The current conflict began in 1987, an Intifada (uprising) broke out as the Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip began demonstrating and fighting against the Israeli military. In the 1990’s, peace talks began and the Israelis withdrew from much of both of the Palestinian areas. The PLO had agreed to stop violent attacks on the Israelis but the peace talks failed in 2001.
The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are occupied territories where many Palestinians live. In 2005, Israeli removed all of its settlers and militant troops from the Gaza Strip, but still remains in control of its borders, coastline and airspace. A number of settlements in the West Bank were also evacuated at the same time, much to the annoyance of the settlers there at the time.
The Gaza Strip is located to the southwest of Israeli. It is a small zone, roughly 360km², on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. It is located where Israel joins Egypt next to the Sinai Peninsula. It has an official population of approximately 1 million, although its real population is much, much larger. Gaza City was previously a prosperous and bustling trading centre although now far from similar. This links with the areas main economic problem – there is an extreme amount of poverty amongst the large number of Palestinian refugees living in the Gaza Strip. There are many impacts of this conflict on the area and in particular those living there. The social, environmental and economic impacts are all interlinked.
The Gaza Strip is severely hampered by its extremely high population density. At 3400/km² it is one of the highest in world which has both social and environmental impacts. This also links economically as it has lead to the economy of the Gaza Strip being laden by its limited land access purely because it is already a very small area with a very high population density. Land is at a premium in the Gaza Strip. The high population density on the Gaza Strip also links to the very low living standards, and thus the extreme amount of poverty amongst the population – 60% of the population are living below the poverty line. Living conditions are camped due to the high population density, there is little personal space or privacy for those living there. Low living standards links to all three types of impacts: social, economic and environmental. Inadequate sewage systems are strongly linked to this problem. Every day, 50 million litres of raw sewage are pumped into the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza City alone. This means that not only are those living in the Gaza Strip affected, but any Mediterranean coastal country could be affected to as it is washed onto their shores etc. This much sewage into the sea on a regular basis can only have a negative effect on the marine life, eventually this sewage will be brought back to the population of any country through the food chain. But more importantly, the sheer lack of proper sewage disposal can only lead to disease and hygiene problems. In particular water borne diseases such as dysentery are easily spread. This is a serious problem, which impacts many countries as well as those nearest to the area. It is a problem which should be dealt with urgency, and it is shocking that the issue hasn’t already been dealt with as it has such huge effects.
As the sewage problem continues to get worse, many part of the Gaza Strip only have access to water for 8 hours of the week. A reliable water source is essential wherever you are and in this the Gaza Strip is no exception. This is important to the population in general but economically and environmentally it is damaging to the Gaza Strip without it. 45% of the land is used for agricultural purposes – mainly citrus and other tree products. There are also a number of seasonal crops that come from the area. 115sq km is under irrigation. This is in desperate need of a reliable water supply, but this cannot be relied on. And the quality of water cannot be relied on either.
Israel locked down the borders to the Gaza Strip, which has serious economic impacts. Trade is virtually impossible out of the Gaza Strip, and it is now made to provide its own resources. However, although Israel removed its settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip, it still has control over the area therefore they continue to control its access to resources. Israel supplies the Gaza Strip with electricity – this is intermittent and not guaranteed by any standards. The lack of fuels available to the Gaza Strip has caused a backward economy as it has completely broken down and it almost completely dead. In 2008, it was reported that 87% of private businesses in the Gaza Strip had closed down – most businesses in the area were small family businesses. Israel continues to give very little support to the area causing a complete breakdown of the area’s economy.