Gush Katif ( he, גוש קטיף, , Harvest Bloc) was a bloc of 17
Israeli settlements in the southern
Gaza strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. In August 2005, the
Israeli army forcibly removed the 8,600 residents of Gush Katif from their homes after a decision from the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
. Their communities were demolished as part of
Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Geography
Gush Katif was located on the southwestern edge of the Gaza Strip, bordered on the southwest by
Rafah and the Egyptian border, on the east by
Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
, on the northeast by
Deir el-Balah, and on the west and northwest by the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
. A narrow one kilometer strip of land populated by
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...
s known as
al-Mawasi
Al-Mawasi ( ar, المواصي) is a Palestinian Bedouin town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, approximately one kilometer wide and fourteen kilometers long, that prior to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in 2005 existed as a Palesti ...
lay along the Mediterranean coast. Most of Gush Katif was situated on the
sand dunes that separate the
coastal plain from the sea along much of the southeastern Mediterranean.
Two roads served the residents of Gush Katif: Road 230, which runs from the southwest along the sea from the Egyptian border at
Rafiah Yam
Rafiah Yam ( he, רָפִיחַ יָם) was an Israeli settlement, in the Gaza Strip until 2005.
History
Rafiah Yam was originally established in 1984 as a secular community in the southern end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc, only 200 metres ...
through
Kfar Yam
Kfar Yam ( he, כפר ים) was a small outpost and one of the Gaza Strip Israeli Settlements abandoned in Israel's 2005 disengagement plan.
History
Kfar Yam was a non-religious community established in 1983, and had a population of 10 (4 fam ...
to
Tel Katifa
Tel Katifa ( he, תל קטיפא), was a small Israeli settlement located in the northeast end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the Gaza Strip, and evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005.
History
Tel Katifa was named after the adjacen ...
on the bloc's northern border, where it entered Palestinian-controlled territory, and Road 240, which also runs parallel to the sea approximately one kilometre inland, and upon which the majority of the settlements and traffic were located. Road 240's southern end turned south to reach
Morag and continued to
Sufah and the Shalom bloc of villages south of the Gaza Strip, while its northern end turned east to the
Kissufim junction, and served as the main route into Gush Katif. These roads were forbidden to Palestinian Arab drivers.
While
Kfar Darom and
Netzarim were originally accessed along the main road to
Gaza (known as "Tencher Road"), Israeli and Palestinian traffic was separated after the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the escalation in Arab terror. Netzarim was isolated as an
enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
accessed only through the
Karni crossing and the
Sa'ad junction
Sa'ad ( he, סַעַד, ''lit.'' Aid) is a religious kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located near the Gaza Strip, and the cities of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In it had a ...
and in the latter years, only by IDF armored vehicles. In 2002, a bridge was built for Road 240 over the Tencher road so as to physically separate the two arteries and allow unobstructed travel for both Palestinian and Israeli traffic.
Demographics
About 8,600 residents lived in Gush Katif, many of them
Orthodox Religious Zionist Jews, though many non-observant and
secular Jews also called it home. The three northernmost communities: Nisanit, Dugit and Rafiah Yam were secular. The area also included several hundred Muslim families, mostly of the
al-Mawasi
Al-Mawasi ( ar, المواصي) is a Palestinian Bedouin town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, approximately one kilometer wide and fourteen kilometers long, that prior to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in 2005 existed as a Palesti ...
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...
community, who while technically Palestinian residents, were able to enjoy freedom of movement within the Israeli areas due to their peaceful relations. Contrary reports have noted the severity of the restriction of movement for Palestinian residents.
History
Jews and their Israelite ancestors have lived in Gaza since Biblical times. Famed residents include medieval rabbis
Rabbi Yisrael Najara, author of Kah Ribon Olam, the popular Shabbat song, and renowned Mekubal Rabbi
Avraham Azoulai.
A historic Jewish community existed in
Gaza City
Gaza (;''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1998), , p. 761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory in Palestine, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza...". ar, غَزَّة ', ), also referred to as Gaza City, i ...
prior to its expulsion for safety reasons by the British during the infamous
1929 riots
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Music ...
by the city's Arabs. Land for the village of
Kfar Darom was purchased in the 1930s and settled in 1946. It was evacuated following an Egyptian siege in the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...
