Occupied or Not: Gaza’s Legal Status After the Israeli Disengagement

Abstract

In September 2005, Israel withdrew its army and dismantled all of its settlements in the Gaza Strip, claiming that Gaza’s occupation had come to an end. Yet Israel did retain control over Gaza’s border crossings, aerial and water space; leading to claims by the Palestinian side as well as some international scholars that the Israeli occupation had not come to an end. The following note will examine these arguments and will take the position that the current status of the Gaza Strip is a sui generis one, where positive law, applied in globo, cannot provide an adequate approach. As such, any Israeli obligations in post-disengagement Gaza should be seen under the prism of natural law.