Israel
- Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip is a
narrow strip of land in the Middle East not internationally recognized
currently 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 a Palestinian population of about 1.4 million
in an area of 360 km². The Strip is currently under the jurisdiction of
the Palestinian Authority. It is a focus of dispute in the long-running
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Geographically, the Strip forms the westernmost portion of 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 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 in August,
2005. Following withdrawal, Israel will retain offshore maritime control
and a small strip of land (the so-called "Philadelphi Corridor")
alongside the Egypt-Gaza Strip border, although Israel's defense
minister has said that Israel will eventually leave this corridor as
well.
Around 1.37 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip. The majority of
the Palestinians are direct descendants of refugees who fled or were
expelled from Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. By 1967, the
population had grown about six-fold, and the Strip's population has
continued to increase since that time. Poverty, unemployment, and poor
living conditions are widespread as a result of the record high birth
rate (5.91 children born/woman on average) and geographic confinement.
From the 1970s onwards, 25 Israeli settlements were constructed in the
Gaza Strip, but these were removed in August 2005. The Palestinian
population is growing by around 4% a year. Most residents of the strip
are Palestinian Muslim, with a small Palestinian Christian (0.7%)
minority.
Geography
The Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at 31°25′ N 34°20′ E). It
has an 11km border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah, and a 51km border
with Israel. Religious and nationalist Jews claim the entire Gaza Strip
as part of Israel while Palestinians claim it as part of a future
Palestinian state they intend to create. The Government of Israel
intends to unilaterally withdraw from the Strip and remove all Israeli
residents who reside mainly in Gush Katif along the South Western coast
of Gaza. It also has a 40 km coastline on the Mediterranean Sea, but has
no maritime claims due to Israeli control of the border.
The Gaza Strip has a temperate climate, with mild winters, and dry hot
summers subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes
near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105
metres above sea level. Natural resources include arable land (about a
third of the strip is irrigated), and recently discovered natural gas.
Environmental issues include desertification; salination of fresh water;
sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; and depletion
and contamination of underground water resources. It is considered to be
one of the fifteen territories that comprise the so-called "Cradle of
Humanity."
It currently holds the oldest known remains of a manmade bonfire and
some of the world's oldest dated human skeletons.
Economy
Economic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between
1992 and 1996. This downturn has been variously attributed to corruption
and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat and to Israeli closure policies—the
imposition of generalized border closures in response to terror attacks
in Israel—which disrupted previously established labor and commodity
market relationships between Israel and the Strip. The most serious
negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high
unemployment.
Israel's use of comprehensive closures decreased during the next few
years and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact
of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian
goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic
recovery in the Gaza Strip. Recovery was ended in the last quarter of
2000 with the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, triggering tight Israeli
closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade
and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in early 2002,
internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority
areas resulted in the destruction of capital plant and administrative
structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP.
Another major loss has been the decline in income earned by Palestinian
workers in Israel, who have been replaced by foreign workers from
Romania and Thailand.
According to the CIA World Factbook, GDP in 2001 declined 35% to a per
capita income of $625 a year, and 60% of the population is now below the
poverty line. Gaza Strip industries are generally small family
businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and
mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some
small-scale modern industries in an industrial center. Electricity is
supplied by Israel. The main agricultural products are olives, citrus,
vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus
and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and
construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are
Israel, Egypt, and the West Bank.
A study carried out by Johns Hopkins University and Al Quds University
for CARE International late in 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary
deficiency among the Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5%
of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of
women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anemic.
Transport and communication
The Gaza strip has a single standard gauge railway line running the
entire length of the strip from north to south along its center,
however, it is abandoned and in disrepair, and little trackage remains.
The line formerly connected to the Egyptian railway system to the south
as well as the Israeli system to the north. It has a small, poorly
developed road network. Its one port was never completed after the
outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Its airport, the Gaza International
Airport, opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in
the Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum. The
airport was closed in October 2000 by Israeli orders, and its runway was
destroyed by the Israel Defense Force in December 2001 It has since been
renamed Yaser Arafat International Airport.
The Gaza strip has rudimentary landline telephone service provided by an
open wire system as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided
by PalTel (Jawwal) or Israeli providers such as Cellcom. Gaza is
serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL
and dial-up customers. Most Gaza households have a radio and a TV
(70%+), and roughly 20% have a personal computer. People living in Gaza
enjoy access to satellite television (Al-Jazeera, Lebanese and Egyptian
entertainment programs, etc.), local private channels, and broadcast TV
from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation and the Israel
Broadcasting Authority.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip
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