# What citizenship do people in the Gaza Strip bear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459 "2014-07-18T15:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/1 "2014-07-18T15:13:09Z")
Regarding the Israel / Gaza conflict, are the people of the Gaza Strip officially stateless, or what? In the media, they sometimes seem to be considered a people of Israel, and sometimes not. I know they’re not (as a rule) Israeli citizens, but I did think they were Israeli nationals. I am asking because there is a lot of condemnation of states such as Syria attacking their own people, and yet the rhetoric around Israel is couched in entirely different language, as a conflict between two different nations. Please note that I am not trying to compare the Syrian and Israeli situations or make a statement for one side or the other; I’m only asking whether the people of the Gaza Strip are in any sense people of Israel, and if so, in what sense(s). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/2 "2014-07-18T15:21:03Z")
The Palestinian Authority issues passports to any person who has proper documentation of Palestinian nationality, but they are not recognized everywhere, and Egypt is very suspicious of them. Words like “citizenship” and “nationality” and “subject” do not always have the same meaning in all countries. I think Israel considers them to be Israeli citizens, but does not grant them many rights of citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/3 "2014-07-18T15:38:39Z")
Gazans and Palestinians in the West Bank are not Israeli citizens under Israeli law. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/4 "2014-07-18T15:50:42Z")
Bigger question: what country owned Gaza before the 1967 War? I’d have assumed (perhaps wrongly) Egypt… but if it WAS Egyptian territory, why didn’t Egypt get it back after the Camp David accords? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/5 "2014-07-18T15:57:22Z")
It was Egypt. They renounced their claims to it at Camp David. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/6 "2014-07-18T16:22:10Z")
Israel \*wanted \*to give it back, but the Egyptians wouldn’t take it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/7 "2014-07-18T16:28:26Z")
Yeah, boy. If ever there was a worthless stretch of land, it’s Gaza. What a mess. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/8 "2014-07-20T00:03:43Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Yeah, boy. If ever there was a worthless stretch of land, it’s Gaza. What a mess. Is it geographically terrible? I mean why would Gaza be worse, as a physical location, than Tel Aviv or Beirut? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/9 "2014-07-20T00:06:26Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I think Israel considers them to be Israeli citizens, but does not grant them many rights of citizenship. No, Israel does not consider them to be Israeli citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/10 "2014-07-20T00:07:26Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > Is it geographically terrible? I mean why would Gaza be worse, as a physical location, than Tel Aviv or Beirut? No, geographically it is fine. It is demographically terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/11 "2014-07-20T00:37:26Z")
So are they or are they not Israeli non-citizen nationals? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/12 "2014-07-20T00:47:15Z")
They’re nothing. They’re not citizens of anywhere or nationals of anywhere. They’re stateless people. West Bank residents were citizens of Jordan, and I think Gazans were citizens of Egypt when those two countries controlled those areas, but both countries stripped Palestinians of their citizenship after Israel took them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/13 "2014-07-20T01:10:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > They’re nothing. They’re not citizens of anywhere or nationals of anywhere. They’re stateless people. West Bank residents were citizens of Jordan, and I think Gazans were citizens of Egypt when those two countries controlled those areas, but both countries stripped Palestinians of their citizenship after Israel took them. Thank you—that is very interesting. I hadn’t known that. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/14 "2014-07-20T01:59:32Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So are they or are they not Israeli non-citizen nationals? They are not “Israeli nationals”. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/15 "2014-07-20T02:56:49Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > No, Israel does not consider them to be Israeli citizens. Israel has offered citizenship to most residents of occupied territories, but most have not accepted it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/16 "2014-07-20T04:26:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Israel has offered citizenship to most residents of occupied territories, but most have not accepted it. Wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/17 "2014-07-20T12:40:20Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Israel has offered citizenship to most residents of occupied territories, but most have not accepted it. Israel’s offered citizenship to most residents of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which Israel’s annexed and considers part of Israel (and most have not accepted it, although with the Syrian Civil War, more and more Golani are). That’s not true for the West Bank and Gaza. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/18 "2014-07-20T13:23:00Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > Is it geographically terrible? I mean why would Gaza be worse, as a physical location, than Tel Aviv or Beirut? Gaza is a space about twice the size of Washington DC, most of which is coastal sand and other fairly useless space. [Here’s the CIA factbook on it.](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html) Little in the way of natural resources, with less than 10% of it arable, useful land. It has natural gas resources and - I would suppose - access to fishing in the med. That’s pretty much it. The population - 1.8MM at the moment - is crammed in at a rate of 5000 per square kilometer. That puts in in the #5 slot behind Macao, Monaco, Singapore and Hong Kong without the advantages of trade and free movement those places enjoy. It’s a recipe for amazing squalor. I agree that, if positioned rightly, it could become a banking or other center of exchange. But that requires some sort of coherent development plan that has, so far, failed to gain traction. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/19 "2014-07-20T14:01:33Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Gaza is a space about twice the size of Washington DC, most of which is coastal sand and other fairly useless space. Yes, what possible use could there be for a sandy strip along the Mediterranean? Beachfront property is such a waste. (I know, I know… after the last 50 years, the marketing department is going to have a hell of a time rebranding the Gaza Resort and Spa.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459/20 "2014-07-20T15:17:13Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Israel’s offered citizenship to most residents of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which Israel’s annexed and considers part of Israel (and most have not accepted it, although with the Syrian Civil War, more and more Golani are). That’s not true for the West Bank and Gaza. Thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-citizenship-do-people-in-the-gaza-strip-bear/693459.md?page=2)