ABSTRACT
The fate of the Gaza Strip has troubled Israeli leaders constantly since the day the state was established. From a purely military point of view, the weightiest considerations were clearly in favour of occupying the Strip and annexing it to the State of Israel. This has always been counterbalanced by the demographic consideration, namely, the need to ensure that the Jewish character of the country should not be radically transformed by increasing its Arab population by several hundred thousands. The Strip, which has an area of 362 square kilometres, is one of the most densely populated parts of the world, with a current population of 550,000, which is expected to reach 900,000 by the turn of the century.
