Blockade of the Gaza Strip Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. An "Agreement on Movement and Access" (AMA) between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was concluded in November 2005 to improve freedom of movement and economic activity for residents of the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian Authority and the European Union. Only people with Palestinian identity cards or foreign nationals, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. Following
Gaza Strip to instigate sedition (against Hamas), while withholding money and assistance from the Palestinian people. Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry. In May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions. Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides. Fighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched