You say that Israel continues to occupy the Gaza Strip because it can re-enter the region militarily. Israel considers itself involved in an armed conflict with the Hamas government and therefore has the “right” to engage in military operations that sometimes take place in the Strip. It is totally legal. It’s like in Lebanon, from where Israel withdrew in 2000, but sometimes must respond to Hezbollah attacks. Israel has nothing to look for in a hostile area like the Gaza Strip? No oil, no water, no land. Nothing at all.

You say that Israel “occupies the Gaza Strip” as it maintains control over the outer perimeter of the Strip, which controls the airspace and the sea area, as well as the land border and the crossing points between Israel and Gaza. As for control over the airspace and the sea (motivated by Hamas missile attacks), this in itself does not prove that Israel exercises governmental authority in Gaza. Israeli control of the border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip is a natural reflection of Israeli sovereignty.

You say that Israel “occupies Gaza” as it maintains control over the outer perimeter of Gaza… note that the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (and the Rafah crossing) is not under Israeli control but under Palestinian-Egyptian control. Until recently, the border with Egypt had remained closed due to Egyptian decisions. This means that whenever the Egyptians want it, “the Strip” will have an open external border. The opening or hermetic closure of the Rafah Crossing also means that Israel does not control the flow of people and goods to and from Gaza.

You claim that Israel “occupies” the Gaza Strip because it does not allow Palestinians to approach its wired border. Do you usually make up international law? It is doubtful that this amounts to effective control, but even if it does, then, at most, one could say that these areas remain occupied (although there is no effective Israeli government there or anything like it), but this is not enough to conclude that Gaza, as a whole, is under occupation. Terrorists approach the wire fence to fire missiles and dig tunnels? Don’t let them do it! And the “no approach” zone will disappear.

You say that the Gaza Strip remains dependent on Israel in many respects, such as in terms of water and electricity supply. Therefore. “There is an occupation.”  First of all, with the opening of the Rafah Crossing, the Gaza Strip is much less dependent on Israel than it was. Having an effect on the population of an area can NOT be considered the same as “exercising effective control” of government over this population. Many states are heavily affected by their neighbors and yet are not considered occupied by them. Does Argentina “occupy” Uruguay? Ridiculous.

Since 2001, Hamas terrorists have fired 20,000 rockets and mortars, on purpose, at Israeli civilians. In addition, they dug a hundred tunnels, one of which was used to kidnap soldier Guilad Shalit (2006) inside Israeli territory. In addition, Hamas has spent its budget on “hate education” and weapons, monopolically ruling the Strip since 2007. While deliberately exposing its population by placing rocket depots and missile launchers intentionally installed in mosques or UNRWA schools, Hamas leaders are preoccupied with hiding, themselves, in the basement of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital.

The relations between Israel and Hamas have the character of an armed conflict. No formal declaration of war is required. The rules of armed conflict apply. This means that Israel can control maritime traffic bound for Gaza (even when the vessels are at sea). The rules of naval warfare were not, in their entirety, codified in a treaty and are customary rules of a binding nature. They can be found in important manuals of Western navies (in particular, the US and Britain) and in the San Remo Manual (1995), prepared by a group of experts.

What is the legal basis for the Israeli naval blockade in Gaza? The relations between Israel and Hamas (which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007) have the character of an armed conflict, which means that the rules of the laws of armed conflict apply here. This means that Israel can control maritime traffic bound for Gaza, even when the vessel is still at sea. Israel may not do so in the territorial sea of a third country, such as Cyprus or another, but in times of armed conflict, Israel can control vessels at sea bound for Gaza.

Can Gaza be considered an enemy even though it is not a state? According to international law, it can. According to several Israeli Supreme Court rulings, the conflict with Gaza is international and not internal, because Gaza is not part of Israel. Neither Gaza nor the West Bank were annexed by Israel, nor did Israel’s “law, jurisdiction and administration” extend to those places (as was done with East Jerusalem in 1967 and the Golan Heights in 1981). In 2005 Israel withdrew from Gaza and, in 2007, effective power passed to Hamas.

During Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), Israel declared a blockade against the Strip to prevent the entry of weapons. The blockade of the Gaza Strip is legal (San Remo Convention 1995 and according to the Palmer Commission of Inquiry (UN) on the Gaza flotilla 2010). Palmer concluded that: 1) Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal and Israel has the right to impose it; 2) the decision to break the naval blockade (by the flotilla) was a reckless act; 3) the conduct and true objectives of the organizers of the flotilla, in particular the IHH, were violent.

