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Rafa

(Encyclopedia)Rafa or Rafah both: räˈfä [key], town in the present Gaza Strip on the Egyptian border. The ancient name was Raphia. There in 217 b.c., Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus III. ...

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Israel ĭzˈrēəl [key], officially State of Israel, republic (2015 est. pop. 8,065,000, including Israelis in occupied Arab territories), 7,992 sq mi (20,700 sq km), SW Asia, on the Mediterra...

Mouzinho de Albuquerque, Joaquim

(Encyclopedia)Mouzinho de Albuquerque, Joaquim zhwäkēmˈ mōzēˈnyō ᵺĭ älˌbəkĕrˈkə [key], 1855–1902, Portuguese military commander and administrator in Mozambique. As governor of the district of Gaza...

Livni, Tzipi

(Encyclopedia)Livni, Tzipi (Tziporah Malkah Livni) tsĭpˈpē lĭvˈnē [key], 1958–, Israeli politican, b. Tel Aviv. The daughter of Polish immigrants, both members of the violent Irgun militia, Livni served in ...

Intifada

(Encyclopedia)Intifada ĭntēfăˈdĕ [key] [Arab.,=uprising, shaking off], the Palestinian uprising during the late 1980s and early 90s in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas that had been occupied by Israel since...

Palestine Liberation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. Composed of various guerrill...

Sozomen

(Encyclopedia)Sozomen sōzōˈmĕn [key], 5th cent., Byzantine church historian, b. Gaza. A fuller form of his name is Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus. His Ecclesiastical History was written in 439–50. The nine exta...

Shamir, Yitzhak

(Encyclopedia)Shamir, Yitzhak yētzˈäk shämērˈ [key], 1915–2012, Zionist activist and Israeli politician, b. Poland. Emigrating (1935) to Palestine, he was twice arrested by the British for participating in ...

West Bank

(Encyclopedia)West Bank, territory, formerly part of Palestine, after 1949 administered by Jordan, since 1967 largely occupied by Israel (2005 est. pop. 2,386,000), 2,165 sq mi (5,607 sq km), west of the Jordan Riv...

Middle East

(Encyclopedia)Middle East, term traditionally applied by western Europeans to the countries of SW Asia and NE Africa lying W of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Thus defined it includes Cyprus, the Asian part of T...