10 facts that will help you understand Israel-Gaza conflict:
1. Gaza and West Bank are two separate geographical entities of Palestine. Earlier, Gaza was part of Egypt, which shares its border with the Palestinian territory on the west.
2. Israel invaded Egypt in 1967 and got full control over Gaza Strip. It continued its occupation on Gaza till 2005. West Bank was already under Israel's control.
3. In 2005, Israel, under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, reached an agreement with the Palestinian Authority and withdrew its civilian and military presence from the Gaza Strip but retained control over the Gaza airspace, maritime access and borders even with Egypt. The Palestinian Authority was governed from Ramallah in West Bank by Fatah party.
As per the agreement, Israel continued to patrol and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, with the exception of its southernmost border (where Egypt retained control of the border and border crossings were supervised by European monitors). It also continued to monitor and blockade Gaza's coastline.
4. Soon after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas, a political outfit that doesn't recognize Israel, emerged as a dominant power in the area.
5. When Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election, gaining a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, the conflict between Israel and Gaza intensified.
The conflict escalated with the split of the Palestinian Authority to Fatah government in the West Bank and the Hamas government in Gaza and the following violent ousting of Fatah. Palestinians continued shooting Qassam rockets at Israeli settlements located near the Gaza borders and staged cross-border raids aimed at killing or capturing Israeli soldiers.
Israel says its air as well as ground attacks are intended to stop rocket fire on its borders by Hamas and destroy Palestinian militants' tunnels.
6. Israel borders Gaza on three sides. It sealed its border with the Gaza Strip, largely preventing free flow of people and many imports and exports. No one, even politicians of powerful countries, can enter Gaza without permission of Israel.
In short, Gaza has no access to the rest of the world.
7. There are several Israeli checkpoints in Gaza. Essential commodities like food items, milk and medicines have to cross these check points. Gazans have to pay huge amount to Israeli authorities pass the check points with these goods.
8. Israel does not allow sufficient supplies of food and other essentials items to Gaza. Hospitals here always run short of essential medicines and shops have enough rations. There sufficient supply of gas, petrol and power to Gaza.
The inflation in Gaza is highest in the world.
9. There is no airport, sea port and even railway station in Gaza. Residents cannot leave Gaza because they don't have passports. In addition, Israel does not allow them to cross its check posts.
10. The United Nations has requested Israel several times to give up its claim on Gaza and stop taking lives of innocent, but it never listens.
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