.
Gush Katif began in 1968, when
Yigal Allon presented an initiative for the founding of two
Nahal settlement
Nahal settlements ( he, היאחזות נח"ל, ''Heahzut Nahal'') were settlements established by Nahal soldiers in Israel and Israeli-occupied territories. Supporting Jewish settlement growth and expansion throughout Israel was once the main f ...
s in the center of the Gaza Strip. He viewed the breaking of the continuity between the northern and southern Arab settlements as vital to Israel's security in the area, which had been captured the previous year in the 1967
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
. In 1970, Kfar Darom was reestablished as the first of many Israeli agricultural villages in the area. Allon's idea was ultimately designed with five key areas (or 'fingers,' thus being called by some the "five-finger print") slated for Israeli presence along the length of the Gaza Strip. After the
Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the dismantling of the fifth 'finger' (
Yamit bloc) south of Rafah, the fourth (
Morag) and third (Kfar Darom) strips were united into one bloc that would become known as Gush Katif. The second finger,
Netzarim, was very much connected to Gush Katif until the arrangements following the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; , while the bloc on the dunes north of Gaza, which straddled the
Green Line, was more a part of the
Ashkelon area communities.
Throughout the 1980s new communities were established, especially with the influx of former residents of the
Sinai. Most of the bloc's communities were established as agricultural cooperatives called
moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 ...
s, where the residents from each town would work in clusters of
greenhouses
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
just outside the residential areas.
Economy
In the Katif Bloc's greenhouses, advanced technology was used to grow pest-free
leafy vegetables and
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
s answering to the strictest health, aesthetic and
religious requirements. Most of the
organic agricultural product
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
s were exported to Europe. In addition, the community of
Atzmona
Bnei Atzmon ( he, בְּנֵי עַצְמוֹן) was an Israeli settlement previously in the Sinai Peninsula, later moved to the Gaza Strip before being destroyed in 2005.
History
Bnei Atzmon was founded in 1979 in the Yamit region of the ...
had Israel's largest plant nursery, and with 800 cows, the
Katif dairy was the second largest in the country.
Telesales and
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
were other notable industries.
The sum of exports from the greenhouses of Gush Katif, which were owned by 200 farmers, came to $200,000,000 per year and made up 15% of the agricultural exports of the State of Israel.
The combined assets in Gush Katif were estimated at $23 billion.
Of Israel's total exports abroad, Gush Katif exported:
*95% of bug-free lettuce and greens
*70% of organic vegetables
*60% of cherry tomatoes
*60% of geraniums to Europe.
The
Economic Cooperation Foundation, which is funded by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, agreed to purchase the greenhouses for $14 million and transfer ownership to the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, , so that the 4,000 Palestinians employed to work in them could keep their jobs. The money was paid for the greenhouse guts, such as the computerized irrigation systems, as the law in Israel only allowed for the government to pay for the land and structures, as these are not moveable.
Israel compensated the evacuees 55 million dollars for the greenhouses and the land.
Former head of the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
,
James Wolfensohn, contributed $500,000 of his own money to the project. The rest was contributed by a group of prominent Jewish philanthropists, including Mortimer Zuckerman, Lester Crown and Leonard Stern. They bought the irrigation systems and other moveables, because, according to Zuckerman, "Without those, the Palestinians would not be able to make a go of running the greenhouses."
When the IDF left Gaza, half of Gaza's greenhouses were dismantled by their owners before leaving. The owners despaired at the time of receiving compensation, so they removed what they could. Afterwards Palestinians looted the area, and 800 of the 4,000 greenhouses were left unusable, while, according to Wolfensohn, most were left intact.
Subsequently, the harvest, intended for export via Israel for Europe, was essentially lost due to the Israeli restrictions on the Karni crossing which "was closed more than not", leading to losses in excess of $120,000 per day.
Economic consultants estimated that the closures cost the whole agricultural sector in Gaza $450,000 a day in lost revenue. Israel closed the crossing due to security concerns.
