Members100 Years: Gaza Was Never Free

The Gaza Strip has always been occupied. Beginning in 1917, when Ottoman troops evacuated the inhabitants of Gaza City for strategic reasons, sending them as far afield as Jaffa, Hebron, Jerusalem and even up to Homs and Aleppo in Syria. Following the Ottoman defeat in the First World War, the British occupied the Gaza Strip. From 1921 it was a part of British Mandate for Palestine. Eight years later, most of the Jewish families were expelled from the Gaza Strip during anti-Jewish riots.

As a result of the UN partition plan of 1947, the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, and the War of Independence, the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt. It received its geographical shape and its name “Gaza Strip” in the subsequent armistice agreement. From 1948-1967, the Gaza Strip remained occupied and administered by Egypt. During the Sinai Campaign of 1956, the coastal strip was occupied by Israel for a temporary period of time, but fell back to Egypt as a result of international pressure.

Israel occupies Gaza in the Six Day War

Eleven years later, the...