What is Gaza's legal status? I would like to know. The land is neither fully occupied nor completely sovereign. International law never imagined anything like this. There are two basic standards established for "occupied" territory. The first one, in the 1907 Hague Regulations, is effective military control by another power. The Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) also lays down what the occupier must do for the occupied, such as providing basic services (water, education, health), giving aid agencies free access, and --not settling its own citizens there.
This still leaves one to ponder the question of legal statust of Gaza today. I for one would take the evolving standard of facts side. To the extent that there are responsibilities by Israel not yet transferred to the Palestinian Authority, they have to be accountable for these. Just as the Palestinian side has to be accountable for the responsibilities it's received.
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