Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1082 Sun. June 17, 2007  
   
International


Gaza: a chaotic land of poverty, violence


The Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is home to around 1.5 million Palestinians who struggle against overwhelming levels of poverty and violence.

The territory is now in the hands of the Islamists of Hamas after its fighters routed rivals of the secular Fatah movement in fierce street battles that have killed at least 113 people over the past week.

Hamas's seizure of the coastal strip has effectively created two Palestinian entities adjutting Israel, with the power base of the Fatah movement of president Mahmud Abbas limited to the occupied West Bank.

Situated to the southwest of Israel and bordering Egypt, the Mediterranean coastal region covers 362 square kilometres (140 square miles), some 45 kilometres (28 miles) in length by six to 10 kilometres wide.

Each square kilometre (0.4 square mile) shelters an average of 2,350 Palestinians, making it one of the most crowded areas in the world.

Israel captured the territory from Egypt during the 1967 Six Day War, when it also seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan.

For decades the Palestinian population lived alongside 8,000 Jewish settlers who enjoyed relative luxury and space on 33 percent of the land taken up by 21 settlements which needed an Israeli army division to ensure their security.

Around 900,000 of the Palestinian population are refugees -- those who were expelled or left their homes after the creation of Israel in 1948 -- and their offspring. Half of those live in eight camps managed by the United Nations.

Under a so-called disengagement plan, Israel withdrew settlers and troops in 2005 after a 38-year occupation. But as it still controls the coastal strip's borders and the movement of goods and people, the territory is still considered under its occupation according to international law.