Gaza Strip

Introduction to Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of land in the Middle East not currently recognized internationally as a de jure part of any sovereign country. It takes its name from Gaza, its main city. It is one of the most densely populated territories on earth, with about 1.4 million residents in an area of 360 km². The Strip is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. The official Palestinian position is that the territories are considered occupied, and that Israel holds the status of occupying power. The Israeli government disputes this, especially after the implementation of the disengagement plan. Some Israeli right-wing Zionists and their sympathizers consider the Gaza Strip to be an occupied part of Israel.

Geographically, the Strip forms the westernmost portion of the territories referred to by many as the Palestinian territories in Southwest Asia, having land borders with Egypt on the south-west and Israel on the north and east. On the west, it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

The Strip's borders were originally defined by the armistice lines between Egypt and Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which followed the dissolution of the British mandate of Palestine. It was occupied by Egypt (except for four months of Israeli occupation during the Suez Crisis) until it was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1993, after the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, much of the Strip came under limited Palestinian Authority control. In February 2005 the Israeli government voted to implement Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip beginning on August 15, 2005. The plan required the dismantling of all Israeli settlements there, and the removal of all Israeli settlers and military bases from the Strip, a process that was completed on September 12, 2005 as the Israeli cabinet formally declared an end to military rule in the Gaza Strip after 38 years of control. Following withdrawal, Israel retains offshore maritime control and control of airspace over the Strip. Israel withdrew from the "Philadelphi Route" that is adjacent to the Strip's border with Egypt after an agreement with the latter to secure its side of the border. The future political status of the Gaza Strip remains undecided, and is claimed as part of any prospective Palestinian state.

Official Canadian government advisories for travelling to, in and around Gaza Strip

Terrorist attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, in addition to ongoing military operations and heightened tensions throughout the region, put Canadians at risk. Travellers should maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, as the security situation could deteriorate rapidly without notice. Exercise appropriate caution and avoid large gatherings, crowded places, and demonstrations, as well as proximity to other possible targets, including pedestrian promenades, shopping malls, open markets, restaurants, discotheques, bus stations, and public buses.