Travel Guide Gaza

The Gaza Strip is a territory 41 km long and 6 to 12 km wide, bordered by the Mediterranean to the west, Israel to the north, east and southeast, and Egypt to the southwest. It is separated from the West Bank by a vast agricultural plain essential to the Hebrew state. It is divided into five governorates (districts): Gaza-North, Gaza-City, Deir el-Balah, Kahn Younès and Rafah. Its total surface area is 365 km². It has a population of 2.2 million, or more than 5,930 inhabitants per km². Gaza City alone is home to almost 700,000 people.To date, no tourists are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip.In Arabic, gaza means "treasure". A strategic point on the route between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Arabia, Gaza has always aroused covetousness: the Egyptians kept control of it until Alexander the Great managed to seize it. The port of Gaza then passed into the hands of Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes and Ottomans. Napoleon Bonaparte took the city in 1799, and the British in 1917. In 1948, after the first Arab-Israeli war, Gaza came under Egyptian control. Tens of thousands of Palestinians took refuge in camps. The Israelis occupied the entire territory for the first time during the Suez Canal War in 1956, and again following the Six-Day War, from 1967 to 1994. Under the Oslo Accords, it came under Palestinian administration, but Israeli settlements remained.It was not until August 2005, and the conflicts rekindled by the Second Intifada (2001-2005), that the Israeli government led by Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of Jewish settlements and the army from the Gaza Strip. Land, sea and air borders remain under Israeli control. In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, leading to a political and financial boycott by the international community, a break with Fatah in the Palestinian Authority and a total blockade by Israel and Egypt. In June 2007, after months of inter-Palestinian violence, Hamas took total control of the Gaza Strip, which led to the closure of all crossings with the Hebrew state, as well as the border with Egypt. A particularly strict blockade was imposed, rapidly leading to shortages of certain basic products and power cuts. Within a few weeks, sewage treatment and water supplies became critical, while hospitals ran out of medicines. The situation for Gazans has never been worse in decades of occupation.Since then, Hamas and Tsahal have been attacking each other in a relentless war of rocket fire and bombardment, in mutual and successive reprisals. One of the most remarkable episodes in this almost continuous war took place in December 2008, when Israel launched a massive air strike against the Gaza Strip, dubbed "Cast Lead". Israel's action was roundly condemned by the international community, due to the disproportionate means employed, the high number of civilian casualties and the alleged use of weapons whose use is restricted or limited by international law. In 2010, under international pressure, Israel announced the easing of the Gaza embargo on goods declared for civilian use. Construction materials likely to be used for military purposes remain under embargo. In 2012, Egypt announces the opening of the Rafah crossing to ease the blockade imposed by Israel on the Palestinian enclave.In the years that followed, Fatah and Hamas continued to clash, despite fruitless negotiations to form a unity cabinet. Regularly, the talks seem to succeed, but are not put into action. As for exchanges of fire with Israel, the war continues unabated, with Iran continuing to supply offensive equipment to Hamas in Gaza, and the Israeli army continuing its attacks, "operations" and military incursions. These included Operation "Pillar of Defense" in 2012 and "Protective Edge" in 2014, which took an even heavier toll than Operation "Cast Lead" in 2008. 2018 is marked by the "Great March of Return", which gives rise to bloody clashes on the border, as well as the years 2021-2023, which still see fatalities at the end of raids and rocket fire.This long litany of wars that have followed one another since Hamas took control of Gaza has undergone a number of changes in recent years, notably with the increasingly strong appearance of Islamic Jihad on the frontline, replacing Hamas, which has been busy administering the territory rather than fighting. Generally speaking, the rise of Islamic Jihad in armed conflicts on the Palestinian side has been noticeable in all the Territories since 2020.This never-ending war is pushing Gaza further into economic and social stagnation, in addition to the blockade that has been established and maintained. Palestinians live, or rather survive, in what is often compared to an "open-air prison", trapped between Israel and Hamas. The Gazans live under the control of the Islamists, who impose new rules of life in line with their religious extremism (separation of girls and boys at school, restrictive clothing, closure of entertainment venues, etc.).For the time being, nothing gives hope for the future. However, a single international presence remains, despite the wars: France is trying to circumvent the EU's political boycott of Hamas and its representatives by concentrating on the field of culture. Thus, Gaza still boasts a single foreign cultural institute, the Institut Français de Gaza, on avenue Charles-de-Gaulle (www.institutfrancais-jerusalem.org/gaza - www.instagram.com/ifgaza). The building features a gallery for a variety of art exhibitions, a media library and rooms for French language courses. And in terms of heritage cooperation, French and Gazan teams are working to preserve the archaeological site of the Saint-Hilarion monastery, a Christian religious center dating back to the 4th century and rediscovered at the end of the 1990s. It's a tenuous thread of openness to the outside world and something other than war, but a thread nonetheless...