The political history of Gaza is a complex and diverse journey. In the wake of the War situation, it becomes very important to understand the series of events that plunged this small region to such widespread violence. Gaza strip is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, bordered by Egypt on the Southwest and by Israel on the East and North, it is separated from the West Bank by Israel. In the early 16th century it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire which ruled for centuries over the Israel-Palestine region which was religiously diverse.
The Political History of Gaza
In Europe a large number of Jews started joining a movement called Zionism, which believed Judaism was not just a religion but a nationality and it deserved a nation of its own. In the first decade of the twentieth century, thousands of European Jews moved to the Middle East region.
After World War I, the Ottoman empire collapsed and the British and French empires carved the Middle East, with the British taking control of the region called the British mandate for Palestine.
The region saw large-scale violence between the Jews who had come to settle there and the Arabs, which went on for years. In 1947 after a series of violent outbursts which the British could no longer control, the United Nations approved of a plan to divide British Palestine into two separate states, Israel for the Jews and Palestine for the Arabs, making Jerusalem a special international zone. Arabs saw this plan as European colonialism trying to steal their land, a war was declared in 1948.
Israel won the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, taking over the Western part of Jerusalem and much of the land that belonged to Palestine, compelling a huge number of Palestinians to leave their homes, creating a massive refugee population. Israel controlled all territories except the West Bank which was controlled by Jordan and Gaza which was now under the control of Egypt.
The Gaza Strip was again captured by Israel in the six day war in 1967, after which Israel controlled it for forty long years. During 1994-1999, Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for much of Gaza Strip and West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. In late 2005 Israel pulled its forces out of Gaza, but continued to control maritime and airspace.
In 2006 the Palestinian Legislative Council elections were won by the Islamic Resistance Movement HAMAS, taking over the Palestinian government, since then Gaza Strip has been governed by Hamas and the West Bank being governed by Palestine. The violence between Israel and Palestinian military in the Gaza strip led to the Egyptian-brokered truces.
The violence that continues today is heartbreaking, with many families and innocent children trapped in the war, the international community continues to press for the violence to end and the restoration of peace, security of all the innocent people and children.
