The Port of Gaza is a small port near the Rimal district of

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 ...

. It is the home port of Palestinian fishing-boats and the base of the Palestinian Naval Police, a branch of the

Palestinian National Security Forces The Palestinian National Security Forces (NSF; ar, قوات الأمن الوطني الفلسطيني ''Quwwat al-Amn al-Watani al-Filastini'') are the paramilitary security forces of the Palestinian National Authority. The name may either re ...

. Under the

Oslo II Accord The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip commonly known as Oslo II or Oslo 2, was a key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Because Oslo II was signed in Taba, it is sometimes called the Taba Agreem ...

, the activities of the Palestinian Naval Police are restricted to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Since 2007, the Port of Gaza has been under an Israeli-imposed

naval blockade A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

as part of a

blockade of the Gaza Strip The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt temporarily in 2005–2006 and permanently from 2007 onwards, following the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. The bloc ...

, and activities at the port have been restricted to small-scale fishing.

History

Gaza Strip

The Gaza strip has been put under a strict siege, by land, air, and sea. The total surface area of 362 square kilometers, owns a main poor transportation system that only has 76km of main roads, 122km of regional roads, and 99km of local roads. The strip had a small airport located at Rafah, which was destroyed in 2001 by Israel. The port was built by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

Maiuma

In earlier times, the port of Maiuma, or ''el Mineh'' (meaning "the harbour"), was located in the area. In the late Ottoman era,

Pierre Jacotin Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the '' Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in ...

named the place ''Majumas'' on his map from 1799. In 1883, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) noted that ''el Mineh'' was probably the ancient Maiuma. In 2011, eight Roman columns believed to be the remains of a church were swept ashore during a storm. In 2013, the Palestinian Naval Police found ancient artifacts that included poles and baked clay.Gaza naval police excavate archaeological site off the Gaza coast
February 17, 2014, Memo

Since 1994

In 2002, Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian Naval Police facilities in the port, after Naval Police commanders were implicated in the Karine A affair, an attempt to secretly bring in 50 tons of weapons by boat into Gaza. In 2007, following Hamas' takeover of Gaza,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

imposed a

, including a naval blockade. Several attempts to break the Israeli blockade have been made. Israel has prevented most ships from docking at the Port of Gaza, but did allow two boats, carrying activists and some supplies, to reach the port in 2008. As at 2010, the port was restricted to smaller Palestinian fishing boats. In 2010, the port was deepened by Hamas in preparation for the arrival of a blockade-breaking flotilla of larger international ships.Gaza port readies for flotilla
May 27, 2010,

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

A breakwater was constructed and lighting was installed. Hamas announced plans to develop the port to make it more accessible to fishermen and attract tourists.

Gaza Seaport plans

Since the 1993

Oslo I Accord The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...

, there have been plans to build a much larger seaport in Gaza. Due to the continuing

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, these plans have not materialized as of 2014. In 2005, Israel approved Palestinian plans to rebuild and complete the construction of a port a few miles south of Gaza City, which had begun before the outbreak of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel ...

in September 2000. The building was destroyed by Israeli forces together with Gaza's existing airport near Rafah following the outbreak of the Second Intifada.Palestinians to rebuild Gaza sea port in latest peace move
Anton La Guardia, 17 February 2005,

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

''Photos of the Port and the Sea of Gaza on Facebook''
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 19
IAAWikimedia commons
{{coord, 31, 31, 30.77, N, 34, 25, 51.84, E, display=title Buildings and structures in the Gaza Strip Ports and harbours of the Mediterranean Nabataea History of the Arabian Peninsula History of Palestine (region) Ports and harbours of the State of Palestine