Jewish settlements in Gaza, August 2005

From 1977 to 1979, the settler population in the territories grew from 3,200 to 17,500, plus 80,000 in East Jerusalem. Of the 225,000 Israel settlers in the “territories” in 2005, all 8,500 settlers living in Gaza (5% of the total) were evacuated with the area turned over to the Palestinian Authority. In 2006, Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections, and in 2007 the terrorist group conducted a coup and ousted the Palestinian Authority from Gaza.