Literally, "harvest bloc"; a bloc of 16 settlements in the Gaza Strip between the Mediterranean Sea and the Palestinian towns of Rafah and Khan Younis. The main access road connecting Gush Katif to Israel ran through the Kissufim junction. The settlements in Gush Katif were Beholah, Bnei Atzmon, Gadid, Gan Or, Ganei Tal, Katif, Kerem Atzmona, Kfar Yam, Morag, Netzer Haz-ani, Neve Dekalim, Pe'at Sadeh, Rafiam Yam, Shalev, Shirat Hayam, and Tel Katifa. All of the settlements were created after the Six-Day War (1967), when Israel took control of the Gaza Strip from Egypt; they were to serve, in the first instance, as trip-wires and the first line of defense against anticipated renewed attacks against Israel from the south. The civilian population of Gush Katif and the Israel Defense Forces' units deployed to protect them increasingly were targeted by terrorists during the intifada and the Al-Aksa intifada. The Israeli presence in Gush Katif—both civilian and military—was withdrawn in August-September 2005 in the implementation of Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan (see UNILATERAL DISENGAGEMENT [HITNATKUT, TOKHNIT HAHITNATKUT]).
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..