2017-05-06 Sat

Gaza lies in the Eastern Mediterranean region with Egyptian Sinai to the west and Israel to the east. It belonged to the British Mandate Territory of Palestine till the 1948 war of Israeli independence. Gaza was occupied by Egypt from 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1967 after Israel was created.

United Nations peacekeepers or United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), were sent to the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza during the Suez Crisis in 1957. The U.S. peacekeepers were withdrawn when the Six-Day War began in 1967. India sent more than 13,000 Indian troops for UNEF from the beginning till 1967 to serve for the peacekeeping force in Gaza.

15-paise Nehru Medal and Rose stamps were overprinted with the letters “UNEF” for use as military stamps by Indian peacekeepers in Gaza on 15th January 1965. These stamps are rare to find and are valued at $4 to $20 in the market.