[[History|Historically]] the Gaza Strip was part of the land controlled by ancient [[Israel]] after the removal of the [[Philistines]]. An Islamic area since the Islamic conquest of the 7th century, it was controlled by the British after [[World War I]] and was to be a part of an independent "Palestinian" state in 1948 based upon a UN partition, but the first Arab-Israeli War saw Israel take most of the region that would have made the Arab state and Egypt absorbed the Gaza Strip, which overflowed with refugees from the war. In 1967 Israel overran the area in the [[Six Day War]] and administered the region. They built settlements, but these never attracted many people and only 10,000 Israelis lived there by 2005 among the Arab residents. The Israeli government withdrew, with strong objections from the settlers, leaving the area under the control of the [[Palestinian Authority]]. In 2007, [[Hamas]] overran the Palestinian Authority and took ''de facto'' control for themselves. | [[History|Historically]] the Gaza Strip was part of the land controlled by ancient [[Israel]] after the removal of the [[Philistines]]. An Islamic area since the Islamic conquest of the 7th century, it was controlled by the British after [[World War I]] and was to be a part of an independent "Palestinian" state in 1948 based upon a UN partition, but the first Arab-Israeli War saw Israel take most of the region that would have made the Arab state and Egypt absorbed the Gaza Strip, which overflowed with refugees from the war. In 1967 Israel overran the area in the [[Six Day War]] and administered the region. They built settlements, but these never attracted many people and only 10,000 Israelis lived there by 2005 among the Arab residents. The Israeli government withdrew, with strong objections from the settlers, leaving the area under the control of the [[Palestinian Authority]]. In 2007, [[Hamas]] overran the Palestinian Authority and took ''de facto'' control for themselves. |