Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 was "a de jure recognition of a Palestinian state in Gaza."
Israel: State of a Nation
Gregg Roman, director of the Middle East Forum, posits that Israel's 2005 unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip marked a formal recognition of a Palestinian state in Gaza. This perspective frames the disengagement not merely as a strategic or security move but as a significant political gesture that acknowledged Palestinian governance in that area. Roman suggests that the withdrawal could be interpreted as a state acceding to another's territorial sovereignty, highlighting debates surrounding the legal and political implications of such actions in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.