The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a polity and the smaller of the two Palestinian territories. On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north.
Al-Quds Brigades is the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which is the second largest group in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas. AQB's leader is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, based in Damascus, Syria. The head of AQB in the Gaza Strip was Baha Abu al-Ata until he was killed in November 2019.
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights since the Six-Day War of 1967. It used to occupy the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, occupation of the Palestinian territories was split between Egypt and Jordan, with the former having occupied the Gaza Strip and the latter having annexed the West Bank; the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights were under the sovereignty of Egypt and Syria, respectively. The first conjoined usage of the terms "occupied" and "territories" with regard to Israel was in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which was drafted in the aftermath of the Six-Day War and called for: "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East" to be achieved by "the application of both the following principles: ... Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict ... Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."
The 2006 Gaza–Israel conflict, known in Israel as Operation Summer Rains, was a series of battles between Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during summer 2006, prompted by the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006. Large-scale conventional warfare occurred in the Gaza Strip, starting on 28 June 2006, which was the first major ground operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel's unilateral disengagement plan was implemented between August and September 2005.
A blockade has been imposed by Israel and Egypt on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip following Hamas's takeover in 2007. The blockade aimed to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. It has also led to significant humanitarian challenges, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits the freedom of movement for Gaza's residents.
The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead, also known in the Muslim world as the Gaza Massacre, and referred to as the Battle of al-Furqan by Hamas, was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths.
There are multiple humanitarian, medical, economic, and industrial effects of the 2008–2009 Gaza War which started with the Israeli air strikes on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January with a cease-fire implemented unilaterally by Israel, and later the same day by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. The cease-fire followed twenty-two days of bombardment by land, sea and air which left over 1,300 Palestinians dead and over 5,000 injured, and the death of 13 Israelis. The United Nations Development Programme warned that there will be long-term consequences of the attacks on Gaza because the livelihoods and assets of tens of thousands of Gaza civilians have been affected.
The Civil Administration is the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank. It was established by the government of Israel in 1981, in order to carry out practical bureaucratic functions within the territories captured by Israel in 1967. While formally separate, it was subordinate to the Israeli military and the Shin Bet.
The import of goods into the Gaza Strip is restricted because of the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Egypt and Israel. Israel allows humanitarian supplies from aid organizations, including UN agencies, into the Gaza Strip. As of May 2010, they have brought in, according to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories of the Israel Defense Forces, 1.5 million liters of diesel fuel and gasoline, fruits and vegetables, wheat, sugar, meat, chicken and fish products, dairy products, animal feed, hygiene products, clothing and shoes.
Yoav "Poli" Mordechai is a retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He concluded his 36-year career in the IDF in 2018 as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
Kerem Shalom border crossing is a border crossing at the junction of the Gaza Strip–Israel border and the Gaza–Egypt border. It is used by trucks carrying goods from Israel or Egypt to the Gaza Strip.
Restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories by Israel is an issue in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. According to B'Tselem, following the 1967 war, the occupied territories were proclaimed closed military zones. In 1972, general exit orders were issued allowing residents of those territories to move freely between the West Bank, Israel and the Gaza Strip. Following the First Intifada by 1991, the general exit orders were revoked, and personal exit permits were required. According to B'Tselem, a measure of overall closure of the territories was enacted for the first time in 1993, and would result in total closures following rises in Palestinian political violence.
Between 29 June and 5 August 2004, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a raid on Beit Hanoun, a Palestinian town in the northern Gaza Strip. The stated goal of The 37-day-long invasion and siege, called Operation Forward Shield by Israel, was to prevent future rocket attacks from Gaza following the deaths of two residents of the Israeli town of Sderot on 28 June.
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, and Battle of the Withered Grain was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (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. Hamas subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians.
Ghassan Alian is an Israeli-Druze officer in the IDF and the current head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. Aluf by rank, he has previously served as Central Command's executive officer and head of the Israeli Civil Administration. Alian is one of the highest ranking Druze in the IDF and has served since 1990.
Area C is the fully Israeli-controlled and only contiguous territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves. Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, contains all Israeli settlements other than those in East Jerusalem, and more than 99% of the area is off limits or heavily restricted for Palestinians. The area was committed in 1995 under the Oslo II Accord to be "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction", but such transfer did not happen. The area is richly endowed with natural resources.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/20 is a resolution of the Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly criticizing the Israeli response to the 2018 Gaza border protests. The resolution was sponsored by Algeria, Turkey and the State of Palestine passed with 120 voting in favour, 8 against, and 45 abstentions.
Events of the year 2023 in Israel.
The 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes code-named as Operation Breaking Dawn lasted from 5 to 7 August 2022. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired approximately 1,100 rockets towards Israel. The operation, ordered by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz without prior Cabinet discussion or approval, followed a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in that area. On 6 August, Israel arrested 20 people in the West Bank of whom 19 were members of PIJ and a further 20 on 7 August according to an unnamed Israeli official.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2023.
