presentation of the [[Oslo II Accord]] on 5 October 1995 in the Knesset, PM [[Yitzhak Rabin]] expounded the Israeli settlement policy in connection with the permanent solution to the conflict. Israel wanted ''"a Palestinian entity, less than a state, which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank"''. It wanted to keep settlements beyond the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]] including Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev in East Jerusalem. Blocs of settlements should be established in the West Bank. Rabin promised not to return to the 4 June 1967 lines.<ref>Presentation of the Oslo II Accord in the Knesset by Rabin: MFA, [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1995/pages/pm%20rabin%20in%20knesset-%20ratification%20of%20interim%20agree.aspx ''Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: Ratification of the Israel–Palestinian Interim Agreement—The Knesset October 5, 1995''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127133431/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1995/pages/pm%20rabin%20in%20knesset-%20ratification%20of%20interim%20agree.aspx |date=27 November 2020 }}.</ref>

In June 1997, the Likud government of [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] presented its "Allon Plus Plan". This plan holds the retention of some 60% of the West Bank, including the "Greater Jerusalem" area with the settlements Gush Etzion and Ma'aleh Adumim, other large concentrations of settlements in the West Bank, the entire Jordan Valley, a "security area", and a network of Israeli-only bypass roads.<ref name=CEIRPP_V>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3DF99D9DCCB3B21F85257C62004B782F ''The origins and evolution of the Palestine problem''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421064330/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/3DF99D9DCCB3B21F85257C62004B782F |date=21 April 2014 }}, Part V (1989–2000), chap. III, E. CEIRPP, 2014.</ref><ref name="FMEP_7_4">[http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-7/no.-4/PDF "Netanyahu Presents His 'Allon-Plus' Final Status Map"]{{dead link|date=July 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}. ''Settlement Report'', Vol. 7 No. 4, July–August 1997. On [https://archive.today/20140420134644/http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-7/no.-4/netanyahu-presents-his-allon-plus-final-status-map]</ref>
[[File:OfraPurim8291.JPG|thumb|Israeli settlers in the [[Ofra]] settlement, [[Israeli occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[West Bank]], 2012]]
In the [[Road map for peace]] of 2002, which was never implemented, the establishment of a Palestinian state was acknowledged. Outposts would be dismantled. However, many new outposts appeared instead, few were removed. Israel's settlement policy remained unchanged. Settlements in East Jerusalem and remaining West Bank were expanded.

While according to official Israeli policy no new settlements were built, at least some hundred [[Israeli outpost|unauthorized outposts]] were established since 2002 with [[Sasson Report|state funding]] in the 60% of the West Bank that was not under [[Palestinian Authority|Palestinian administrative control]] and the population growth of settlers did not diminish.

In 2005, all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank were forcibly evacuated as part of [[Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip]], known to some in Israel as "the Expulsion".<ref name="West Bank"/> Nevertheless, the total settler population continued to rise.<ref name="fmep1972-2010" />

After the failure of the Roadmap, several new plans emerged to settle in major parts of the West Bank. In 2011, ''Haaretz'' revealed the [[Israeli Civil Administration|Civil Administration's]] ''"Blue Line"''-plan, written in January 2011, which aims to increase Israeli "state-ownership" of [[Declarations of State Land in the West Bank|West Bank land]] ("state lands") and settlement in strategic areas like the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area.<ref name=Eldar_220711>Akiva Eldar, [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-civil-administration-pushing-for-land-takeover-in-west-bank-1.374564 "IDF Civil Administration pushing for land takeover in West Bank"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924222701/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-civil-administration-pushing-for-land-takeover-in-west-bank-1.374564 |date=24 September 2015 }} ''Haaretz'', 22 July 2011</ref> In March 2012, it was revealed that the Civil Administration over the years covertly allotted 10% of the West Bank for further settlement. Provisional names for future new settlements or settlement expansions were already assigned. The plan includes many Palestinian built-up sites in the [[Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords|Areas A and B]].<ref name=Eldar_300312>Akiva Eldar, [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-defense-ministry-plan-earmarks-10-percent-of-west-bank-for-settlement-expansion-1.421589 "Israel Defense Ministry plan earmarks 10 percent of West Bank for settlement expansion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825034254/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-defense-ministry-plan-earmarks-10-percent-of-west-bank-for-settlement-expansion-1.421589 |date=25 August 2015 }}. ''Haaretz'', 30 March 2012.</ref>

=== Settlements in the Gaza Strip ===
{{See also|Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip}}
[[File:Gaza Strip 1999.jpg|thumb|Settlement area in the Gaza Strip (March 1999)]]
Land in the Gaza Strip available to its Palestinian inhabitants has historically been limited as a result of Israeli land confiscation and the establishment of settlements. Settlement growth in the Gaza Strip before 1977 was limited, as the Israeli labor party's policy of containment preferred the establishment of a collection of settlements along the border of the Strip. At this point, 6 settlements in the Strip existed, Kfar Darom, Netzarim, Morag, Eretz, Katif, and Netzer Hazani. With the Likud party's revisionist Zionist policies entering with Begin's government, the scale of settlement expansion increased, although the basic policies relating to the settlements did not change. By 1978, 13 settlements had been built as part of a buffer zone along Gaza's southern border in Rafah.<ref name="Sara M. Roy2">{{cite book |author=Sara M. Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXAqjgEACAAJ&pg=PA |title=The Gaza Strip |publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies USA, Incorporated |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-88728-321-5 |pages= |access-date=23 January 2024 |archive-date=11 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311045308/https://books.google.com/books?id=gXAqjgEACAAJ&pg=PA |url-status=live }}</ref>

The discussions at [[Camp David Accords|Camp David]] that year surrounding the idea of potential future Palestinian autonomy would trigger an increase in settlement expansion in the Gaza Strip, following the Israeli policy of establishing "[[facts on the ground]]". Political economist Sara Roy described this as a policy intended to make the establishment of an independent Palestinian state more difficult. The locations and size of these new settlements would contribute to geographically isolating Palestinian communities from each other.<ref name="Sara M. Roy2" />

In the seven years between 1978 and 1985, 11,500 acres of land were confiscated by the Israeli government for the establishment of settlements. By 1991, the settler population in Gaza would reach 3,500 and 4,000 by 1993, or less than 1% of Gaza's population. The land available for use by the Jewish settler community exceeded 25% of the total land in Gaza. The ratio of dunams to people was 23 for Jewish settlers, and 0.27 for Palestinians. Comparing the available built-up area available to each of the two groups in 1993, the ratio is 115 people per square mile for Jewish settlers and over 9,000 people per square mile for Palestinians. Sara Roy estimates the increase in Palestinian population density in Gaza due to Israeli policies alone to be an increase of almost 2,000 people per square mile in 1993.<ref name="Sara M. Roy2" />

All the settlements were surrounded by electric fences or barbed wire.<ref>Geoffrey Aronson, “Gaza Settlement—Building a Dream World,” Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories 3, no.5 (September 1993): 4-5.</ref>

While the settlements maintained an isolated economic system, they affected the Gazan economy via land confiscation, the disproportionate consumption of local resources such as water, by overwhelmingly denying work opportunities and through the large disparities in funding (both private and governmental) for economic development.<ref name="Sara M. Roy2" />