January 12, 2024

Gaza, an Open-Air Prison

Gaza has been occupied by Israel from 1967 to 2005, along with its settlements. Many Arabs crossed the border daily to work in Israel, and for 40 years, nothing noteworthy was reported. Subsequently, Israel withdrew and reluctantly evacuated those settlements that had made the desert fertile. In practice, Gaza then became the only free territory, as envisaged in the two-state solution. However, immediately after the withdrawal, the settlements were destroyed so that nothing Hebrew remained (and that's fine). Later, attacks on Israel began, missile launches, and even throwing those from the AP (formerly PLO) off roofs who wanted to moderate them. Obviously, Israelis reacted to stop them, leading to land and sea blockades for every missile launch from Gaza, Israeli bombardments, and so on. October 7th was just the latest and most serious in a series of events repeated for almost 20 years.