The Gaza Strip: Decades of unrest, conflict between Israelis and Palestinians
By APMonday, May 31, 2010
Gaza Strip scene of decades of unrest, conflict
A look at dates and events in the recent history of the Gaza Strip, home today to 1.5 million Palestinians:
—1967: Israel seizes control of the Gaza Strip from Egypt during the 1967 Mideast war and begins to establish settlements there.
—1971: Israel’s military conducts harsh campaign to pacify Gaza and defeat armed militants.
—1987: The first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, known as the intifada, erupts.
—1994: Under the interim Israel-Palestinian peace accords, Israel transfers some power in Gaza to the newly formed Palestinian Authority. The Israeli military withdraws from population centers but retains control of borders and settlements.
—2000: The second Palestinian uprising erupts. Palestinian militants begin firing rockets from Gaza into Israel.
—2005: Israel evacuates all its settlements in Gaza and unilaterally withdraws its forces.
—2006: The Islamic militant group Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary elections. Western powers declare Hamas a terrorist group. Internal Palestinian violence worsens and rocket fire into Israel increases.
—2007: Hamas wrests control of Gaza from the Western-backed Fatah movement in bloody street battles. Israel closes its border with Gaza and, along with Egypt, imposes a blockade.
—August 2008: The first boat sponsored by a pro-Palestinian group called Free Gaza reaches the territory. Five more boats follow before Israeli forces began to intervene.
—December 2008: Israel invades Gaza to try to halt years of rocket fire at Israeli towns. About 1,400 Palestinians are killed, many of them civilians.
—April 2009: An Israeli navy vessel collides with a Free Gaza boat steaming toward Gaza, then tows the boat to an Israeli port. Two more flotillas fail to reach Gaza in 2009.
—May 30, 2010: Israel intercepts six boats sponsored by Free Gaza and a Turkish NGO in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. Clashes between naval commandos and activists result in dozens of casualties.
