"Gaza Forever: Understanding the Ongoing Conflict and Its Impact on the Region"

"We are putting a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no gas. It's all closed. We're fighting animals and are acting accordingly."

That was the defense minister of Israel... responding to the attack on October 7th by Hamas... a militant group based in Gaza. Hamas launched rockets and killed over 1,400 Israelis... and kidnapped close to 200 people. Within days, Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip... killing several thousand, wiping out entire families... and striking ambulances, border crossings... and residential buildings. At the same time, Israel told over 1 million civilians... to leave their homes and move south. Warning them of an escalation of violence in the north. But Israel is bombarding the south, too. Leaving Palestinians trapped.

"For as long as this conflict has existed... movement in and out of the Gaza Strip... has been, to one degree or another, restricted. The prime minister of the Israeli occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu... knows very well that people are not able to leave."

The Gaza Strip is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967. This sliver of land is only 25 miles long and 7.5 miles wide... is home to over 2 million Palestinians. Making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. For the last 16 years, residents here have been living under a harsh blockade... that allows Israel to control the flow of electricity, fuel, food, water, and medical supplies. So they can dictate when Palestinians receive essentials... and when they're denied. That control is rooted in violence and destruction... that goes back decades. Before the establishment of Israel... Gaza was part of what became known as historic Palestine... under Ottoman rule and later under British occupation. In 1947, as the British prepared to leave... they left the fate of Palestine... up to a newly formed United Nations... who voted to divide Palestine into a Jewish state... and an Arab state. Soon, Zionist forces and militias began to forcibly expel hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land... to establish the state of Israel. Many internally displaced Palestinians fled to this narrow stretch of land... that would later become known as the Gaza Strip. So these refugees became refugees because... they were pushed out of their towns and villages. Some of them literally live a mile away from what used to be their towns and villages. Many others were forced to flee to neighboring Arab countries. Overwhelmed by refugees... these countries immediately declared war against the new state of Israel to support Palestinian Arabs. They eventually lost to Israel... but Jordan ended up occupying the West Bank and Egypt occupied Gaza City and nearby towns along these ceasefire lines.

In 1967... another war broke out. Amid Palestinian resistance and fearing threats from neighboring Arab countries... Israel launched a full-scale attack on Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. In just six days... Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai from Egypt... the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria. This was the beginning of the Israeli occupation in Gaza... that continues today. Israel took control of all movement from and to the Gaza Strip... by land, air, and sea. It placed troops along this line and inside the Gaza Strip... and allowed Palestinians to travel between the Gaza Strip... Israel, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. But just a few months after the war even though Palestinians now lived under Israeli control... they began to be referred to as “non-citizens” or “foreign residents" in official Israeli documents. You inherit the status from your parents and grandparents. Being stateless, unrecognized, with no rights... and you know this impacts your life. This was also when Israel started to build settlements for Jewish Israelis inside of Gaza. To Palestinians... this meant even more land being taken away from them. And they were being closed in. Israel did not allow Palestinians here to operate their own seaport or airport Within the Gaza Strip...

Israel developed key industries like agriculture... to cater to Israeli and West Bank markets... taking advantage of Gaza's cheap labor market and paying Palestinians very little. These economic challenges led to the rise of a prominent Islamic social charity: Mujama al-Islamiya. At the time, this charity, partially funded by Israel... built schools, mosques, and clinics and provided more food for Palestinians in Gaza. But tensions simmered. Israel feared a growing resistance movement. And in response, soldiers often frisked... arrested and detained residents.

In 1987, that tension reached a breaking point after an Israeli truck crashed into a civilian car... killing four Palestinians. Palestinians immediately responded with protests, strikes, and boycotts against occupation. It would become known as the first uprising... or intifada. And that same year Mujama al-Islamiya transformed into a militant group: Hamas.

(Continue in part two)