Blockade of the Gaza Strip Blockade of the Gaza Strip The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt since 2007. The system of control imposed by Israel is sometimes known as the indirect occupation of the Gaza Strip. One year after the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip by Israel, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election, and Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East ceased providing aid to the Palestinian Authority and imposed sanctions against the PA, because Hamas would not agree to the conditions for continued aid: namely,
Gaza Strip Hostages Case), “an occupation indicates the exercise of governmental authority to the exclusion of the established government,” meaning that the local “civil government [should be] eliminated.” These factors demonstrate that Israel does not have control over Gaza. There is a local independent administration in the Gaza Strip that does not answer to Israel (and in fact, openly and repeatedly carries out belligerent attacks against Israel). Israel does not have troops regularly deployed in Gaza, and it can only deploy such troops through heavy and difficult fighting. The local civilian population does not answer to Israel. Israel has no local administration...