Why Gaza Is Known As The World’s Biggest ‘Open Air Prison’?

Relevance: GS2- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Prelims - Current events of international importance

(Source: The Hindu, 10/12/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the Defence minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip in which electricity, food, and water will be denied.
• Gaza which is home to more than 20 lakh Palestinians has been described by world leaders, activists, and media persons as the world’s largest open-air prison.

Why is it called an open-air prison?

• According to Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, the region is an open-air prison.
• She claimed that Israel has imposed a by-default apartheid on the people in the Gaza Strip by restricting their movement, and access to supplies and essentials.
• The term has previously been used by former British Prime Minister David Cameron and celebrated linguist Noam Chomsky.
• 80% of Gazans live in poverty, with little access to clean water and electricity,
  • According to the UNRWA, 95% of Gaza's population lacks access to clean water.
  • Unemployment in the region is at 46% with over 80% of the population dependent on aid.
• The hospitals lack healthcare professionals, equipment, and medicine, putting the people at increased risk of death.

The beginning of the Gaza blockade

• Israel captured Gaza during the Six-Day War in 1967 and began its military occupation.
• Between 1967 and 2005, Israel built 21 settlements in Gaza and used coercive measures including financial and other incentives to convince locals to leave the territory.
• Although Israel withdrew its settlements in 2005, the United Nations and other international organizations still consider Gaza an occupied territory.
  • Israel later imposed temporary blockades on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza on multiple occasions.
• In 2007, Hamas, a militant group, assumed power in Gaza which led to Israel making the blockade permanent with the support of Egypt, which shares a border crossing with Gaza.
• As a result, people could not move in or out of Gaza while the movement of goods and aid was also highly restricted.

Gaza

• The Gaza Strip or Gaza, is a Palestinian enclave on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Border: Egypt on the southwest, Israel on the east and north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the west.
• The Gaza Strip has been claimed by the de jure sovereign State of Palestine.
• It falls under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority but has been governed by Hamas, a militant, Palestinian, fundamentalist Islamic organization, since 2007.
• Consequently, Israel, the U.S.A., and their allies have placed the strip under an economic and political boycott since 2007.
• Muslims form the majority of the population, and there is a tiny minority Christian community.
  • More than 60 percent of Gaza's people are refugees from what is currently Israel.

Border walls around Gaza

• The Gaza Strip is surrounded by walls on three sides and the Mediterranean on the other.
• North and East: A sophisticated border fence has been erected between Israel and Gaza with heavily armed security patrols and underground walls.
• South: Egypt has, with U.S. aid built a steel barrier on the border with Gaza which also has underground walls to prevent tunneling.
• West: The sea route into Gaza is controlled by Israel, which has prohibited its use for the transfer of goods or people.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: The term "two-state solution" is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of (UPSC CSE 2018)

(a) China

(b) Israel

(c) Iraq

(d) Yemen