To be legal, a blockade must be declared and announced, in an effective and non-discriminatory manner, and must allow the passage of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. In addition, the San Remo Manual (1995) includes two conditions: first, the State applying the blockade must decide where and when and through which port the aid should reach the coast (via Ashdod in Israel, for example). In addition, the state can require that, on shore, a neutral organization verifies who is the recipient of the assistance (in Gaza this does not happen because of Hamas rule).

A ship that clearly intends to violate the blockade can be stopped even at sea. For example, the detention of the Gaza-bound flotilla (Mavi Marmara) in international waters, 100 km away, was totally legal (this was also established by the Palmer Report). Israel maintains its rights and is in full compliance with international law because it fulfilled all the conditions mentioned for a legitimate blockade. For example, in January 2009, Israel notified the relevant authorities of its intention to establish a blockade of the Gaza coast, declaring that territory a hostile entity.

There are numerous precedents for maritime blockades such as the one imposed by Israel on Gaza. During the Korean War (1950-1953), there was a blockade. In 1971, when Bangladesh tried to secede from Pakistan, India applied one. During the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, there was a blockade of Shatt el-Arab. Lebanon was blockaded, for several months, in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and Israel allowed safe passage from Lebanon to Cyprus for humanitarian purposes. In the treatment of the flotilla (2010), Israel acted in accordance with international law because it complied with all the conditions of a legitimate blockade.

To be legal, the blockade must be general, known and public, and a perennial humanitarian crisis in the blockaded area must be avoided. To avoid such a crisis, Israel delivers water and sells diesel to Hamas which rules Gaza (even though the Palestinians fire thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians). When a ship with humanitarian aid intends to go to Gaza, the Israeli Navy stops it and takes it to the port of Ashdod, where it is checked for weapons and if it is carrying humanitarian goods, it is delivered to the Palestinians through the Keren Shalom crossing. This is what happened with the Mavi-Marmara (2010).

Until September 2000 (Second Intifada), civilians from Gaza entered Israel to work or to be cured. Per year, more than one million entries were recorded. Although Israel is currently still at war with Hamas-Gaza, in May 2017 alone 2282 entry requests were raised of which 47.2% were approved. Permits for the entry of sick people coming from the Gaza Strip must receive authorization from the Palestinian Authority, but due to the internal war between them and Hamas, for long periods the Palestinian Authority has refused to extend permits to Gazans.

In 1970, Israel lifted the industrial zone at the Erez crossing because the logic was that if Palestinians developed economically there would be less violence. Thousands of Palestinians worked there. Dozens of attacks and Palestinian rocket fire took place there. On 8/6/2003 three Palestinian fighters threw grenades and shot and killed 4 Israeli soldiers. On 8/31/2004 Israelis caught a suicide bomber. On 6/20/2005 a female suicide bomber on medical leave who intended to attack Soroka hospital in Beer-Sheva was arrested. On 5/22/2008 a truck bomb with hundreds of kilos of explosives exploded in Erez.

Because Hamas uses and used building materials for its bunkers and tunnels to attack Israeli civilians, the Hebrew state is very careful to deliver uncontrollable quantities to Hamas in Gaza. The same goes for dual-use materials, which can be used to make weapons or missiles. Most of the construction materials enter Gaza from the Egyptian side. From January to June 11, 2014, 16% of what had entered Gaza in 2007 entered Gaza, because of the Hamas terrorists’ warlike use of these materials.

In 2014 the population of Gaza was 1.8 million and unemployment reached 40%. Those who did have jobs were: 70,000 dismissed civil servants still receiving salaries from the Palestinian Authority, another 45,000 Hamas employees in Gaza, NGO workers, such as UNWRA (90% employed Hamas members) and those with private businesses. It should be noted that between 2500 to 3000 businesses were closed since 2007. For example, before the Hamas coup 70,000 people were working in construction and after the closure of the Egyptian tunnels only 6,800.

Until Egypt (2014) closed the tunnels through which all kinds of goods entered the Gaza Strip, Hamas controlled and taxed the passage of goods via the 1200 tunnels linking Gaza-Egypt. Cash also entered through these tunnels from Qatar (who received and laundered donations from Muslims around the world). In 2007 the Hamas budget in Gaza was 150 million and after 7 years of government there its budget reached 894 million dollars a year. Civil servants went from 5000 in 2007 to 45,000 today.

Prior to the military operation Protective Edge (2014), Hamas’ budget reached $500 million and that money came in cash, paid by Qatar, and by taxes collected from Gazan citizens. Hamas leaders came to exercise a monopoly on everything brought into the Strip, becoming a small wealthy mafia. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal lives in a palace in Doha and travels on private jets. If Hamas used to have an advantage because it was less corrupt than the Palestinian Authority, now the situation has changed.

