Gaza, Israel Tourism

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Israel since the Six Day War.

Of the 633,000 inhabitants of the Gaza Strip something like half live in refugee camps in appalling conditions. Not surprisingly, therefore, resistance to the Israeli occupiers finds particularly vigorous expression in this area, with frequent disturbances leaving a trail of dead and injured. Very few Israelis live in the Gaza Strip, and foreign visitors should be wary of staying there and before visiting it should inform themselves about the current political situation.

History

During the war of 1948-49 the Arab population of southern Palestine fled into the area round Gaza, which was then occupied by Egyptian forces. After the ceasefire of February 1949 this region was assigned to Egypt. In the Suez War (1956-57) Israel sought to gain control of the Gaza Strip, but in 1957 returned it to Egypt. In 1967 (the Six Day War) Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and put it under military administration. In the context of the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreements of 1979 the possibility of granting self-government to the Gaza Strip was considered but did not find favor with the local government authorities, and in 1982 the negotiations on self-government collapsed.

In the busy and noisy town of Gaza the most interesting building is the Great Mosque, originally a 13th century Crusader church. Near the harbor are remains of a fifth century synagogue, with a mosaic pavement in the nave depicting King David as Orpheus, surrounded by wild beasts.