Who owns gaza?

The Gaza Strip, a 25-mile coastal enclave, has a 4,000-year history but has been a flashpoint of modern conflict due to its strategic location and contested control. Over the past century, it changed hands six times, shaped by wars and geopolitical shifts, with its current status tied to Israel’s security concerns and Hamas’s rule.

Early 20th Century to 1948: Gaza was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1917, when Britain captured it during World War I. Under the British Mandate (1920–1948), it was designated for an Arab state in the 1947 UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181). Arab leaders rejected this, launching a war against the newly declared Israel in 1948. Egypt occupied Gaza during this conflict, controlling it without annexing it, while 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled amid Israel’s independence war—not due to a premeditated Israeli policy but Arab aggression, per historians like Benny Morris.

Egyptian Rule (1948–1967): Egypt administered Gaza for 19 years, keeping it under military governance rather than integrating it as sovereign territory. Palestinians there lived in refugee camps, with no statehood offered. In 1967, Israel preemptively struck Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six-Day War, capturing Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights in six days. Israel’s victory, driven by survival fears—not expansionist aims—placed Gaza’s 300,000 Palestinians under its control.

Israeli Control (1967–2005): Israel ruled Gaza militarily, offering citizenship to pre-1948 residents (mostly refused), and fostered economic growth with loans and jobs—Gaza’s economy boomed, with open borders until the 1980s. The 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty returned Sinai to Egypt, but Egypt declined Gaza, affirming it was never legally theirs. The First Intifada (1987–1993), sparked by a 1987 truck crash misconstrued as revenge, ended this openness, with Hamas emerging as an Islamist terror group. The 1993 Oslo Accords created the Palestinian Authority (PA), but Hamas’s violence and Arafat’s rejection of a 2000 peace deal fueled the Second Intifada (2000–2005), killing 1,000+ Israelis and 5,000+ Palestinians. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gush Katif, leaving Gaza Jew-free to reduce security costs, not as a concession.

Hamas Rule (2006–Present): Hamas won 44% of seats in the 2006 PA elections, exploiting frustration with PA corruption (e.g., billions pocketed by officials), and seized Gaza in 2007 after a violent clash with the PA. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade, inspecting all goods to curb Hamas’s rocket attacks—over 3,000 in 2008 alone. Hamas built a 300–400-mile tunnel network with diverted aid (estimated $100–500 million), smuggling weapons and staging attacks, like the October 7, 2023, assault killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages.

Who Owns Gaza? Legally, no state holds sovereign title. The Ottoman Empire dissolved in 1922, Britain’s Mandate ended in 1948, Egypt never claimed sovereignty, and Israel withdrew in 2005. The 1947 UN plan for an Arab state never materialized due to Arab rejection. Hamas governs Gaza de facto since 2007, but lacks international recognition as a legitimate authority—designated a terrorist group by the U.S., EU, and Israel. Israel controls Gaza’s airspace, maritime borders, and most land crossings (with Egypt managing Rafah), per Oslo agreements and security needs, not ownership.

Who Does It Belong To? Israel asserts no territorial claim post-2005, viewing Gaza as a hostile entity under Hamas, not part of its state. Historically, Jews lived there (e.g., Gush Katif until 2005), and biblical ties resonate with some Israelis—prompting calls to reoccupy it—but no legal ownership exists. Palestinians claim it as part of a future state, citing 1947, yet their leaders’ rejectionism and Hamas’s terror derail this. Under international law, Gaza’s status is unresolved, pending a final peace treaty (Oslo, Article V), which remains elusive due to Palestinian violence, not Israeli policy.