The last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip at sunrise on September 12, 2005. He locked the gate at the Kissufim crossing. The Israeli flag was lowered. This act formally ended 38 years of direct Israeli military control that began with the Six-Day War. The disengagement was not a negotiation with Palestinians but a unilateral decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Over the preceding month, the Israeli Defense Forces evacuated 8,000 Israeli settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four more in the West Bank. The army then systematically demolished 2,530 residential buildings, along with public structures like synagogues and greenhouses, to prevent their use.
The policy aimed to reduce friction and demographic pressure by removing a small, costly-to-defend settler population. Proponents argued it would improve Israeli security. Opponents within Israel saw it as a capitulation to violence and a betrayal of the Zionist project. For many Palestinians, the withdrawal was a victory achieved by the Second Intifada, but the sight of bulldozers reducing homes to rubble also symbolized a denial of potential asset transfer. Israel retained control of Gaza's airspace, coastline, and border crossings, leading critics to label the territory an open-air prison.
The event's significance is often framed as a simple Israeli 'withdrawal.' In practice, it was a redeployment. Israel exchanged a direct ground presence for a policy of remote siege and periodic military incursion. Hamas claimed the disengagement as proof of its armed resistance's efficacy, boosting its political standing ahead of its 2006 electoral victory. The power vacuum left by Israel's departure, and the subsequent Palestinian political split, set conditions for repeated conflicts. The disengagement did not lead to a two-state solution but rather redefined the mechanics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza.