]! ^! The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington in September 1993, provided for a transitional period of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. A transfer of authority to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and, in additional areas of the West Bank, pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and the West Bank began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out a year later. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005, Israel withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November 2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community has refused to accept the HAMAS-led government because it does not recognize Israel, will not renounce violence, and refuses to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. Since March 2006, President Abbas has had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift the economic siege on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene in late 2006 as a result of Israel's detention of many HAMAS PLC members and Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members. 
]" ^" Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Israel ^# 31 25 N, 34 20 E ^$ Middle East ^% `! 360 sq km `" 360 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC ^' `! 62 km `Y Egypt 11 km, Israel 51 km ^( 40 km ^) Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation ^* temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers ^+ flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain ^, `% Mediterranean Sea 0 m `& Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda) 105 m ^- arable land, natural gas ^. `' 29% `( 21% `) 50% (2002) ^/ 150 sq km; note - includes West Bank (2003) ^0 droughts ^1 desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; depletion and contamination of underground water resources ^2 strategic strip of land along Mideast-North African trade routes has experienced an incredibly turbulent history; the town of Gaza itself has been besieged countless times in its history 
]# ^3 1,482,405 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 47.6% (male 361,115/female 344,236) `, 49.9% (male 377,927/female 361,824) `- 2.5% (male 15,454/female 21,849) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 16 years `. 15.9 years `/ 16.2 years (2007 est.) ^6 3.66% (2007 est.) ^7 38.9 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 3.74 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 1.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.049 male(s)/female `, 1.045 male(s)/female `- 0.707 male(s)/female `2 1.037 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 21.88 deaths/1,000 live births `. 22.91 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 20.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 72.16 years `. 70.84 years `/ 73.54 years (2007 est.) ^= 5.64 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 NA `4 NA ^B Palestinian Arab and other 99.4%, Jewish 0.6% ^C Muslim (predominantly Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish 0.6% ^D Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood) ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 91.9% `. 96.3% `/ 87.4% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 Gaza Strip `Z none `[ Qita Ghazzah 
]% ^Y High population density, limited land access, and strict internal and external security controls have kept economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - the smaller of the two areas under the Palestinian Authority (PA)- even more degraded than in the West Bank. The beginning of the second intifadah in September 2000 sparked an economic downturn, largely the result of Israeli closure policies; these policies, which were imposed to address security concerns in Israel, disrupted labor and trade access to and from the Gaza Strip. In 2001, and even more severely in 2003, Israeli military measures in PA areas resulted in the destruction of capital, the disruption of administrative structures, and widespread business closures. The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September 2005 offered some medium-term opportunities for economic growth, which have not yet been realized due to Israeli military activities in the Gaza Strip in 2006, continued crossings closures, and the international community's financial embargo of the PA after HAMAS took office in March 2006. ^Z $5.327 billion (includes West Bank) (2005 est.) ^[ $3.45 billion (includes West Bank) (2003 est.) ^\ 4.9% (includes West Bank) (2005 est.) ^] $1,500 (includes West Bank) (2003 est.) ^^ `@ 8% `A 18.2% `B 73.9% (includes West Bank) (2005 est.) ^_ 259,000 (2005) ^` `@ 12% `A 18% `B 70% (2005) ^a 20.3% (includes West Bank) (2005) _! 63.1% (2005 est.) _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 2.9% (includes West Bank) (2005) _$ `E $1.23 billion `F $1.64 billion; including capital expenditures of $44 million; (includes West Bank) (2005) _& olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products _' generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis had established some small-scale modern industries in an industrial center, but operations ceased prior to Israel's evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements _( 2.4% (includes West Bank) (2005) _) 140,000 kWh (2005) _* 230,000 kWh (2005) _+ 0 kWh (2005) _, 90,000 kWh; note - from Israeli Electric Company (2005) _3 $301 million f.o.b.; (includes West Bank) (2005) _4 citrus, flowers, textiles _5 Israel, Egypt, West Bank _6 $2.44 billion c.i.f.; (includes West Bank) (2005) _7 food, consumer goods, construction materials _8 Israel, Egypt, West Bank (2004) _9 $NA _: $1.14 billion; (includes West Bank) (2004 est.) _; new Israeli shekel (ILS) _< new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 349,000 (includes West Bank) (2005) _? 1.095 million (includes West Bank) (2005) _@ `G NA `H Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services in the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services `I country code - 970 _A AM 0, FM 8, shortwave 0 (2005) _B 1 (2005) _C .ps; note - same as West Bank _E 243,000 (includes West Bank) (2005) 
]' _F 2 `* includes Gaza International Airport closed since its runway was destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces in December 2001 (2006) _G `! 1 `a 1 (2006) _R `! 1 `W 1 (2006) _] 1 (2006) _H `* see entry for West Bank _I Gaza 
]( _J in accordance with the peace agreement, the Palestinian Authority is not permitted conventional military forces; there are, however, public security forces (2007) _K males age 18-49: 260,855 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 221,530 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 15,196 (2005 est.) _U NA 
]) _N West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel removed settlers and military personnel from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 _c `o 993,818 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2006) 