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 closures decreased over the next few years. In 1998, Israel implemented new policies to ease security procedures and allow somewhat freer movement of Gazan goods and labor into Israel. These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000. Before the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, around 25,000 workers from the Gaza Strip (about 2% of the population) worked in Israel on a daily basis. The Second Intifada led to a steep decline in the economy of Gaza, which was heavily reliant