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Homes alongside a sand dune in Neve Dekalim.
Homes alongside a sand dune in Neve Dekalim. Neve Dekalim (נוה דקלים was an illegal Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.

Gush Katif (Hebrew: גוש קטיף‎, English: "Harvest Bloc") was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Israeli settlements are communities inhabited by Israelis in territory that was captured as a result of Jordanian attacks during the 1967 Six-Day War. The Gaza Strip (قطاع غزة, רצועת עזה Retzu'at 'Azza) is a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Egypt on the south-west In August 2005, the 8,000 residents of Gush Katif were forced to leave the area and their homes demolished as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. PortalCurrent events News collections and sources WikipediaNews collections and sources. Israel's unilateral disengagement plan ( Hebrew: תוכנית ההתנתקות Tokhnit HaHitnatkut or תוכנית ההינתקות Tokhnit HaHinatkut in

Contents

Geography

Gush Katif was located in the south-west edge of the Gaza Strip, bordered on the southwest by Rafah and the Egyptian border, on the east by Khan Yunis, on the northeast by Deir el-Balah, and on the west and northwest by the Mediterranean Sea. Rafah (رفح is a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip, on the Egyptian border and a nearby town on the Egyptian side of the border on the Sinai Khan Yunis (خان يونس literally Jonah 's Inn) is a city and adjacent Refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. This article is about a Palestinian city for the nearby refugee camp see Deir el-Balah camp. A narrow one-kilometer strip of land populated by Bedouin Palestinians known as al-Mawasi lay along the Mediterranean coast. The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously Al-Mawasi ( المواسي) is a Bedouin Palestinian town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, approximately one kilometer wide and fourteen Most of Gush Katif was situated on the sand dunes which separate the coastal plain from the sea along much of the southeastern Mediterranean. In physical Geography, a dune is a Hill of Sand built by Aeolian processes. A coastal plain is an area of flat low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features

Two roads served the residents of Gush Katif: Road 230 which runs from the southwest along the sea from the Egyptian border at Rafiah Yam through Kfar Yam to Tel Katifa on the bloc's northern border, where it entered Palestinian controlled territory, and Road 240, which also runs parallel to the sea approximately one kilometre inland, and upon which the majority of the settlements and traffic were located. Rafiah Yam was an Israeli settlement, originally established in 1984 as a Secular community in the southern end of the Gush Katif settlement Kfar Yam was a small outpost and one of the Gaza Strip Israeli Settlements abandoned in Israel's 2005 disengagement plan. Tel Katifa (תל קטיפה was a small Israeli settlement located in the northeast end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the Gaza Strip, and evacuated Road 240's southern end turned south to reach Morag and continues to Sufah and the Shalom bloc of villages south of the Gaza strip, while its northern end turned east to the Kissufim junction, and served as the main route into Gush Katif. Kissufim (כיסופים lit Yearning) is a Kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel.

While Kfar Darom and Netzarim were originally accessed along the main road to Gaza (known as "Tencher Road"), Israeli and Palestinian traffic was separated after the Oslo Accords, and Netzarim was isolated as an enclave accessed only through the Karni crossing and the Sa'ad junction. Kfar Darom (כפר דרום lit South Village) was a Kibbutz and Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip Netzarim was an Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in Gaza Gaza (غزة, עַזָּה ʕazzā is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories. Israeli-Palestinian conflict The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles The Karni Crossing (معبر كارني or معبر المنطار מעבר קרני is a Cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. Sa'ad (סעד lit Aid) is an religious kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. In 2002, a bridge was built for Road 240 over the Tencher road so as to physically separate the two arteries and allow unobstructed travel for both Palestinian and Israeli traffic.

Demographics

Neve Dekalim was Gush Katif's urban center and home to the greatest population.
Neve Dekalim was Gush Katif's urban center and home to the greatest population. Neve Dekalim (נוה דקלים was an illegal Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.

