Gaza Strip Country Information

Travel Advice with Country Information from the CIA.

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Introduction

Background

Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., the Gaza Strip has been dominated by many different peoples and empires throughout its history; it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. The Gaza Strip fell to British forces during World War I, becoming a part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt administered the newly formed Gaza Strip; Israel captured it in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo accords signed between 1993 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly-created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank. In 2000, a violent intifada or uprising began, and in 2001 negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West bank and Gaza Strip stalled. Subsequent attempts to re-start negotiations have not resulted in progress toward determining final status of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel by late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, but it continues to control the Gaza Strip’s land and maritime borders and airspace. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council election. Attempts to form a unity government between Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank, and HAMAS failed, leading to violent clashes between their respective supporters and HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Since HAMAS’s takeover, Israel and Egypt have enforced tight restrictions on movement and access of goods and individuals into and out of the territory. Fatah and HAMAS have since reached a series of agreements aimed at restoring political unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but have struggled to enact them; a reconciliation agreement signed in October 2017 remains unimplemented.

In July 2014, HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups engaged in a 51-day conflict with Israel culminating in late August with an open-ended truce. Since 2014, Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces have exchanged projectiles and air strikes respectively, sometimes lasting multiple days and resulting in multiple deaths on both sides. Egypt, Qatar, and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process have negotiated multiple ceasefires to avert a broader conflict. Since March 2018, HAMAS has coordinated weekly demonstrations along the Gaza security fence, many of which have turned violent, resulting in one Israeli soldier death and several Israeli soldier injuries as well as more than 200 Palestinian deaths and thousands of injuries.

 

Geography

Location

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel

Geographic coordinates

31 25 N, 34 20 E

Map references

Middle East

Area

total: 360 sq km

land: 360 sq km

water: 0 sq km

country comparison to the world: 206

Area - comparative

slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries

total: 72 km

border countries (2): Egypt 13 km, Israel 59 km

Coastline

40 km

Maritime claims

see entry for Israel 

note: effective 3 January 2009, the Gaza maritime area is closed to all maritime traffic and is under blockade imposed by Israeli Navy until further notice

Climate

temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

Terrain

flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain

Elevation

highest point: Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Awdah) 105 m

lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m

Natural resources

arable land, natural gas

Irrigated land

240 sq km; note - includes the West Bank (2012)

Total renewable water resources

837 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

note: data represent combined total from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Population distribution

population concentrated in major cities, particularly Gaza City in the north

Natural hazards

droughts

Geography - note

strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza itself has been besieged countless times in its history; there are no Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip; the Gaza Strip settlements were evacuated in 2005

People and Society

Population

1,957,062 (July 2021 est.)

country comparison to the world: 151

Nationality

noun: NA

adjective: NA

Ethnic groups

Palestinian Arab

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

major-language sample(s): 
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Arabic audio sample:

Religions

Muslim 98.0 - 99.0% (predominantly Sunni), Christian <1.0%, other, unaffiliated, unspecified <1.0% (2012 est.)

note: dismantlement of Israeli settlements was completed in September 2005; Gaza has had no Jewish population since then

Government

Country name

conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Gaza Strip

local long form: none

local short form: Qita' Ghazzah

etymology: named for the largest city in the region, Gaza, whose settlement can be traced back to at least the 15th century B.C. (as "Ghazzat")

Economy

Economic overview

Movement and access restrictions, violent attacks, and the slow pace of post-conflict reconstruction continue to degrade economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, the smaller of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories. Israeli controls became more restrictive after HAMAS seized control of the territory in June 2007. Under Hamas control, Gaza has suffered from rising unemployment, elevated poverty rates, and a sharp contraction of the private sector, which had relied primarily on export markets.

Since April 2017, the Palestinian Authority has reduced payments for electricity supplied to Gaza and cut salaries for its employees there, exacerbating poor economic conditions. Since 2014, Egypt’s crackdown on the Gaza Strip’s extensive tunnel-based smuggling network has exacerbated fuel, construction material, and consumer goods shortages in the territory. Donor support for reconstruction following the 51-day conflict in 2014 between Israel and HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups has fallen short of post-conflict needs.

Communications

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 472,293 (includes the West Bank); (July 2016 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 9 (includes the West Bank); (July 2016 est.)

country comparison to the world: 94

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 4,135,363 (includes the West Bank)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 76 (includes the West Bank) (2017 est.)

country comparison to the world: 129

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: Israel has final say in allocating frequencies in the Gaza Strip and does not permit anything beyond a 2G network (2018)

domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed-line services; the Palestinian JAWWAL company provides cellular services; a slow 2G network allows calls and limited data transmission; fixed-line 9 per 100 and mobile-cellular 76 per 100 (includes West Bank)

international: country code 970 or 972 (2018)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

1 TV station and about 10 radio stations; satellite TV accessible

Internet country code

.psnote - same as the West Bank

Internet users

total: 2.673 million (includes the West Bank)

percent of population: 57.4% (July 2016 est.)

country comparison to the world: 105

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 320,500

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 14 (2016 est.)

note: includes West Bank

country comparison to the world: 102

Transportation

Airports

total: 1 (2013)

country comparison to the world: 221

Airports - with paved runways

total: 1 (2019)

under 914 m: 1

note - non-operational

Heliports

1 (2013)

Roadways

note: see entry for the West Bank

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Gaza

Military and Security

Military and security forces

HAMAS does not have a conventional military in the Gaza Strip but maintains security forces in addition to its military wing, the 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; the military wing reports to the HAMAS Political Bureau leadership; there are several other militant groups operating in Gaza, most notably the Al-Quds Brigades of Palestine Islamic Jihad, which are usually but not always beholden to HAMAS's authority (2021)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the military wing of HAMAS has an estimated 20-25,000 fighters (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military wing of HAMAS is armed with light weapons, including an inventory of improvised rocket, anti-tank missile, and mortar capabilities; HAMAS acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction; Iran provides military support to HAMAS (2020)

Terrorism

Terrorist group(s)

Army of Islam; Abdallah Azzam Brigades; al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade; HAMAS; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)-Sinai Province; Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem; Palestine Islamic Jihad; Palestine Liberation Front; PFLP-General Command; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international

the status of the Gaza Strip is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations; Israel removed settlers and military personnel from Gaza Strip in September 2005

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 1,460,315 (Palestinian refugees) (2020)

IDPs: 131,000 (includes persons displaced within the Gaza Strip due to the intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since June 2014 and other Palestinian IDPs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who fled as long ago as 1967, although confirmed cumulative data do not go back beyond 2006) (2020)

data represent Gaza Strip and West Bank

 

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