While President Donald J. Trump is proposing the United States take temporary control of the Gaza Strip to clear it of unexploded ordnance, remove ruble, and redevelop the land—and possibly displace the territory’s Palestinian residents—it isn’t clear who exactly the U.S. would be taking the land from. A nebulous series of treaties—some dating to the Ottoman Empire—conflicting land claims, and a breakdown in civil society and governance has left the Gaza Strip a patchwork of private and public landholdings with no apparent governing authority.
Ostensibly, the Gaza Strip—which hugs the Mediterranian coast between Israel and Egypt—is controlled by the Islamist Hamas terrorist group, which seized control of the territory in 2007. Previously, the Gaza Strip—in accordance with the Oslo Accords—was governed by the Palestinian Authority, which also administers the West Bank territory between Israel and Jordan. The Palestinian Authority still maintains that it is rightfully the governing authority in the territory, though it currently has no effective presence there.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) considers the Gaza Strip to be occupied by Israel—a position the international body has held since 1967. A United States move to extend authority over the Gaza Strip would likely have to include agreements with at least three parties who are all hostile towards each other: Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel.
BUT WHO OWNS THE LAND ITSELF?
When it comes to the physical land of the Gaza Strip itself, it is estimated about half the territory is owned privately, another one-third of the land is considered public but mostly occupied by individuals for private use, and most of the remainder is reserved for Islamic religious institutions. Even then, a large swath of the privately held land is unregistered—with the actual legal ownership unclear.
Complicating matters further is the current state of the Gaza Strip following Israel’s military incursion aimed at removing Hamas. The United Nations estimates at least 70 percent of the structures in the territory have either been destroyed or cannot be safely occupied. Nearly of a quarter million homes are believed to have been leveled, and it is thought that the over 50 million tons of rubble will take decades to clear.
Any attempt to exert governing authority and rebuild the Gaza Strip will face not just tremendous security obstacles—given the radical Islamist presence in the region—but will also face a Gordian Knot of land claims, governance claims, and other disputes, some of which date back centuries.
Image by Palestinian News & Information Agency (Wafa)/APAimages.
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