Until 2011, Hamas’s main benefactor country was Iran, and according to various estimates 80% of Iran’s foreign aid went to Hamas’s armed wing. Because Hamas opposed Assad in Syria and Assad is a great ally of Iran, Hamas had to leave Damascus (their headquarters at the time) and Iran stopped giving them money. For the last 6 years, Qatar has been the main financier and, with Israel’s approval, some 25 million dollars per month are given to the rulers of the Gaza Strip (this is how they pay public employees).

Turkey (in addition to Qatar) also helped Hamas financially. During the last few years, Turkey donated $350 million for various projects in the Gaza Strip, including the construction of hospitals. In the Turkish case, unlike in the case of Qatar, it is known where the money went because they were executed by Turkish professionals arriving in Gaza. Turkish President Erdogan is also a Sunni Islamist so his support for the terrorist group is a matter of course in the region. In the past, secular Turkey was a great ally of Israel.

In the Intermediate Agreements (1993), Israel and the Palestinians had agreed that Gaza fishermen could fish up to 12/20 miles from the coast. After the Hamas coup in Gaza (2007), the kidnapping of Shalit and the firing of missiles into Israel, fishing was limited to six miles from the coast. The policy of reducing the fishing zone was due to Israel’s declaration of Gaza as a “hostile entity” in January 2009. Should Israel put up with thousands of missiles against its civilians and not legally declare Gaza hostile?

The Gaza-based, Hamas-dominated, pro-Palestinian NGO Al-Mizan claimed in a statement that “Israeli navy vessels are firing heavy fire at fishing boats to prevent them from exceeding the limit.” For its part, the Israeli NGO Betselem denounced that the reduction of the fishing limit “constitutes collective punishment and severely damages the livelihood of the fishermen”. Truth or falsehood. The solution is simple, if Hamas stops firing thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians, Israel will not declare Gaza a hostile entity and Hamas’ fishing zone in Gaza will be expanded.

Some 30,000 people were engaged in the fishing industry in Gaza. When Hamas is not firing rockets, the fishing zone is extended to 15 miles and when it attacks Israel, from 9 to 6 miles. Many times, Gazans instead of getting angry at Hamas for causing this, focus their anger on Israel. Data published by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture shows that despite the headlines, the economic contribution of the fishing industry to GDP in Gaza is quite limited and estimated at less than 5%. Currently (2019) there are 4,000 fishermen in the Strip.

According to the latest published data in the Strip, there are about 1,200 boats of various types With the limited fishing space, the average income of Gaza fishermen in most cases does not exceed NIS 200 per day ($60). Due to the difficult fishing conditions, several entrepreneurs and fishermen in Gaza have attempted to install seawater-based fish ponds. The production of the fish ponds is estimated at around 300 tons per year, but it costs the customer 40 shekel per kilo and that is a lot.

It is important to emphasize: deliberately firing rockets at civilians is a war crime. At the beginning of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Israel Defense Forces estimated that some 10,000 rockets filled Hamas/Islamic Jihad depots. Many of these rockets were provided by Iran and Syria or stolen from the Libyan arsenal. Iranian warships delivered their weapons to ports in Sudan or Syria and from there they were tunneled into the Strip through the Egyptian-Gaza border. Such was the case with M-302 and Grad rockets and mortars.

Hamas rockets: 1) Short-range (15-20 km): 1000 units of home-produced rockets (15 km), 2500 units of smuggled rockets (15 km), 200 home-produced Grad rockets (20 km) and 200 smuggled Grad rockets (20 km). 2) Medium-range (up to 45 km): 200 in-house Grad rockets and another 1000 upgraded Grad smuggled rockets (45 km). 3) Medium-long range (80 km): more than 400 self-produced rockets. 4) Long-range (100-200 km): about ten rockets. These are not rudimentary rockets. Possibly, Hamas (2021) possesses more rockets than in 2014.

Hamas’ home-made missiles called M75 are explained as follows: the number 75 is for their range and the letter M for Ibrahim Muqadma, one of the heads of Hamas’ terrorist military wing, who was killed by Israeli military forces in 2003. On March 10, 2014, the Izz-Adin Al-Qassam Brigades inaugurated a square in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City in Muqadma’s name, which includes a monument with an M75 rocket. Since 2001, more than 17,200 missiles and mortars, an average of 3 per day, have been aimed at Israel.

Hamas and other terrorist organizations launch mortars, rockets and missiles towards Israeli cities. Since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip (2005), terrorists have fired more than 11,000 rockets into Israel. More than 5 million Israelis currently live under the threat of rocket attacks. More than half a million Israelis have less than 60 seconds to find shelter from a rocket fired from Gaza into Israel. Most of the missiles launched into Israel are capable of reaching Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. There are no Israelis in Gaza but they keep launching rockets and you keep quiet….