About 8,000 residents lived in Gush Katif, many of them Orthodox Religious Zionist Jews, though many non-observant and secular Jews also called it home. Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized Religious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement (a branch of which is also called Mizrachi) is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena above all it is the Culture of secular communities of Jewish people but it can also include The area also included several hundred Muslim families, mostly of the al-Mawasi Bedouin community, who while technically Palestinian residents, were able to enjoy freedom of movement within the Israeli areas due to their peaceful relations. Al-Mawasi ( المواسي) is a Bedouin Palestinian town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, approximately one kilometer wide and fourteen The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously

See also: Population statistics for Israeli Gaza Strip settlements

History

While the village of Kfar Darom existed in the 1930s and 1940s until the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Gush Katif began in earnest when in 1968, Yigal Allon presented an initiative for the founding of two Nahal or civilian Israeli settlements in the center of the Gaza strip. Israeli Settlements in the Gaza Strip Footnotes Population Statistic Sources * Source List of Localities Their Population and Codes 31 Kfar Darom (כפר דרום lit South Village) was a Kibbutz and Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip Yigal Allon (יגאל אלון born 10 October 1918, died 29 February 1980) was an Israeli politician a commander of the Nahal (נח"ל an acronym for Noar Halutzi Lohem, lit Fighting Pioneer Youth) is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade Israeli settlements are communities inhabited by Israelis in territory that was captured as a result of Jordanian attacks during the 1967 Six-Day War. He viewed the breaking of the continuity between the northern and southern Arab settlements as vital to Israel's security in the area, which had been captured the previous year in the 1967 Six-Day War. Background Suez Crisis aftermath The Suez Crisis of 1956 represented a military defeat but a political victory for Egypt In 1970, Kfar Darom was reestablished as the first of many Israeli agricultural villages in the area. Allon's idea was ultimately designed with five key areas (or 'fingers,' thus being called by some the "five-finger print") slated for Israeli presence along the length of the Gaza strip. After the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty and the dismantling of the fifth 'finger' (Yamit bloc) south of Rafah, the fourth (Morag) and third (Kfar Darom) strips were united into one bloc that would become known as Gush Katif. Yamit (ימית was an Israeli settlement of 600 homes and approximately 2500 inhabitants in the northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula that was established during The second finger, Netzarim, was very much connected to Gush Katif until the arrangements following the Oslo Accords, while the bloc on the dunes north of Gaza, which straddled the Green Line, was more a part of the Ashkelon area communities. Netzarim was an Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in Gaza Israeli-Palestinian conflict The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles The term Green Line is used to refer to the 1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its neighbours ( Egypt, Jordan, Ashkelon (אַשְׁקְלוֹן ٲشكلون also عسقلان; Latin: Ascalon; Akkadian: Isqalluna is a coastal city in southern [3]

Throughout the 1980s new communities were established, especially with the influx of former residents of the Sinai. The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء Most of the bloc's communities were established as agricultural cooperatives called moshavs, where the residents from each town would work in clusters of greenhouses just outside the residential areas. Moshav ( is a type of Cooperative Agricultural Community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse or hothouse) is a building where plants are cultivated

Economy

Hothouses, like these in Morag, were the center of the bloc's industry.
Hothouses, like these in Morag, were the center of the bloc's industry.

In the Katif Bloc’s unique hothouses, a uniquely developed advanced technology was used to grow bug-free leafy vegetables and herbs answering to the strictest health, aesthetic and religious requirements. Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaves eaten as a Vegetable, sometimes accompanied A(n herb (ˈhɝb or /ˈɝb/ see pronunciation differences) is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties flavor scent or the like Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Most of the organic agricultural products were exported to Europe. Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on Crop rotation, Green manure, Compost, Biological pest control, and mechanical Cultivation In addition, the community of Atzmona had Israel’s largest plant nursery, and with 800 cows, the Katif dairy was the second largest in the country. Bnei Atzmon (בְּנֵי עַצְמוֹן was an Israeli settlement originally founded in 1979 in the Yamit region of the Sinai peninsula as a response Katif (קטיף was an Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip, about 1 km north of the Palestinian Refugee camp

The total sum of exports from the greenhouses of Gush Katif, which were owned by 200 farmers, came to $200,000,000 per year and made up 15% of the agricultural exports of the State of Israel.

The combined assets in Gush Katif were estimated at $23 billion.

Of Israel’s total exports abroad, Gush Katif exported:

The Economic Cooperation Foundation, which is funded by the European Union, agreed to purchase the hothouses for $14 million and transfer ownership to the Palestinian Authority, so that the 4,000 Palestinians employed to work in them could keep their jobs. The Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF Heb. הקרן לשיתוף פעולה כלכלי was founded by Dr The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Former head of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, contributed $500,000 of his own money to the project. The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e James David Wolfensohn KBE, AO (born December 1, 1933) was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.

