Gaza Strip

By emilyzieff

  • General Assembly of the United Nations accepts a plan for Gaza and some surrounding area to be allotted to Arabs before the LON mandate ends

  • When the mandate ends, the first Arab-Israeli war occurs

  • Boundaries are demarcated in Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement

  • Period: to

    Ruled by Egyptian military

  • Period: to

    Ruled by Egyptian military again

  • Taken by Israel during the Six-Day War

  • Violence and riots begin intifada movement

  • Israel begins a phased transfer of governmental authority in the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under the terms of the Oslo Accords

    Palestinian government faces threats from Hamas and Islamic Jihad

  • Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced plans to withdraw Israeli soldiers

  • Israeli pullout from Gaza is completed

    Power is transferred to the PA but Israel still patrols borders and airspace
  • Period: to

    Palestinian Parliamentary Elections

    Hamas wins, prompting sanctions by Israel, the US, and the EU; PA President Mahmoud Abbas asks Hamas to relinquish its position in the Gaza Strip and Hamas refuses.

  • Israel increases sanctions and completely seals its border with the Gaza Strip in response to being constantly attacked with rockets in its southern settlements

    Hamas destroys parts of the barrier
    Israel and Hamas agree to a 6-month truce but accuse each other of violation. Hamas announces that it won't renew it.
    Israel, in response to sustained rocket fire, launches air strikes across the region targeting Hamas.
    Israeli forces initiate a ground campaign into the Gaza Strip amid international pressure for a cease-fire. After an estimated more than 1,000 are killed and tens of thousands are left homeless, they each declare a unilateral cease-fire

  • Egypt reopens border

  • Israel begins air strikes in Gaza

    This starts on November 14th, in retaliation to an increase in the number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli territory over the previous 9 months. The head of the Hamas military is killed in the initial strike. Hamas responds with increasing rocket attacks on Israel, and fighting continues until the two sides agree to a ceasefire on November 21.

  • 3 Israeli teenagers are kidnapped

    As a result, Israel cracks down in the West Bank and increases air strikes in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory rocket fire from Hamas. As fighting continues to escalate, Israel launches a 50-day offensive into the Gaza Strip on July 8. More than 2,100 Palestinians and over 70 Israelis are killed in the ensuing conflict.

  • Protests and Violence

    In the spring, protests along the border with Israel, including attempts to cross the border and flying flaming kites, are met with a violent response. Both the protests and the violence reach a peak on May 14 when about 40,000 Gazans attended the protests. When many of them try to cross the border at once, Israeli troops open fire, killing about 60 people and wounding 2,700 others. The violence escalates into military strikes from Israel and rocket fire from Hamas and continues for months.