33 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
33 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Region"
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tags:
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- Region
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- Palestine
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- Israel
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- Hamas
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- Occupation
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- Intelligence
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summary: "The Gaza Strip is a small coastal Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean, bordered by Israel and Egypt, that was under Israeli occupation from 1967 to 2005 and is governed by Hamas since 2007; it appears in this vault primarily as the home territory of Palestinian factions referenced in the vault's Israeli intelligence and Mossad operational subjects."
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created: 2026-05-14
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updated: 2026-05-17
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location: "Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories"
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---
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The Gaza Strip is a narrow coastal territory on the eastern Mediterranean, approximately 41 kilometers long and 6-12 kilometers wide, bordered by [[Israel]] to the north and east, [[Egypt]] to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. With a population of approximately 2.3 million people in approximately 365 square kilometers, it is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. Gaza was held by [[Egypt]] from 1948 to 1967 and was captured by [[Israel]] in the [[Six-Day War|Six-Day War of June 1967]], which also produced the Israeli occupation of the [[West Bank]].[^1]
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### Israeli Occupation and Intelligence Operations
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[[Shin Bet]]'s operations in Gaza during the 1967-2005 occupation period were extensive and included the running of Palestinian informants, the suppression of [[PLO]] and later Hamas activity, the management of the civilian population under military administration, and targeted killing operations. Gaza was the territorial base for multiple [[PLO]] factions and later for [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] and [[Hamas]], making it a primary focus of Israeli counterterrorism operations.
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The [[First Intifada]] (1987-1993), which began in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp in December 1987, prompted intensive [[Shin Bet]] operations and produced policy debates within Israel that included the authorized use of coercive interrogation. [[Shin Bet]]'s "Bus 300 affair" (April 1984) - in which Shin Bet officers killed two Palestinian bus hijackers who had been captured alive, and the Shin Bet director subsequently lied to the Prime Minister's commission investigating the incident - was one of the most consequential internal Israeli intelligence scandals and is referenced in multiple vault sources.[^2]
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### Oslo Accords and PA Rule
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Under the 1993 [[Camp David summit|Oslo Accords]], [[Israel]] transferred nominal civilian control of Gaza (and later most of the West Bank) to the newly created [[Palestinian Authority]] (PA). The PA's security apparatus in Gaza was headed by [[Mohammed Dahlan]], whose [[Preventive Security]] service in Gaza cooperated with [[Shin Bet]] and the CIA on counterterrorism against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The cooperation was intimate enough to create serious political tensions within Palestinian politics.[^1]
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Israel completed a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, including the removal of all Israeli settlements and military forces, in August-September 2005 under Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]]. The PA's Fatah faction subsequently lost control of Gaza to Hamas in a violent conflict in June 2007; Hamas has governed the territory since.[^2]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: "Gaza Strip," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaza-Strip
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[^2]: Morris, Benny. *Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001.* Knopf, 2001.
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