When the IDF left Gaza, thousands of Palestinians looted the area, and 800 of the 4,000 hothouses were left unusable. [4][5][6]

Palestinian attacks

Sand dunes near the sea
Sand dunes near the sea

Although the Gush Katif settlements and the roads leading to it were guarded by the Israeli Army's Gaza Division, settlers were still vulnerable to attacks. The Israel Defense Forces ( IDF) (צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, lit The Israel Defense Forces Gaza Division (Territorial is subordinate to the Southern Regional Command.

During the First Intifada (1987-1990), which broke out in nearby Gaza, the residents of Gush Katif were on the forefront of the violence and were subject to frequent stoning of traffic among other incidents. The First Intifada (1987–1993 (also " Intifada " and "war of the stones" was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli

Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada (2000), Gush Katif settlements were the target of thousands of violent attacks by Palestinian militants. More than 6000 mortar bombs and Qassam rockets were launched into Gush Katif, causing mostly property and psychological damage with very few fatalities, but heavy shock and fear. A mortar is a muzzle-loading Indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities short ranges and high-arcing ballistic trajectories The Qassam rocket ( صاروخ القسام; also Kassam) is a simple steel Rocket filled with explosives produced by Hamas. Most of the ground attacks were infiltrations and shootings. In one of these attacks, three Palestinian children, aged 14, 12 and 8–10, infiltrated a settlement and tried to stab Jewish children. There were also attempts to infiltrate by sea.

Palestinian attacks on Israeli vehicles traveling on the Kissufim road were very common. In one of these attacks, in May 2004, Palestinian militants killed Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant, and her four daughters, aged two to 11. Tali Hatuel ( June 28, 1970 - May 2, 2004) was a resident of the Israeli settlement bloc of Gush In another, a school bus was bombed, leaving two dead and several maimed children. A school bus is a Bus used to transport Children and Adolescents to and from School and school events

Many of the ground attacks on Gush Katif were thwarted by the Israeli military.

Controversy

A Gush Katif beach
A Gush Katif beach

Gush Katif's location within the greater Gaza Strip was for many a source of controversy.

Its location was initially the main reason for its founding, as an Israeli civilian presence was important for cementing control of the area so as to prevent any future invasion from Egypt or its use as a staging area for fedayeen attacks, and indeed this rationale was echoed following the 1967 Six Day War by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff[1]

As Israeli-Palestinian conflict ensued, the security argument included that an Israeli presence prevented heavy bombardment of long-range Katyusha rockets on Israeli towns such as Sderot and Ashkelon (as indeed happened, after the disengagement), and served as an outpost for intelligence gathering and preemption against suicide bombers and other infiltrators. Fedayeen (فدائيون fidā'ī, plural fidā'iyūn: meaning " Freedom fighter (s" or "self-sacrificer(s"Ֆէտայի is a term The Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS) is a group comprising the Chiefs of service of each major branch of the Armed services in the United States armed forces Katyusha multiple rocket launchers (Катюша are a type of Rocket artillery originally built and fielded by the Soviet Union in the Second World War Sderot (שְׂדֵרוֹת a western Negev City, in the Southern District of Israel. Ashkelon (אַשְׁקְלוֹן ٲشكلون also عسقلان; Latin: Ascalon; Akkadian: Isqalluna is a coastal city in southern This article is about suicide attacks for political and/or military reasons

Many advocates of settlement in Gush Katif view it as part of the Land of Israel and thus subject to a theological injunction for settlement, and some also assert a right of return to Gaza, as Jews had been living there for over 1600 years until they were moved out by the British during the 1929 Palestine riots. For other uses see Israel (disambiguation The Land of Israel ( Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל Eretz Yisrael) is The term right of return refers to the principle in International law that members of an Ethnic or National group have a right to Immigration Gaza (غزة, עַזָּה ʕazzā is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories. In the summer of 1929 a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated and erupted into a series of [2]

