Is Gaza Still Occupied After the 2005 Disengagement?
Israel’s Supreme Court held in 2008 that Israeli effective control of Gaza ended in September 2005, and named 3 sources of continuing duty.
Since September 2005, Israel “no longer has effective control over what happens in the Gaza Strip”, the Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice held on 30 January 2008 in HCJ 9132/07. The same paragraph holds that Israel has no general duty toward Gaza’s residents “according to the laws of belligerent occupation in international law”, and ties its remaining obligations to 3 sources. The judgment predates the war that began in October 2023, and no later Israeli ruling on Gaza’s status appears in the published record. The Israel Defense Forces stated in 2025, as its own account of its own positions, that it held operational control of approximately 75% of the Strip in August and about 80% in an account published in October.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2005 | The point from which, the Court held, Israel “no longer has effective control” of Gaza | Supreme Court, HCJ 9132/07 | Judgment of 30 January 2008 |
| 3 | Sources of Israel’s continuing obligations named in the judgment: armed conflict, crossings, electricity dependence | Supreme Court, HCJ 9132/07 | Judgment of 30 January 2008 |
| 4 | Purposes of the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, led by evacuating Israelis and their property | Knesset | Published 18 February 2005 |
| About 30% | Gaza territory designated an Operational Security Perimeter, the IDF’s own statement | Israel Defense Forces | As at 16 April 2025 |
| Approximately 75% | Gaza under IDF operational control, the IDF’s own statement | Israel Defense Forces | 18 March to 20 August 2025 |
| About 80% | Territory under operational control declared during Gideon’s Chariots B, the IDF’s own statement | Israel Defense Forces | Published 27 October 2025; operation undated on the page |
| 48 | Hostages to be returned within 72 hours of redeployment, under the Government’s own decision | Government of Israel | Decision 3396, 9 October 2025 |
HCJ 9132/07 held Israel lost effective control of Gaza in September 2005
The Supreme Court held on 30 January 2008 that effective control ended in September 2005. In paragraph 12 it wrote that military rule “came to an end by a decision of the government, and Israeli soldiers are no longer stationed in the territory on a permanent basis, nor are they in charge of what happens there.” It added that Israel “does not have a general duty to ensure the welfare of the residents of the Gaza Strip or to maintain public order in the Gaza Strip according to the laws of belligerent occupation in international law.”
| Item | What the record says |
|---|---|
| Case | HCJ 9132/07, a petition against reduced fuel and electricity supply to Gaza |
| Panel | President D. Beinisch, Justice E. Hayut, Justice J. Elon |
| Date | 30 January 2008 (27 January 2008 in the caption is the hearing) |
| Disposition | “the petition is denied”, with Justices Hayut and Elon concurring |
The 2008 judgment ties Israel’s remaining duties to 3 sources
The Supreme Court held in the same paragraph that Israel’s main obligations toward Gaza’s residents continue, and named where they come from. The Court quotes each source in one sentence, set out here clause by clause.
- The armed conflict: obligations “derive from the state of armed conflict that exists between it and the Hamas organization that controls the Gaza Strip”.
- The crossings: they “also derive from the degree of control exercised by the State of Israel over the border crossings between it and the Gaza Strip”.
- The relationship after military rule: “as a result of which the Gaza Strip is currently almost completely dependent upon the supply of electricity from Israel.”
The Disengagement Plan Implementation Law evacuated Israelis from the Gaza area
The Knesset enacted the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, 5765-2005, published in the official gazette on 18 February 2005. Section 1 gives its purposes in 4 parts, and section 2 defines “the disengagement plan” as the amended plan the government decided on.
- The evacuation of Israelis and their property from the Gaza area and from an area in northern Samaria, in accordance with the government’s decisions.
- Fair compensation from the State Treasury.
- Assistance with evacuation and moving.
- The relocation of groups of settlers and settlement cooperatives.
The statute does not itself state that military rule ended. That finding is the Supreme Court’s, which recorded it as “a decision of the government”.
The IDF declared operational control of about 80% of Gaza in 2025
The Israel Defense Forces published 3 statements on its ground position in 2025, each its own description of its own positions. They are successive statements on different dates, and the first measures a different thing from the other two.
| Statement | Measure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| About 30% | “Operational Security Perimeter” | 16 April 2025 |
| Approximately 75% | “Operational Control” | 18 March to 20 August 2025 |
| About 80% | “operational control”, during Gideon’s Chariots B | Published 27 October 2025 |
The Government of Israel, in its own Decision 3396 of 9 October 2025, provided for IDF deployment per the maps at Annex D with a ceasefire, then per Annex E after the hostage release, “in order to prevent friction with the population in the Gaza Strip”. On 4 November 2025 the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published, as its own account, that forces were operating east of the yellow line, which it describes as a forward line inside the Strip.
