The Gaza envelope ( he, עוטף עזה, ''Otef Aza'') is the populated areas of Israel that are within of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

border and are therefore within range of mortar shells and

Qassam rocket The Qassam rocket ( ar, صاروخ القسام ''Ṣārūkh al-Qassām''; also ''Kassam'') is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. These rockets cannot be fired ...

s launched from the Gaza Strip. The region is populated by 70,000 Israeli citizens according to the Israeli ministry of internal affairs.

History

Following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, there was an increase in cross-border shelling and rocket attacks into Israel. Data collected by the Israeli Security Agency showed an increase in shelling from 401 shells in 2005 rising year-on-year to 2,048 in 2008 before falling back to 569 in 2009. In response to the increase in shelling, in 2007 the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

passed the "Assistance to Sderot and the Western Negev (Temporary Provision) Law, 2007", which recognized these communities (and additional communities in the area designated by the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

's order) as "Confrontation-line Communities" and gave them special privileges (temporarily, until the end of 2008). Additional legislative measures extended the validity of some of the benefits, with certain changes, until the end of 2014. This area came to be known colloquially as the "Gaza envelope."

Gaza envelope communities

The following communities were included in the list of communities in southern confrontation line area, published by the Israel Tax Authority:

References

{{coord missing, Israel Gaza–Israel conflict Regions of Israel

History

Gaza envelope communities

See also

References