Palestinian Territories: Fragmented and Walled in

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early on May 12 - AFP
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early on May 12 - AFP
TT
20

Palestinian Territories: Fragmented and Walled in

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early on May 12 - AFP
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early on May 12 - AFP

With fears growing of a "full-scale war" between Israel and the Palestinians, here is a look at the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The two territories plus Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem were long touted as basis of a Palestinian state in a "two-state" solution to the long-running conflict.

But that goal has become ever more distant, with the West Bank fragmented by Jewish settlements and several states recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided" capital.

Here is some background:

- Occupation -

In 1947 the United Nations voted to partition British-ruled Palestine into two states -- one Arab and one Jewish.

It made Jerusalem, sacred to the three Abrahamic religions and claimed by both sides as their capital, an international zone.

Almost immediately, fighting broke out that would eventually see more than half the Palestinian population -- 760,000 people -- fleeing or being expelled from what was to become Israel.

As the British mandate ended in 1948, Israel declared statehood.

The next day its Arab neighbors declared war. The conflict ended with Israel controlling 78 percent of mandate Palestine.

In the so-called Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It also occupied and later annexed east Jerusalem, which contains many of the sites holiest to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

- West Bank -

By far the larger of the two Palestinian territories, the West Bank covers 5,655 square kilometres (2,180 square miles) and is sandwiched between Israel and Jordan.

It has been occupied by the Israeli army for the past five decades.

The Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, has limited powers over just 40 percent of the territory, mainly urban centers.

Israel, which controls all the entry points, administers 60 percent of the territory including its Jewish settlements, as well as its vital water resources.

Israel has also erected a security barrier partly following its armistice line with the West Bank but also cutting deep into the territory.

About 400,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, alongside 2.7 million Palestinians.

- East Jerusalem -

The sparks for the current crisis were clashes at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound and a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over homes Palestinians say are theirs.

The status of Jerusalem is possibly the most sensitive issue of the whole conflict.

After capturing it in 1967, Israel annexed east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Israel views the whole city as its capital: a stance backed by former US president Donald Trump, who moved Washington's embassy there.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their own future state.

The Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site, includes the golden Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site.

This lies directly above the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews are allowed to pray, a short walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

More than 200,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem, alongside around 300,000 Palestinians.

- Gaza Strip -

This strip of territory bordering Israel sits on the Mediterranean Sea, and also shares a border with Egypt.

It is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with some two million people squeezed into a strip just 41 kilometres (25 miles) long and at one point less than six kilometres across.

After occupying Gaza for 38 years, Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005, but soon afterwards imposed a stifling land, air and sea blockade.

Islamist movement Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006, seized the territory from the Palestinian Authority the following year.

Israel, which like most western governments considers Hamas a terrorist organization, has carried out three full-scale military offensives against Gaza since 2008.

Around half of the population is out of work, two thirds of them young people, according to the World Bank. More than two thirds of the population depends on humanitarian aid.

Half of Gaza's residents live below the internationally recognized poverty line.



Gaza Aid Turns into Free-for-All Looting Spectacle  

Children and youths gather as a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft flies over during an aid-drop on the northern Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
Children and youths gather as a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft flies over during an aid-drop on the northern Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Gaza Aid Turns into Free-for-All Looting Spectacle  

Children and youths gather as a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft flies over during an aid-drop on the northern Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
Children and youths gather as a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft flies over during an aid-drop on the northern Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025. (AFP)

Despite the limited and inadequate flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the bulk of it is being hijacked by gangs and looters amid a breakdown in law and order, residents and officials say, with little reaching the most desperate.

Efforts by Hamas authorities to restore order have faltered under relentless Israeli bombardment. Even local tribal coalitions trying to protect aid convoys have been targeted.

On Monday, five men were killed and 13 others wounded when Israeli forces bombed a group tasked with securing trucks entering from the Zikim crossing in northwestern Gaza. The strike came just as the trucks rolled in, leaving them vulnerable to immediate looting by armed groups and opportunistic thieves.

Amid widespread hunger, Gazans are left to fend for themselves.

“People are fighting for scraps,” said Jamil Hasna, a resident of Sheikh Radwan district. He walked 3 kilometers over four days to the outskirts of al-Sudaniya hoping to collect a 25-kilogram sack of flour, managing to get one just once, only to be beaten by a group of thugs who stole it.

“I waited for hours and ended up with bruises instead of bread,” he told Asharq al-Awsat.

Gaza has been descending into what aid workers call a “free-for-all.” Convoys entering from Egypt rarely reach their intended destinations, including communities such as Gaza’s Egyptian expats or its dwindling Christian population.

Most aid, whether delivered by truck or air-dropped, has been looted, according to residents and witnesses. Only a few manage to snatch small rations, often after clashing with looters armed with knives and guns.

Much of the stolen food appears almost instantly on Gaza’s black markets, sold at exorbitant prices far beyond what ordinary families can afford. With banks shuttered and liquidity scarce, many are forced to pay nearly 50% commission just to convert digital currency into cash.

“You need $100 to feed your family, but you walk away with $52,” said Ahmed al-Maghrabi, a Palestinian Authority employee from Gaza’s Sabra district.

“Thieves are running our lives, our food, our money, everything. This isn’t survival. This is slow death. Emigration is our only escape.”

According to al-Maghrabi, criminal gangs with apparent links to merchants are coordinating to intercept aid as it enters Gaza. “They get there before anyone else, as if they know where and when the shipments will land,” he said.

Air-dropped aid has provided no solution. In several cases, it has landed in Israeli-controlled zones or been seized in contested areas such as southern Khan Younis and eastern Gaza City. Even when aid falls near civilians, most of it is stolen and resold.

In some markets, a kilogram of sugar now sells for $130, down from $170 days earlier, but still unaffordable. Canned meat and ready-to-eat meals range between $44 and $60. Baby formula costs up to $69 per can, while a single diaper fetches $4.

On Monday, a Jordanian military plane dropped supplies over Gaza. The World Food Program said 55 trucks entered that day, but were seized by crowds before they reached their warehouses.

Beyond food, even baby items such as formula and diapers, critically needed by families and hospitals, are being looted and monetized.

For many in Gaza, the aid operation feels more like a performance than a lifeline.

“This is a charade,” said Nisreen al-Assi, a displaced woman from Beit Lahiya now sheltering in western Gaza. “Israel wants to appear as if it's easing the famine, but it’s managing the crisis, not solving it. It is letting gangs run wild while targeting those who try to guard the aid.”

Al-Assi said Israeli forces not only attack security escorts but also refuse to protect the convoys, instead forcing drivers to stop in open streets where the trucks are easily looted.

The government media office in Gaza said most aid trucks are systematically ransacked, and daily air-drops amount to less than half a single truckload. Some have landed in areas marked “red zones”, high-risk zones for military activity.

“This is a deliberate strategy,” the office said in a statement. “Israel is consciously engineering chaos and famine. It is preventing aid from reaching its storage points or intended recipients. What’s happening in Gaza is not random, it’s a calculated crime against a besieged civilian population.”