Gaza Strip, Arabic Qiṭāʿ Ghazzah Hebrew Reẓuʿat ʿAzza, Territory, southeastern Mediterranean Sea coast. Area: 141 sq mi (365 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 2,229,000. The region lies northeast of the Sinai Peninsula and is also the location of the city of Gaza, which has been a prosperous trading center for much of its history and was first mentioned in the 15th century bce. Often besieged by invaders, including Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, it declined in importance after the Crusades. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century. After World War I (1914–18) the city and the strip became part of the British mandate of Palestine. Following the first Arab-Israeli war (1948–49), the territory was occupied by Egypt, and the city became that country’s headquarters in Palestine. The occupied area was later reduced to an area 25 mi (40 km) long, which became known as the Gaza Strip, still under Egyptian control. In the Six-Day War (1967) it was captured by Israel. The area’s chief economic problem was the extreme poverty of the large number of Palestinian Arab refugees living there. In 1987, rioting among Gaza’s Palestinians marked the beginning of the first intifāḍah. Continued unrest led in 1993 to an agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization granting limited self-rule to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. A breakdown in further negotiations in 2000 led to another outbreak of violence. In an attempt to stem the fighting, Israel withdrew all its soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and control of the territory was transferred to the Palestinians. The militant Palestinian group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. A number of attempts were made to reconcile Hamas with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority over governance of the area. Israel began a blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and conflict between Hamas and Israel became open fighting in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2018, although efforts to negotiate a long-term truce were ongoing. Hostilities broke out again in 2021 following clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages. Israel declared war the next day, and fighting was largely centered on the Gaza Strip. In January 2024 Palestinian health officials said more than 26,000 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
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