Deir al-Balah Camp
| Deir al-Balah Camp | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | مخيّم دير البلح |
 Deir al-Balah Camp
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| Coordinates: 31°25′33″N 34°20′26″E / 31.42583°N 34.34056°ECoordinates: 31°25′33″N 34°20′26″E / 31.42583°N 34.34056°E | |
| Governorate | Deir al-Balah |
| Government | |
| • Type | Refugee Camp |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 160 dunams (0.16 km2 or 0.06 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 12,004 |
Deir al-Balah Camp (Arabic: مخيّم دير البلح) is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Deir al-Balah Governorate of the southern Gaza Strip, located one kilometer northwest of the center of Deir al-Balah city, of which it practically forms part. The camp consists of concrete buildings and has eight schools, sewers, and other municipal services. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the camp had a population of 12,004 in mid-year 2006. It is the smallest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Deir al-Balah Camp is built on an area of 0.16 square kilometers (16 hectares; 39 acres (160,000 m2); ). As of March 2005, the population registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was 19,534 persons.
Originally, the camp housed 9,000 refugees in tents and then mud-brick structures, which were replaced with cement block structures in the early 1960s. The current population is about twice that of the original refugee population, most of whom are now dead.
The original residents of the camp, as with most other Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, came from villages and towns in central and southern pre-1948 Palestine.
Before the 2005 implementation of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, the camp (and town of which it is part) was surrounded by Israeli settlements—Kfar Darom to the north and Gush Katif to the south—and the highly militarized Abul Holi junction that separated the north of Gaza from the south was located on Deir al-Balah's land.
In late 1997, the Palestinian National Authority demolished several buildings in Deir al-Balah Camp in order to extend the main coastal road between the town and the Mediterranean sea. Several families were given small plots of land and some financial compensation in order to build new homes outside the settlement.
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