Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip

In 2005, <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> disengaged from the <a href="/facts/Gaza_Strip/GodcCxlV">Gaza Strip</a> by dismantling all 21 <a href="/facts/Israeli_settlement/vSrw9ylS">Israeli settlements</a> there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the <a href="/facts/West_Bank/xzTTVNJl">West Bank</a> were dismantled as well. However, the disengagement was executed unilaterally: the country's government did not coordinate with the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_National_Authority/AhB1P7E7">Palestinian National Authority</a> (PNA) to facilitate an orderly transfer of administrative power following the withdrawal of the <a href="/facts/Israel_Defense_Forces/9hPaqcAM">Israel Defense Forces</a> (IDF) from the Gaza Strip. Since then, the <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a>, many other international humanitarian and legal organizations, and most prominent academic commentators have continued to regard the Gaza Strip as being under <a href="/facts/Israeli-occupied_territories/FxQkx2V8">Israeli occupation</a> due to <a href="/facts/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip/AxDFH2Cd">Israel's active control over the territory's external affairs</a>, as affirmed by the <a href="/facts/ICJ_case_on_Israel%27s_occupation_of_the_Palestinian_territories/0UvoKd7P">2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion</a>. Historically, according to Article 42 of the <a href="/facts/Hague_Regulations/h61yeIjd">Hague Regulations</a> and precedent in international law, it has been generally understood that a territory remains effectively occupied so long as a belligerent's authority is established and exercised over it, even if said belligerent does not have ground forces deployed in the area.
Proposed by Israeli prime minister <a href="/facts/Ariel_Sharon/WXTtN4AM">Ariel Sharon</a> in 2003 and adopted by the <a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_Israel/g3azkmGs">Cabinet</a> in 2004, the strategy was officially approved by the <a href="/facts/Knesset/vNAUyDAu">Knesset</a> as the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law in June 2004. A deadline was issued for August 15, 2005, after which the IDF began evicting all Israeli settlers who were refusing to accept government compensation packages in exchange for voluntarily vacating their homes in the Gaza Strip. By September 12, all Israeli residential buildings in the territory had been demolished and the 8,000+ Israeli settlers who inhabited them had been removed. The dismantlement of the four West Bank settlements was completed ten days later.
Among <a href="/facts/Palestinians/DBnkAQ5l">Palestinians</a> in the Gaza Strip, the disengagement was met positively in light of earlier skepticism surrounding Israel's intention to withdraw from the territory. Among Israelis, polls showed support for the disengagement in the 50–60% range and opposition in the 30–40% range. The IDF met heavy resistance and riots while conducting evictions throughout the Gaza Strip settlements. Former and future Israeli prime minister <a href="/facts/Benjamin_Netanyahu/581DW7MB">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> resigned from Sharon's government in protest.
The Gaza Strip disengagement occurred seven months after the <a href="/facts/Sharm_El_Sheikh_Summit_of_2005/B0vokhB8">Sharm el-Sheikh Summit</a>, which ended the <a href="/facts/Second_Intifada/PCqXCSXk">Second Intifada</a>. Israeli officials, historians, and legal analysts cited several motives behind the country's decision to withdraw from the territory, with the two most significant factors being: the unsustainable cost of persistent and intensive fighting with <a href="/facts/Hamas/VjIkApsc">Hamas</a> and other <a href="/facts/Palestinian_political_violence/JWGCJ3jQ">Palestinian militant organizations</a>; and demographic concerns rooted in the discrepancy between the <a href="/facts/Population_statistics_for_Israeli_settlements_in_the_Gaza_Strip/apd1Wl1r">Israeli birth rate</a> and the <a href="/facts/Demographics_of_the_Gaza_Strip/Hlysumu4">Palestinian birth rate</a>, as the latter greatly outpaced the former. According to Sharon, the disengagement plan was aimed at addressing Israel's long-term security challenges by shifting the country's resources to focus on strengthening the areas that "will constitute an inseparable part of the State of Israel in <a href="/facts/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_peace_process/bu9PhcfW">any future agreement</a>" with the Palestinians.

Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip open-in-new

Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip