According to Israeli data there are 141 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. However, satellite images show 282 Jewish built-up areas in the West Bank including east Jerusalem and 26 in Gaza. This is excluding military sites.
Is there still a Jewish community in Gaza?
Nope. The historic Jewish community of Gaza has been ethnically cleansed, their heritage and places of worship (some remarkable ornate synagogues) are long forgotten. Since 2005 all Israeli settlements within the territory of the Gaza strip have been evacuated by the Israeli government.
How many settlements are there in the Gaza Strip?
All the settlements were then dismantled. Before Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in which the Israeli settlements were evacuated, there were 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip under the administration of the Hof Aza Regional Council.
When did Israel evacuate all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip?
In August 2005, Israel evacuated all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. + The first date is given by the Settlement Division of the Zionist Organization. The second date is given by the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Third dates are from Peace Now.
When were the first Israeli settlements in Gaza established?
The first was Kfar Darom, which was originally established in 1946, and reformed in 1970. In 1981, as part of a peace treaty with Egypt, the last settlements of the Sinai were destroyed, and some Jews moved to the Gaza area. Israeli settlers reside in 18 percent of the 363 square kilometer area.
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Are there Jewish settlements in Gaza?
After the Six-Day War, Jewish communities weren't built in Gaza City, but in Gush Katif in the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip, f.e. Kfar Darom – established in 1946, evacuated in 1948 after an Egyptian attack, resettled in 1970, evacuated in 2005 as part of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Are there synagogues in Gaza?
The ancient synagogue of Gaza was built in 508 AD during the Byzantine period and was discovered in 1965. It was located in the ancient port city of Gaza, then known as "Maiumas", currently the Rimal district of Gaza City.
What percent of Gaza is Jewish?
DemographicsGaza StripIsraelEthnic groupsPalestinian ArabJewish 74.1% (of which Israel-born 78.1%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 15.2%, Africa-born 4.3%, Asia-born 2.4%), Arab 21%, other 4.9% (2019 est.)HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDSNA9,000 (2018)26 more rows
Where are the Jewish settlements?
Israeli settlement, any of the communities of Israeli Jews built after 1967 in the territories occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War—the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. Most, but not all, were authorized and supported by the Israeli government.
What happened to the synagogues in Gaza?
On 12 September 2005 Israel withdrew the last of its military forces from the Gaza Strip, in a unilateral move that was intended to bring to an end its responsibilities as occupying power in the territory.
Who lived in Gaza before 1948?
Before Israel became a nation, the majority of people dwelling in the region were Arabs who lived in what was then known as Palestine. On May 14, 1948, Israel was officially declared a state, marking the first Jewish state in over 2,000 years.
Is Judaism growing in Israel?
Between 2010 and 2050, Israel's Jewish population is expected to grow by about 2.5 million people while the U.S. Jewish population declines by about 330,000. As the number of Jews in Israel increases, so will Israel's share of the world's Jews.
How many Jews live in the Palestinian territories?
In addition to the Palestinian population, approximately 214,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and Gaza, according to the Foundation for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C. The Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, although they do not exercise authority over the city.
Who owns the Gaza Strip?
IsraelIsrael maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, as well as six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory.
Has Israel stolen land?
Israel has declared at least 26 percent of the West Bank as “state land”. Using a different interpretation of Ottoman, British and Jordanian laws, Israel stole public and private Palestinian land for settlements under the pretext of “state land”.
Are Israeli settlements in Palestine illegal?
The UN has repeatedly stated Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a flagrant violation under international law, the rights experts recalled.
Does Israel have a right to the West Bank?
Israel claims historical and religious rights to the West Bank as the ancestral land of the Jewish people. It also says its presence there - especially in the Jordan Valley - is strategically vital for its self-defence.
Rationale and development of the policy
In his book Sharon: The Life of a Leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son Gilad wrote that he gave his father the idea of the disengagement.
Political approval process
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Description of the plan
The Gaza Strip contained 21 civilian Israeli settlements and the area evacuated in the West Bank contained four, as follows:
Execution of the plan
Residents protest during the forced evacuation of the Israeli community Kfar Darom. August 18, 2005.
Aftermath
After Israel's withdrawal, the Palestinians were given control over the Gaza Strip, except for the borders, the airspace and the territorial waters. The area of the dismantled West Bank settlements remained part of Area C (area under full Israeli civil and military control).
Criticisms and opinions
The unilateral disengagement plan has been criticized from various viewpoints. In Israel, it has been criticized by the settlers themselves, supported by the Israeli right, who saw Ariel Sharon's action as a betrayal of his previous policies of support of settlement.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.
Housing costs and state subventions
Settlement has an economic dimension, much of it driven by the significantly lower costs of housing for Israeli citizens living in Israeli settlements compared to the cost of housing and living in Israel proper.
Number of settlements and inhabitants
On 30 June 2014, according to the Yesha Council, 382,031 Israeli citizens lived in the 121 officially recognised Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Character: rural and urban
Settlements range in character from farming communities and frontier villages to urban suburbs and neighborhoods. The four largest settlements, Modi'in Illit, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Ariel, have achieved city status. Ariel has 18,000 residents, while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each.
History
Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied a number of territories. It took over the remainder of the Palestinian Mandate territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem, from Jordan which had controlled the territories since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, which had held Gaza under occupation since 1949.
Resettlement of former Jewish communities
Some settlements were established on sites where Jewish communities had existed during the British Mandate of Palestine or even since the First Aliyah or ancient times.
Demographics
At the end of 2010, 534,224 Jewish Israeli lived in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 314,132 of them lived in the 121 authorised settlements and 102 unauthorised settlement outposts on the West Bank, 198,629 were living in East Jerusalem, and almost 20,000 lived in settlements in the Golan Heights.
Administration and local government
The Israeli settlements in the West Bank fall under the administrative district of Judea and Samaria Area. Since December 2007, approval by both the Israeli Prime Minister and Israeli Defense Minister of all settlement activities (including planning) in the West Bank is required.