However critics of Gush Katif pointed to some of the same arguments as reasons to discontinue settlement there. Especially as Palestinian attacks intensified to unprecedented levels during the al-Aqsa Intifada and the Israeli military presence increased proportionally, the bloc was seen by some as being an unnecessary theatre of confrontation that acted as a drain on the IDF's resources, especially in extreme cases such as Netzarim in which during certain periods of intense violence on the roads was only accessible via helicopter. The increasing security measures taken by the IDF including checkpoints and restrictions on Palestinian travel, as well as the creation of extended buffer zones near settlements were also seen as negatively impacting the Palestinian population's human rights. A Israel Defense Forces checkpoint, usually called an Israeli checkpoint (מחסום machsom) is a barrier erected by the Israel Defense Forces with the Other critics pointed to the occupation of part the Gaza Strip's land by the settlements for a small population, relative to the extremely dense Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, and despite Gush Katif's having been constructed on barren sand dunes, it was also criticised for blocking access to 1/3 of the Strip's seashore from cities such as Rafah and Khan Yunis. For example, Palestinians were forcibly banned from the beaches near Israeli settlements and forbidden to use Gaza's coastal road in these areas.

Evacuation

Main article: Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

On August 13, 2005, the Gush Katif region was closed to non-residents, in keeping with the plan to evacuate the Katif bloc. Israel's unilateral disengagement plan ( Hebrew: תוכנית ההתנתקות Tokhnit HaHitnatkut or תוכנית ההינתקות Tokhnit HaHinatkut in Events 3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation the start of the Maya calendar. Though effectively violating the Disengagement law which most residents viewed as highly immoral and illegitimate, most settlers did not voluntarily leave their homes or even pack in preparation of the eviction. On August 15, 2005, the forcible evacuation of the Gush Katif settlements began. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed On August 22, 2005, the residents of the last settlement, Netzarim, were evicted. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In essence, many residents returned to pack the contents of their homes and the Israeli government began the destruction of all residential buildings. On September 12, 2005, the Israeli Army withdrew from each settlement up to the Green Line. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The term Green Line is used to refer to the 1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its neighbours ( Egypt, Jordan, All public buildings (schools, libraries, community centres, office buildings) as well as industrial buildings, factories and hothouses which could not be taken apart were left intact.

On that day, thousands of overjoyed Palestinians (with the approval of Palestinian Authority officials and police) took part in the ransacking, vandalism, and destruction of the synagogues. Palestinian Security Forces provides security to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA "The Israelis destroyed our homes and our mosques. Today it is our turn to destroy theirs,” said one man in Netzarim. Netzarim was an Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in Gaza Originally, the Israeli cabinet had planned to destroy the synagogues and yeshivas as well, but on the previous day, the government caved in to pressure from religious Jewish organizations and reversed its decision. Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n [3][4]

Settlements in Gush Katif

The Gush Katif settlements were concentrated in one block in the south-west edge of the Gaza Strip and were surrounded by fence. Tel Katifa (תל קטיפה was a small Israeli settlement located in the northeast end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the Gaza Strip, and evacuated

In addition to Gush Katif, there were three Israeli settlements on the north edge of the Gaza Strip (Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit), and another near its center (Netzarim). Elei Sinai (אֱלֵי סִינַי lit Towards Sinai was an Israeli settlement in the north of Gaza Strip. Dugit ( Hebrew:דוגית was an Israeli settlement located in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip closest to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea Nisanit ( Hebrew: ניסנית was the largest Israeli settlement in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai Netzarim was an Israeli settlement in the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in Gaza

See also

Notes

  1. ^  Foundation for Middle East Peace, "Settlements in the Gaza Strip". The Gaza Strip (قطاع غزة, רצועת עזה Retzu'at 'Azza) is a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Egypt on the south-west Israeli settlements are communities inhabited by Israelis in territory that was captured as a result of Jordanian attacks during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli Settlements in the Gaza Strip Footnotes Population Statistic Sources * Source List of Localities Their Population and Codes 31 Religious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement (a branch of which is also called Mizrachi) is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Occupied territories is a Term of art in International law. In accordance with Article 42 of the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Fourth Hague Convention October The are the territories captured by Israel from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967 consisting of the West
  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ JOSEF FEDERMAN/Associated Press. "First Israeli Army Convoys Depart Gaza", September 11, 2005.  
  4. ^ Associated Press. "Palestinians set Gaza synagogues on fire", September 12, 2005.  

Further reading

External links

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