Israel-Palestine Mega Fact Check!

This analogy is imperfect and can be misleading.

For many Gazans, the Gaza Strip is like a prison in the sense that they cannot leave (through Egypt or Israel), even if they wish to. There are of course some exceptions:

• The few Gazans with work permits can enter Israel during the day to work. From 2019 until 2023, up to 18,000 Gazans (less than 1% of the population) were granted such work permits. From 2007 to 2019, however, all work permits had been revoked.
• The very sick and injured may be allowed to leave, though typically only the humanitarian cases.
• Those with dual citizenship are usually permitted to leave.

That said, prior to October 7^th 2023 Gaza had its share of shops and restaurants, as well as a long beach front—things you would probably not find in the average prison.

On the flip side, Gaza may be considered worse than a decent prison due to severe economic sanctions, polluted water, widespread shortages of everyday items, and periodic military incursions. The late Yahya Sinwar spent 22 years in Israeli prisons before being released in Gaza at age 50. After his release, Sinwar remarked that "the old [prison] was much better than this one [the Gaza Strip]. I had water, electricity. I had so many books. Gaza is much tougher."