The occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Arab Republic refers to the time period in which the present-day Palestinian territory known as the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egyptian forces of the United Arab Republic from 1949 to 1967. The Egyptian occupation of Gaza began with the inception of the territory in 1949 following the First Arab–Israeli War, and ended after Egypt's defeat to Israel in the Third Arab–Israeli War of 1967, after which the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip commenced. Egyptian rule in Gaza before the 1967 war had been continuous with the exception of a brief period from October 1956 to March 1957, when Israel invaded and occupied Gaza as well as the Sinai Peninsula during the Suez Crisis. From September 1948, until its dissolution by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1959, the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government. Although largely symbolic, the government was recognized by most members of the Arab League. Following its dissolution, Egypt did not annex the Gaza Strip but kept it under military rule, pending a resolution of the Israel–Palestine question. Background After World War I, the League of Nations granted the United Kingdom authority over the Mandate for Palestine composed of former Ottoman territory, including the Gaza Strip. What became known as the British Mandate for Palestine was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922 and which came into effect on 26 September 1923. Three years after World War II on 15 May 1948, the British Mandate for Palestine ended. Prior to this, on 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved the 1947 UN Partition Plan to create in Palestine two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine broke out in response. On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the state of Israel and the following day the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria declared war and invaded, aided by soldiers sent from Iraq, starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Egypt made gains early in the war, but these were reversed in late December 1948 when the Israeli army, in "Operation Horev", drove Egyptian forces out of the Negev and encircled the Egyptian Forces in the Gaza Strip, forcing Egypt to withdraw and accept a ceasefire. On 7 January 1949, a truce was achieved. Israeli forces proceeded to