Over the years, Israel has gradually closed land-border crossings from Gaza into Israel except for one - which is open only to Palestinians with Israeli-approved permits. Israelis, Jewish settlers and foreigners are not subject to those restrictions and are free to travel in and out of Gaza. Israel prohibits Palestinians from entering or leaving the area “except in extremely rare cases, which include urgent, life-threatening medical conditions and a very short list of merchants,” according to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group. Human Rights Watch likened the conditions in Gaza to “an open air prison,” referring to the restriction of movement Israel enforces on Palestinians there. Ahmed Zakot / SOPA Images / Sipa USA via AP What is it like living in Gaza? Palestinian workers wait to transfer from the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing to the Israeli side between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Sept. Though Turkey insists it supports Hamas only politically, it has been accused of funding Hamas’ terrorism, including through funds diverted from Turkish government aid programs. Hamas receives heavy backing from Iran, which contributes “funds, weapons, and training” to the militant group, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The group’s popularity grew after a two-week conflict with Israel in 2021, with roughly 75% of those polled viewing Hamas as safeguarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Muslim holy sites in East Jerusalem. The same poll found that more than half of Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank would vote for Hamas over the Palestinian Authority. Its actions are divisive among Palestinians and those who support establishing a Palestinian state because of its use of violence.Ī recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research reported that one-third of Palestinians found the internal and political split between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza to be “the most damaging development that has happened since 1948.” Hamas says it is a freedom-fighting movement to free Palestinians from occupation and reclaim large parts of Israel.

Hamas also provides social services for people in Gaza, such as education and medical care in hospitals. Other countries, including New Zealand, deem only Hamas' military wing to be a terrorist group. and Canada, have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its attacks on Israel, which include rocket salvos and suicide bombings. Many countries, including the U.S., the U.K. In 2017, 30 years after its founding, the group issued a new charter that appeared to stop short of that goal. Founded in 1987 during an uprising against Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, the group was originally a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which favors Islamist principles - a belief that Islam should play a major role in political life.įor decades, Hamas called for the destruction of Israel. Hamas is one of the two major political parties in the Palestinian territories.

What is Hamas, and whom does it represent? Israel says the blockade, which gives it control of Gaza's borders and is also enforced by Egypt, is necessary to protect Israeli citizens from Hamas. Since then, no elections have been held.ĭespite pleas from the United Nations and human rights groups, Israel has maintained a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007 that has had a devastating effect on Palestinian civilians. It took control of Gaza after it won elections there in 2006. Hamas, which has clashed repeatedly with the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank who negotiated the Oslo Peace Accords, is a militant Palestinian nationalist movement currently led by Ismail Haniyeh. Mahmoud Issa / Sipa USA via AP file Who governs and who controls it? Palestinian children play outside their home in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in August. Half of Palestinians living in Gaza are under age 19, but they have few to no prospects for socioeconomic growth and limited access to the outside world.

Today, with over 2 million Palestinians living within roughly 140 square miles, it is “one of the world’s most densely populated territories,” according to Gisha, an Israeli nongovernmental organization.

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