Hello. I wonder if you could give me some information as to the Gaza Strip and why control of it is significant. I know that Palestine refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist and that the Gaza Strip is in Palestinian control. I also know that the terrorist group, Hamas, is currently the controlling government of Gaza. What is the current and historical significance of this piece of land? I would appreciate any information you can provide. Thank you!
Gaza, part of the biblical "land of the Philistines" was originally promised to the Jewish nation who had been freed from Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years. It was intended to be part of the region owned by Judah. However, Gaza was one of the regions that Joshua did not conquer. The verse prophetically states "they will be a snare and an obstical to you, a lash in your sides and thorns in your eyes."
Gaza was the place where Samson toppled the idolatrous Temple of Dagon on his enemies, giving his life in the process. Gaza was first conquered for Israel by King David, and subsequently fell to the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, Persians and Greeks. But in the days of King David and throughout the first Temple period it was part of Israel. In Jesus' day, it was part of the Hasmonean Kingdom that ended with Herod the Great. For nearly 2000 years it was conquered by numerous powers. In 1967 Gaza again became part of Israel when Egypt lost it in the Six Day War.
The present government of the State of Israel has no desire to control the Gaza Strip. What it does want is an immediate cessation of all missiles, rockets and mortars being fired into southern Israel. The Hamas regime that is in present control of the Gaza Strip is recognized by the international community as a terrorist group, and they have been shelling the south of Israel for the past eight years. The consensus in Israel and the world is that the current military operation is a long overdue necessity for the State of Israel to defend itself.