Palestinian attacks
Although the Gush Katif settlements and the roads leading to it were guarded by the
Israeli Army's
Gaza Division
The Israel Defense Forces Gaza Division (Territorial), is subordinate to the Southern Regional Command. Its area of operation is the Gaza Strip and the area surrounding it. The division's commander is Brigadier-General Eliezer Toledano.
The Gaz ...
, settlers were still vulnerable to attacks.
During the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''wikt:intifada, intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "wikt:uprising, uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sus ...
(1987–1990), which broke out in nearby Gaza, the residents of Gush Katif were on the forefront of the violence and were subject to frequent stoning of traffic, among other incidents.
Since the beginning of the
al-Aqsa Intifada (2000), Gush Katif settlements were the target of thousands of violent attacks by Palestinian militants. More than 6000
mortar bombs and
Qassam rockets were launched into Gush Katif, miraculously causing only few fatalities though tremendous property and psychological damage and heavy shock and fear.
[Q&A: Gaza conflict]
BBC News 18-01-2009 Most of the ground attacks were
infiltration
Infiltration may refer to:
Science, medicine, and engineering
*Infiltration (hydrology), downward movement of water into soil
*Infiltration (HVAC), a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning term for air leakage into buildings
*Infiltration (me ...
s and shootings. There were also attempts to infiltrate by sea. Victims include Itamar Yefet (18), who was shot and killed by a Palestinian sniper in November 2000.
Arik Krogliak, Tal Kurtzweil, Asher Marcus, Eran Picard, and Ariel Zana, all teenagers, were
fatally shot in March 2002 when terrorists infiltrated the "Otzem" pre-military academy in Atzmona.
Palestinian attacks on Israeli vehicles traveling on the Kissufim road were very common. In one of these attacks, in May 2004, Palestinian militants ambushed and killed
Tali Hatuel
The Murder of the Hatuel family was a shooting attack on May 2, 2004, in which Palestinian people, Palestinian militants killed Tali Hatuel, a Jewish settler, who was eight months pregnant, and her four daughters, aged two to eleven. The attack t ...
, who was eight months pregnant, and her four daughters: Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7), Merav (2).
Ahuva Amergi (30) was killed when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on her car, along with two soldiers who came to her assistance in February 2002.
In another, a
school bus
A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...
was bombed on 20 November 2000, leaving Miriam Amitai (35) and Gavriel Biton (34) dead and several maimed children. Three children from the Cohen family lost their legs in the attack. Many of the ground attacks on Gush Katif were thwarted by the Israeli military.
In January 2002, Oded Sharon (36) was killed in a suicide bombing.
Evacuation
On August 13, 2005, the Gush Katif region was closed to non-residents, in keeping with the plan to evacuate the Katif bloc. Though effectively violating the Disengagement law, which most residents viewed as highly immoral and illegitimate, most settlers did not voluntarily leave their homes or even pack in preparation for the eviction. On August 15, 2005, the forcible evacuation of the Gush Katif settlements began. On August 22, 2005, the residents of the last settlement, Netzarim, were evicted. In essence, many residents returned to pack the contents of their homes and the Israeli government began the destruction of all residential buildings. On September 12, 2005, the Israeli Army withdrew from each settlement up to the
Green Line. All public buildings (schools, libraries, community centres, office buildings) as well as industrial buildings, factories, and greenhouses which could not be taken apart were left intact.
Originally, the Israeli cabinet had planned to destroy synagogues in the settlement, but the government caved in to pressure from religious Jewish organizations and reversed its decision. However, most of the synagogues were destroyed by Palestinian mobs immediately after the evacuation. Abu Abir, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization, commented that "The looting and burning of the synagogues was a great joy...It was in an unplanned expression of happiness that these synagogues were destroyed." Later, in 2007, it was reported that "The ruins of two large synagogues in Gush Katif, the evacuated Jewish communities of the Gaza Strip, have been transformed into a military base used by Palestinian groups to fire rockets at Israeli cities and train for attacks against the Jewish state, according to a senior terror leader in Gaza."
Aftermath
Controversy in Israel
The action proved controversial inside Israel. The settlers, backed by the right-wing, as shown in the Likud referendum, claimed Israel had a historic right to the land and that they provided an important defense buffer against attacks by Palestinians. The conservative government of Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
argued that remaining in Gaza was too costly in both money and lives.
