Al-Shati refugee camp


Al-Shati, also known as Shati or Beach camp, is a Palestinian refugee camp along the Mediterranean Sea, located in Gaza City within Gaza Governorate in the northern part of Gaza Strip.
Al-Shati was established in 1948 for about 23,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from the cities of Jaffa, Lod, and Beersheba as well as surrounding villages during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The camp's total land area consists of 520 dunums.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Shati had a population of 40,734 inhabitants in 2017. As of July 2023, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports a population of 90,173 registered refugees. The camp is the third largest refugee camp in the Palestinian Territories.

History

Al-Shati was established in 1948 for about 23,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled by Zionist militias from the cities of Jaffa, Lod, and Beersheba as well as surrounding villages during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
In 1971, Israeli authorities demolished over 2,000 shelters for the purpose of widening the roads for security reasons. About 8,000 refugees were forced to leave the camp to the nearby housing project in Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City.
In 2023, Al-Shati was hit by multiple airstrikes during the Gaza war. On November 10, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces said they had killed around 150 Hamas militants during battles in the Al-Shati area. In November 2023 the Israel Defense Forces took control of the camp completely.

Economy

Before September 2000, when Israel closed off its border with the Gaza Strip due to the violence of the Second Intifada, the majority of al-Shati's work force were laborers in Israel or worked in agriculture. Today, some refugees work in workshops and sewing factories. A sizable number of the camp's 2453 families depend on fishing for income. It contains a sewage system, a health center, and 23 schools.

People from Al-Shati