The Gaza crisis, explained in eight graphics
Home to almost two million Palestinians, the majority of whom are long-term refugees, Gaza is one of the most crowded places on Earth
Gaza is bordered to the south by Egypt, to the north and east by Israel and to the west by the Mediterranean sea
1. Where is Gaza?
Gaza is home to almost
two million Palestinians, the majority of whom are long-term refugees (a further 3.25 million Palestinians live in the
West Bank). It’s been run by
Hamas since elections in 2007: the
group is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU among others. The West Bank is governed by the
Palestinian Authority, which is currently controlled by Fatah, rivals of Hamas. It is one of the most crowded places in the world. But the Israeli blockade means that residents find it tough, if not impossible, to leave.
2. The event that changed Palestinians
The dominant event for Palestinians in Gaza during the past century has been the Nakba of 1948, when hundreds of thousands were driven from, or else fled, their homes in what is now modern-day Israel as the state came into existence. The
right of return to ancestral homes (or "Haq al-Awda") is the over-riding long-term priority for many Palestinians: it forms part of
United Nations resolution 194.
3. Palestinians recall what was lost
Palestinian houses and cinemas, shops and mosques, train stations and markets were all lost in 1948.
Tarek Bakri, a researcher and archivist based in Jerusalem, started to collect archive photography which documented these losses. The image below slides left and right: MEE has
published more examples.
Above: Israelis looting houses in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Musrara in Jerusalem. Musrara is one of the oldest neighbourhood built outside Jerusalem's Old City walls in the 1860s.
4. Gaza since 1948
5. Daily living
6. Financial misery
7. Israeli attacks on Gaza
The Israeli army mounted four major operations against Gaza between 2006 and 2014, often, it said, to stop Hamas and other groups firing rockets into Israel. Aside from wrecking infrastructure including
electricity lines and power stations,
health services and
water supplies, military assaults on Gaza have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, as well as Israeli soldiers and civilians.
8. The protests
On
30 March, Palestinians started regular protests in the lead-up to the 70th anniversary of the Nakba on 15 May. Israeli forces sometimes fired at the demonstrations, saying they were doing so to defend the border – with fatal consequences. The highest number of
deaths was on 14 May, the day that the
US embassy opened in Jerusalem, when
62 were killed. Many protesters were also demonstrating about the conditions under which they had lived in Gaza for years.