Sharon's withdrawal did not advance the peace process because, from the Palestinian perspective, the unilateral pullout took place without negotiation on wider issues affecting both sides. NPR addressed this issue in a Q&A about Israel's pullout from Gaza.
History after Israeli withdrawal
After the Israeli withdrawal of settlers, the Palestinian Authority took control of Gaza. On January 25, 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections in both Gaza and the West Bank. Israel, the U.S. and a number of European governments refused to recognize Hamas’ election victory and imposed an economic blockade on Gaza. During June 2007, an internal civil conflict between Hamas and Fatah resulted in Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah ruled the West Bank.
In May 2011 both parties agreed to reconstitute a united Palestinian government and hold elections by May 2012.
In July 2014 Israel experienced the effects of the disengagement and Hamas coming to power which resulted in
Operation Protective Edge as Israel sought to protect its residents from the barrage of rockets fired from Gaza; destroyed a network of tunnels aimed at Israel's southern communities; and targeted Hamas bases some of which were located where Gush Katif once stood.
Many politicians and journalists realized the connection between the Israeli 2005 withdrawal and the Hamas takeover. Some even apologised for not realizing this would happen and doing enough to prevent it.
Former Gush Katif land today
At the time of the Gush Katif withdrawal, Israeli authorities destroyed all the Jewish residents' homes. Palestinians dismantled most of what remained, scavenging for cement, rebar and other construction materials.
There had been an intense public conflict regarding the many public structures and synagogues in Gush Katif. "Many asserted that the buildings must be destroyed in order to ensure that they would not be used by terrorist organizations in the future. The fate of many of the area’s synagogues was also discussed at that time".
Initially, the government favoured demolition of the synagogues and was adamant that the high courts should not intervene. However, later they changed their mind. "Limor Livnat suggested involving UNESCO, with the hopes they would declare Gush Katif synagogues as official World Heritage Sites".
The synagogues were left intact, as the IDF did not wish to destroy holy sites and hoped that the Palestinians would respect these buildings. However, the Palestinians set fire to the buildings.
Settlements in Gush Katif
#
Bedolah
Bedolah ( he, בְּדֹלַח, ''lit.'' Crystal) was an Israeli settlement and army base in the Gush Katif settlement bloc, located in the southwest edge of the Gaza Strip. Home to 220 religious Jews, its inhabitants were evicted, its houses d ...
בדולח (lit. Crystal)
#
Bnei Atzmon
Bnei Atzmon ( he, בְּנֵי עַצְמוֹן) was an Israeli settlement previously in the Sinai Peninsula, later moved to the Gaza Strip before being destroyed in 2005.
History
Bnei Atzmon was founded in 1979 in the Yamit region of the Si ...
בני עצמון (named after the Atzmona community in Sinai)
#
Gadid
Gadid ( he, גָּדִיד) was an Israeli settlement and Moshav located in the middle of the Gush Katif settlement bloc whose residents were expelled in Israel's disengagement of 2005. The origin of the name Gadid comes from the term used in ...
גדיד (lit. picking of
palm tree
The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm tr ...
fruits)
#
Gan Or
Gan Or ( he, גַּן אוֹר, ''lit.'' Garden of Light) was an Israeli settlement located in the Gush Katif settlement bloc and evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005. On the day of its evacuation 52 families, over 320 people, lived the ...
גן אור (lit. Garden of light)
#
Ganei Tal
Ganei Tal ( he, גני טל, lit. ''Gardens of Dew'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located to the south of Gedera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The village was establi ...
גני טל (lit. Gardens of dew)
#
Kfar Darom כפר דרום (lit. South village)
#
Kfar Yam
Kfar Yam ( he, כפר ים) was a small outpost and one of the Gaza Strip Israeli Settlements abandoned in Israel's 2005 disengagement plan.
History
Kfar Yam was a non-religious community established in 1983, and had a population of 10 (4 fam ...
כפר ים (lit. Village of the sea)
#
Kerem Atzmona כרם עצמונה
#
Morag מורג (lit. Harvest scythe)
#
Neve Dekalim נוה דקלים (lit. Palm tree Oasis)
#
Netzer Hazani
Netzer Hazani ( he, נצר חזני) is a community settlement in central Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of .
