Gaza Strip southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011. Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel. Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. "Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai." In February 2005, the Knesset approved a unilateral disengagement plan and began removing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. All
Biodiversity in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip Biodiversity in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip Biodiversity in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip is about the fauna and flora in the geographical region of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. This geographical area within the region of Palestine extends from the Jordan River and Wadi Araba in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai desert in the west, to Lebanon in the north, and to the gulf of Aqaba, or Eilat in the south. The area is part of the Palearctic ecozone, located in the Mediterranean Basin, whose climate supports