No Israeli judgment here revisits Al-Bassiouni after the 2023 war
The only Israeli judicial ruling on Gaza’s status in this record is HCJ 9132/07, from 2008. No later Israeli court judgment and no Knesset instrument in it addresses whether the 2023 to 2025 ground operations or the Decision 3396 deployment changed that status.
- HCJ 9132/07: states the effective-control finding, dated 30 January 2008.
- Disengagement Plan Implementation Law: evacuation and compensation, 2005.
- Decision 3396: the Government’s own instrument, approving a deployment and a ceasefire. Its published text states no position on occupation. Annex B is classified and Annexes C to F are held in the Government Secretariat files.
The three IDF percentages measure two different things
- The 30% counts territory designated an Operational Security Perimeter; the 75% and 80% count operational control. The first is not a smaller reading of the other two.
- All 3 are the Israel Defense Forces’ own statements of its own positions, each on its own date. They are not a series and may not be averaged.
- The 80% page does not date Gideon’s Chariots B, so its place against the 18 March to 20 August 2025 window cannot be fixed from it.
- The effective-control holding and its 3 sources of obligation sit in one paragraph and are quoted together.
Questions readers ask
Which Israeli court has ruled on whether Gaza is occupied?
The Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice ruled in HCJ 9132/07, Al-Bassiouni v. Prime Minister. The judgment is dated 30 January 2008.
When did Israeli effective control of Gaza end, according to the Court?
The Supreme Court held that effective control ended in September 2005. It stated that military rule “came to an end by a decision of the government”.
Did the Court say Israel owes Gaza’s residents nothing?
No. The Supreme Court held that Israel has no general duty under the laws of belligerent occupation, and that its main obligations derive from the armed conflict, the crossings and Gaza’s electricity dependence.
Why did the Court mention electricity?
The Supreme Court stated that after years of Israeli military rule the Gaza Strip was “almost completely dependent upon the supply of electricity from Israel”. It listed that dependence as a source of obligation.
What did the 2005 disengagement law do?
The Knesset’s Disengagement Plan Implementation Law states 4 purposes: evacuating Israelis and their property from the Gaza area and northern Samaria, compensation, assistance with moving, and relocating communities.
Did the disengagement law itself end military rule in Gaza?
Its text does not say so. The Supreme Court held in 2008 that military rule ended by a government decision, and that judgment is the source for the point.
How much of Gaza does the IDF say it controls?
The Israel Defense Forces stated approximately 75% for 18 March to 20 August 2025, and about 80% in an account published 27 October 2025. Both are the IDF’s own statements of its own positions.
What is the yellow line?
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit published on 4 November 2025, in its own dispatch, that forces operated east of the yellow line, which it describes as a forward line inside the Gaza Strip.
Does the October 2025 ceasefire decision withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza?
No. The Government of Israel, in its own Decision 3396 of 9 October 2025, provided for redeployment to positions on annexed maps. Paragraph 6 cancels the ceasefire if the hostage return is not performed.
Has an Israeli court ruled on Gaza’s status since October 2023?
No such judgment appears in this record. HCJ 9132/07 of 2008 remains the only Israeli judicial ruling on the question here.
Sources
- Government of Israel, 2025. Decision 3396, Framework for the release of all Israeli hostages. Government Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, 9 October 2025. https://www.gov.il/he/pages/dec3396-2025. Official record, government decision.
- Israel Defense Forces, 2025. April 16, 2025: Summary of the Renewed Operations in the Gaza Strip, Major Achievements of the IDF and ISA. https://www.idf.il/285510. Official record, a party’s own account.
- Israel Defense Forces, 2025. Since the renewal of ground operations in the Southern Command (March 18, 2025): the key achievements of the IDF and the ISA. 20 August 2025. https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/august-25-pr/since-the-renewal-of-ground-operations-in-the-southern-command-march-18-2025-the-key-achievements-of-the-idf-and-the-isa/. Official record, a party’s own account.
- Israel Defense Forces, 2025. Back to the operations, events and eliminations of 752 days of war. IDF war diary, 27 October 2025. Official record, a party’s own account.
- Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson, 2025. Division 252 activity in the yellow line area. War diary, 4 November 2025. https://www.idf.il/315132. Official record, a party’s own account.
- Israeli Supreme Court, 2008. HCJ 9132/07 Al-Bassiouni v. Prime Minister. Judgment of 30 January 2008, English text by the Cardozo Israeli Supreme Court Project. https://versa.cardozo.yu.edu/sites/default/files/upload/opinions/Ahmed%20v.%20Prime%20Minister.pdf. Court judgment.
- Knesset, 2005. Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, 5765-2005. Sefer HaChukkim 1982, p. 142. https://fs.knesset.gov.il/16/law/16_lsr_299869.pdf. Statute.