History
The village was established in 2010 near Yesodot
Yesod ...
נצר חזני (named after Cabinet Minister Michael Hazani)
#
Pe'at Sade
Pe'at Sadeh ( he, פְּאַת שָׂדֶה, ''lit. Mouth Field'') was an Israeli settlement, in the Gaza Strip until 2005.
History
Pe'at Sadeh was originally established in 1989 by a group of families on the 'Slav' Israel Defense Forces base in ...
פאת שדה (lit. the edge of the field)
#
Katif קטיף (lit. harvest, picking of flowers)
#
Rafiah Yam
Rafiah Yam ( he, רָפִיחַ יָם) was an Israeli settlement, in the Gaza Strip until 2005.
History
Rafiah Yam was originally established in 1984 as a secular community in the southern end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc, only 200 metres ...
רפיח ים
#
Shirat Hayam
Shirat HaYam ( he, שִׁירַת הַיָּם, lit. ''Song of the Sea'') was an Israeli settlement established in 2001 on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea west of Neve Dekalim in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip until 2005. ...
שירת הים (lit. Song of the sea)
#
Slav שליו (lit. Quail)
#
Tel Katifa
Tel Katifa ( he, תל קטיפא), was a small Israeli settlement located in the northeast end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the Gaza Strip, and evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005.
History
Tel Katifa was named after the adjacen ...
תל קטיפא
Most of the Gush Katif settlements were concentrated in one block on the southwest edge of the Gaza Strip and were individually surrounded by fencing.
Settlements north of Gush Katif
#
Dugit
Dugit ( he, דּוּגִית, lit. dinghy) was an Israeli settlement located in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip closest to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Nisanit. While Dugit was under t ...
דוגית (small boat)
#
Elei Sinai
Elei Sinai ( he, אֱלֵי סִינַי, ''lit.'' Towards Sinai) was an Israeli settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Founding
Elei Sinai was established in 1982 ( Sukkot 5743) by a group who had been evicted from Yamit in the Sinai Pen ...
אלי סיני (named after Sinai)
#
Nisanit
Nisanit () was the largest Israeli settlement in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Dugit. While Nisanit was under the municipal authority of the Hof Aza Regional Council it was not physically ...
ניסנית (a flower that blossoms in the sands)
#
Netzarim נצרים (lit. scions)
The three Israeli settlements on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip (
Elei Sinai
Elei Sinai ( he, אֱלֵי סִינַי, ''lit.'' Towards Sinai) was an Israeli settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Founding
Elei Sinai was established in 1982 ( Sukkot 5743) by a group who had been evicted from Yamit in the Sinai Pen ...
,
Dugit
Dugit ( he, דּוּגִית, lit. dinghy) was an Israeli settlement located in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip closest to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Nisanit. While Dugit was under t ...
and
Nisanit
Nisanit () was the largest Israeli settlement in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Dugit. While Nisanit was under the municipal authority of the Hof Aza Regional Council it was not physically ...
), and another near its center (
Netzarim) were more detached. The three former used Ashkelon services while Netzarim was mostly self-sufficient.
See also
*
Gaza strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
*
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
*
Israeli-occupied territories
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to ...
*
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, th ...
References
*2. Footnote
There is no such article on this page.
Further reading
The Gush Katif Heritage Center in Nitzan
Map of Gaza Strip, showing settlements
Gush Katif Committee official website
(Hebrew)
English version
Virtual Tour of Gush Katif
''Jewish Virtual Library
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
''
Jewish Settlements, Outposts Expanding Despite Pledges
Growth Most Striking in Gaza Strip, Report Says, By John Ward Anderson, ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' Foreign Service, Friday, July 23, 2004; Page A26
External links
Yad-Katif—Gush Katif Memorial—Videos, songs and thousands of photos
Data published by the UN in 2010.
Pullout Plans discussed in 2012
* Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/arab-spring-gaza-egypt-mubarak-tahrir-square
{{Coord, 31, 21, N, 34, 29, E, source:placeopedia, display=title
Populated places established in 1968
Historic Jewish communities
Former Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
Geography of the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip