BBC Partner Hub – Backgrounder – What is Gaza

We hear lots of news reporting about GAZA at the moment of course, but most listeners have little idea where it is, what it is, who owns it, governs it, it’s recent history, etc.

We’ve tried to answer some of those questions in today’s audio explainer, posted to content depot, and attached.

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WHAT IS GAZA?

Map of Palestinian territories

A map of the Palestinian territories showing Gaza and the West Bank

Gaza is all over the news. But all most of us really know about it is that it’s a “tiny coastal strip of land” and that it’s governed by the militant group, Hamas. Most of us probably don’t know much more about it, or its recent history, than that. In this short backgrounder, Mohamed Yehia, an editor and reporter with the BBC’s Arabic language section, explains what Gaza is. Mohamed is himself Egyptian, and has reported on Gaza for many years.

The Gaza strip is a narrow stretch of land on the eastern Mediterranean coast.  It covers an area of just under 140 square miles and is inhabited by some 1.8 million people.

It’s about twice the size of the District of Columbia, but also one of the most densely inhabited places in the world – by way of comparison, it crams more than twice as many people into each square mile than New York City does.

Gaza in happier times

The Gaza strip is on the Mediterranean Sea – local Gazans enjoy a day out in happier times

Gaza was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt and remained under Israeli occupation until the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord, where the Israelis and Palestinians agreed to set up an independent Palestinian authority, headed by the then leader Yasser Arafat.

In 1994, Yasser Arafat returned to the Gaza Strip as leader of the newly established Palestinian Authority. He was received as a hero, and he addressed his people – congratulating them and promising them that the peace talks would lead to the set-up of a Palestinian state.

It may prove to be a long wait.

Children suffering in Gaza

A Palestinian child in Gaza is one of many whose lives are being upturned in the current conflict

The Palestinian territories –  as they stand now – are two separate pieces of land: Gaza and the West Bank.  They are both controlled by the Palestinian Authority but Israel controls the borders, the air space and the naval pathways.

The two territories do not share the same leadership. In 2006, there was a big Palestinian split where the Islamic movement known as Hamas, separated from the Palestinian Authority and kicked them out of Gaza. By 2007, Hamas had become the de-facto rulers of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas have been opposed to the peace process since its inception in 1993. They refuse to recognize Israel and they believe in armed struggle as a means to reach their ultimate goal, which is to establish an independent state.


Images

Map of Palestinian territories

A map of the Palestinian territories showing Gaza and the West Bank (download image)

Gaza in happier times

The Gaza strip is on the Mediterranean Sea – local Gazans enjoy a day out in happier times (download image)

Children suffering in Gaza

A Palestinian child in Gaza is one of many whose lives are being upturned in the current conflict (download image)