Gaza
The identity of Palestinians in Gaza is inseparable from a collective history of trauma, imposed isolation, and unbroken resilience. While 70% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are registered refugees, descendants of Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Nakba, the remaining 30% are local families whose roots in the land predate 19481.
Some families trace their roots to Gaza itself, while most carry the memory of lost homes in cities such as Jaffa, Haifa, Beersheba, and dozens of depopulated villages. Denied return, many became trapped in Gaza, where generations were born in overcrowded refugee camps such as Jabalia, al-Shati’ (Beach), Nuseirat, Rafah, and Khan Younis, carrying the memory of lost homes2.
From 1948 to 1967, Gaza was under Egyptian military rule, offering no citizenship or political rights3. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the Strip, initiating decades of military occupation, surveillance, economic dependency, and intermittent uprisings4. Resistance movements, including Fatah and later Hamas, emerged during this turbulent period5.
Although Israel withdrew settlers and its permanent military presence from Gaza in the 2005 disengagement, control over Gaza’s external borders, airspace and many registry/permit functions has remained a point of Israeli control and international debate6.
In 2006, Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections, fueled in part by its reputation for social services and resistance7. Israel, the U.S., and Europe responded by cutting funds and demanding Hamas renounce violence; Hamas refused, leaving the Palestinian Authority weakened. Clashes escalated until June 2007, when Hamas seized Gaza and drove Fatah out, after which Gaza (Hamas) and the West Bank (Fatah) remained politically divided8.
Since 2007, a stringent Israeli-Egyptian blockade has restricted movement and commerce9. Today’s humanitarian crisis includes profound shortages of electricity, water, healthcare, and freedom of movement10. Governance by Hamas has layered additional hardship through authoritarianism, internal repression, corruption allegations, and the exposure of civilians to armed clashes with Israel. Life in Gaza is marked by collective-level punishment claims, recurrent wars, and institutional collapse. Israeli military offensives in 2008–09 (Operation Cast Lead), 2012 (Pillar of Defence), 2014 (Protective Edge), 2021, and the post-7 October 2023 campaign have destroyed homes, hospitals, schools, cultural institutions, and entire neighbourhoods11.
As of July 2025, nearly 70% of housing units and structures in Gaza were reported damaged or destroyed, and much of the north was described as uninhabitable12. A Lancet peer-reviewed capture–recapture study estimated 64,260 violent (traumatic) deaths in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, suggesting under-reporting in official tallies and finding a high share of women, children and older people among victims13. The Washington Post independently reported Gaza Health Ministry figures of over 60,000 deaths (and cited a figure of some 18,500 children killed) by late July 2025; taken together, these sources indicate violent deaths alone exceed 64,000 and that indirect mortality from hunger, disease and lack of medical care likely raises the total further14.
Gaza’s identity is also intimately tied to the sea. Fishing has long been a cornerstone of life, economy and culture in Gaza and historically linked Gazan families to lost Palestinian ports. Despite blockade-related restrictions and repeated naval limits, generations have relied on fishing for food and livelihood — but Gaza’s daily catch and fishing sector collapsed to a fraction of pre-war levels (FAO reported catches at ~7.3% of 2022 levels for Oct 2023–Apr 2024), illustrating the damage to livelihoods and cultural continuity15.
To be Gazan is to live in exile within exile: surrounded by history and ruins, committed to raising children, preserving culture, maintaining hope, and surviving through hardship. Beyond memory, poetry, or resistance, the essence of being Gazan is the struggle to live, to protect family, and to insist on life itself.
References:
1. UNRWA — Gaza profile / registered Palestine refugees in Gaza (figures on refugees and Gaza population). https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip
2. UNRWA — descriptions and profiles of Gaza refugee camps (Jabalia, al-Shati’, Nuseirat, Rafah, Khan Younis). https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip
3. Ilana Feldman / academic & UN history on Egyptian administration of Gaza (1948–1967) and statelessness under Egyptian rule.
(example academic overview) https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/207368
— or UN historical summary: https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
4. Britannica — Six-Day War (June 1967) and subsequent Israeli occupation of Gaza. https://www.britannica.com/event/Six-Day-War
5. Britannica — Hamas background / founding (origins in the First Intifada, 1987) and Fatah background (origins and role). https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hamas
6. Britannica — Israel’s 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza (settler withdrawal) and analyses noting continued Israeli control of external levers. https://www.britannica.com/event/Israels-disengagement-from-Gaza
7. Palestinian Central Elections Commission — official 2006 legislative election results (Hamas victory). https://www.elections.ps/tabid/237/language/en-US/Default.aspx
8. Human Rights Watch — reporting and documentation on the June 2007 Gaza takeover and associated human-rights abuses during the Fatah–Hamas clashes. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/04/20/under-cover-war/hamas-political-violence-gaza
9. UN OCHA — occupation / crossings / blockade information and the restrictions imposed since 2007. https://www.unocha.org/occupied-palestinian-territory
10. WHO / EMRO & UN situation reporting on Gaza’s health, nutrition and service shortages (water, electricity, hospitals). https://www.emro.who.int/emhj-volume-31-2025/volume-31-issue-4/food-insecurity-starvation-and-malnutrition-in-the-gaza-strip.html
11. Council on Foreign Relations & UN/human-rights reports — timeline and documentation of major Israeli military offensives in Gaza (2008–09, 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2023 onward). https://education.cfr.org/learn/timeline/israeli-palestinian-conflict-timeline
12. UN / UNISPA L / OCHA reported impact snapshot (July 2025) referencing UNOSAT satellite damage assessments (≈70% of structures damaged/destroyed). https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Gaza_Reported_Impact_Snapshot_2_July_2025.pdf
13. Jamaluddine Z. et al., The Lancet (peer-reviewed capture–recapture analysis) — estimate of 64,260 traumatic deaths in Gaza between 7 Oct 2023 and 30 Jun 2024. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02678-3/fulltext
(PubMed record: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39799952/)
14. The Washington Post — reporting and interactive database on Gaza death toll (reporting >60,000 deaths and listing ~18,500 children as of late July 2025). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/29/gaza-death-toll-60000/
(interactive children list: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/israel-gaza-war-children-death-toll/)
15. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — “Reviving Gaza’s fishing sector” and fisheries damage/loss assessment (daily catch at ~7.3% of 2022 levels Oct 2023–Apr 2024). https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/reviving-gaza-s-fishing-sector-hinges-on-restoring-peace-and-safe-access-to-the-sea/en