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
Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt threatening the young State of Israel and violating the Suez Canal Convention of 1888. France and the United Kingdom supported Israel in its determination that the canal should remain open to all nations as per the Convention. On October 29, 1956, Israel, France and the United Kingdom invaded the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula initiating the 1956 Suez War. Under international pressure, the Anglo-French Task Force withdrew before the end of 1956, and the Israeli army withdrew from the Sinai and Gaza in March, 1957. In 1959, as he sought to incorporate the Arab nations as a single state, Nasser's