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Two years of fighting have devastated Gaza.

The Israeli bombing campaign and military incursion have resulted in over 67,000 Palestinian fatalities as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry, almost the whole populace has been forced to move, and the UN says most homes have been damaged or destroyed.

The military operation came in response to Hamas’ unprecedented assault across the border on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 more were captured.

Israeli authorities claim it is attempting to dismantle the military and governing capabilities of the militant organization, which is dedicated to the elimination of Israel and has been in control of Gaza since 2007.

A peace plan has been put forward by US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would end the fighting immediately. The group has consented to free all remaining hostages - living and deceased - and to transfer control of Gaza to independent Palestinian experts, but it has not committed to laying down arms or to giving up any future political role in Gaza’s leadership.

Gaza is only 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide - roughly one-fourth the area of London - surrounded on three sides by sealed frontiers with Egypt and Israel and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, where Israel imposes a blockade. It is home to over two million residents.

Extent of Damage

Over nine out of ten residences are estimated to be destroyed or damaged; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have broken down; and UN-backed experts say there is famine in Gaza City.

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - although Israel has rejected the findings of the commission, describing it as "inaccurate and misleading".

This graphic overview shows how Gaza has become in large parts unlivable.

How the Destruction Spread

The Israeli operation first targeted the northern part of Gaza - where it claimed Hamas fighters were concealed within the civilian population. The group refuted these allegations.

The northern town of Beit Hanoun, only 2km (1.2 miles) from the frontier, was one of the first areas struck by airstrikes. It experienced heavy damage.

Israel continued to bomb Gaza City and other urban centres in the north and ordered civilians to relocate southward of the Wadi Gaza river before it launched its ground invasion at the end of October 2023.

But Israel was also launching aerial bombardments on the southern cities which numerous Gaza residents from the north were fleeing towards. By the end of November, parts of the south of the territory lay in ruins, as did much of the north.

Israel intensified its airstrikes on the southern and central regions at the start of December, before initiating a land assault on Khan Younis, and by the start of 2024 over 50% of structures in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged.

By the time a truce was announced in early 2025 an estimated 60% of buildings across the Gaza Strip had been damaged, with Gaza City suffering the heaviest destruction. More than 46,000 Palestinians had been killed, according to the Gaza health authority.

And the destruction has continued since Israel ended the ceasefire in the month of March - including in Rafah in the south. The UN calculates over 90% of the residential buildings in Gaza have been affected during the war.

Humanitarian Catastrophe

Throughout the war, the militant group - which is classified as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and many other countries - and other armed groups allied to it have been involved in fierce combat against Israeli forces on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, particularly during the initial phase of the war.

But in Gaza, entire districts have been completely demolished, medical facilities and places of worship have been destroyed and agricultural land where greenhouses once stood have been turned into sand and rubble by heavy vehicles and tanks used for destruction by Israeli soldiers.

Israeli authorities state militants utilize civilian buildings such as hospitals for armed operations - but Hamas denies that.

Before the war, most of Gaza's 2.1 million people lived in its four main cities - Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Deir al-Balah, in the centre, and the city of Gaza.

Within 10 days of October 7, 2023, the Israeli military campaign had forced nearly half to abandon their residences, as per the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

And by the time the truce was implemented after 15 months, an estimated 1.9m people had been internally displaced - they continue to be unable to go back.

Households have relocated multiple times as Israel changed the focus of its operation, first instructing people in the north to relocate southward of the Wadi Gaza waterway, which divides Gaza approximately in two, and later ordering people to evacuate a number of "safe zones" in the south.

Leaflet drops by the Israeli military alerted residents to leave ahead of military actions in the region. However, not all Israeli strikes are preceded by warnings.

Restricted Areas Grow

Since Israel ended the ceasefire, it has designated an increasing number of regions of Gaza as prohibited areas - where restrictions are in place - or imposing displacement orders, meaning Gazans have been told to leave completely.

Initially the evacuation orders applied to two regions - in the North Gaza and Khan Younis governorates - with a “no-go” area in place along the whole border.

Aid agencies have to coordinate with the Israeli government to work within the "no-go" areas.

Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering Gaza at the start of March - accusing Hamas of commandeering it. Limited aid is now allowed in, although relief groups still say it is nowhere near enough.

By the start of April every bakery supported by the UN in Gaza had been closed, the majority of fresh produce were in extremely short supply and hospitals were rationing medications and antibiotics.

The humanitarian organization ActionAid cautioned that a "new cycle of starvation and thirst" loomed.

Israel’s defence minister declared on 16 April that Israel would set up security zones in Gaza to create a protective barrier to protect Israeli communities following the conclusion of hostilities - the group has demanded that Israeli troops must pull out from Gaza under any permanent ceasefire.

During that period nearly 70% of Gaza was affected by limitations imposed by Israel - encompassing the majority of North Gaza and Gaza City governorates in the north and the whole of the Rafah governorate in the south, according to the UN.

And in the month of May, Israel initiated a ground offensive named Operation Gideon's Chariots, which the Prime Minister stated would seek to secure the release of the 48 remaining hostages - 20 of whom are believed to be living - and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group.

Since then the areas covered by displacement orders and other restrictions have been extended to cover 82 percent of the territory, as per the UN.

The first phase of the operation concentrated on targets in northern Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah but in the month of August Israel announced plans to seize and control all of Gaza City itself - which it has referred to as the “last stronghold” of Hamas.

The city had been the most crowded part of the territory before the war, with 775,000 people residing there.

Individuals who stayed behind were instructed to relocate south to al-Mawasi in the southwestern part of the Strip which Israel has designated as a “humanitarian area” - even though it has continued to carry out deadly strikes there and which the UN said was already overcrowded and unsafe.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have so far fled Gaza City, where a starvation was verified in August 2025 by a UN-supported agency.

But many more thousands continue to stay in dire humanitarian conditions, with medical and vital services collapsing.

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