Ending Gaza’s Perpetual Crisis
READ THE REPORT: ENDING GAZA’S PERPETUAL CRISIS
ENDING GAZA’S PERPETUAL CRISIS
Home to nearly two million people, the Gaza Strip presents a unique policy challenge. Nominally independent and governed by a Hamas regime, Gaza is cut off from the rest of the Palestinian polity in the Palestinian Authority-ruled sections of the West Bank. The territory has become a launching pad for attacks against Israel, creating a security nightmare. But retaliatory IDF campaigns, and onerous Israeli, Egyptian, and Palestinian Authority restrictions, as well as Hamas neglect, have all contributed to a humanitarian catastrophe. Access to electricity and clean water are severely limited, freedom of movement is curbed, and many social services previously sponsored by the United States have been cut off or significantly curtailed. All of these factors combine to create a situation in which the recurrence of a broader conflict between Israel, Hamas, and other extremist groups in Gaza is increasingly likely.
A new approach is needed.
For six months, Israel Policy Forum’s leadership participated in a series of discussions as part of the Task Force On the Future of U.S. Policy Toward Gaza, led by the Brookings Institution and the Center for a New American Security. The product is Ending Gaza’s Perpetual Crisis: A New U.S. Approach, a comprehensive report from Brookings and CNAS, outlining a different way forward for the American relationship with the coastal Palestinian enclave. The report addresses urgent questions about security, humanitarian issues, and a political horizon based on the two-state solution.
GAZA BY THE NUMBERS
1,836,713
Gaza population (2018)
53%
Unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip
8 HOURS
Of electricity for Gaza residents per day
50%
Gaza population under the age of 18
$2,279
Per capita GDP gap between West Bank (higher) and Gaza (lower)
BRIEFING WITH GISHA’S
TANIA HARY
Tania Hary, executive director of the Israeli NGO Gisha (“Access”), explains the factors contributing to the crisis in Gaza following the 2005 Israeli withdrawal, with a focus on freedom of movement issues.
THE CRISIS IN GAZA: STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS
Ilan Goldenberg (CNAS), Hady Amr (Brookings), Tahani Abu Daqqa (Former Palestinian Culture Minister and Minister of Youth and Sport), and Dr. Deborah Sandler break down the crisis in the Gaza Strip and chart a path forward.
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More programs coming soon