What Is Gaza? Understanding Its Role In The Israel-Hamas Conflict

Although Gaza has been a complex and influential piece in the geopolitical puzzle for many years, its role in the region has been particularly noteworthy in the aftermath of last month’s terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas militants.

Some historical context

In order to truly understand the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians living inside its tumultuous borders, we should start with a few key details. For starters, the region is the smaller of two Palestinian territories within Israel (the other is the West Bank).

It has been under Israeli control since 1967, but its history long predates that occupation.

Prior to the establishment of the nation of Israel in the ‘40s, Gaza had been part of a much larger Palestinian region under the control of the Ottoman Empire and, more recently, Britain. When Israel was established, the U.K. allowed the United Nations to decide its fate.

The result was to create a Jewish and an Arabic state.

Israel began expanding its footprint, forcing Palestinians to flee either to the Gaza Strip or to neighboring nations, which resulted in a war against Israel that left Jordan in control of the West Bank and Egypt in control of much of Gaza.

The creation of Hamas

Following a war in 1967, Israel began an occupation of Gaza that is still in effect. Palestinians became known as “non-citizens” and their movement was seriously limited, which fueled an uprising — “the first intifada” — in the ‘80s.

Although the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 marked the end of the intifada, a charitable group in Gaza began to morph into a much more militant organization: Hamas.

Its members held the belief that Israel was not a legitimate nation and as attacks against occupying forces increased, so did restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.

Chris Agee November 4th, 2023

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