24 months of fighting have ravaged Gaza.
The Israeli bombing campaign and military incursion have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians as reported by the Hamas-run health authority, nearly the whole populace has been forced to move, and the UN states most homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.
The offensive came in response to Hamas's unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 individuals were killed and 251 more were captured.
Israeli authorities claim it is attempting to dismantle the armed and administrative capacities 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 American President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would halt hostilities at once. The group has consented to free all remaining hostages - alive and dead - and to hand over control of Gaza to independent Palestinian experts, but it has not committed to disarmament or to relinquishing any future political role in the leadership of Gaza.
Gaza is merely 41km in length and 10km in width - roughly one-fourth the area of London - bordered on three sides by closed borders with Egypt and Israel and by the Mediterranean coast to the west, where Israel imposes a blockade. It is inhabited by over two million residents.
Extent of Damage
More than 90% of homes are believed to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have broken down; and experts supported by the UN say there is famine in Gaza City.
A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israeli forces have perpetrated acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - even though Israeli officials have dismissed 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 initially focused on northern Gaza - where it claimed militants were hiding among the non-combatant residents. Hamas denied this.
The northern town of Beit Hanoun, a mere 2km from the frontier, was one of the first areas struck by Israeli strikes. It experienced heavy damage.
Ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeted 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 air strikes on the southern cities which hundreds of thousands of Gazans from the north were escaping to. 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 January 2024 more than half of Gaza's buildings had been destroyed or damaged.
By the time a truce was announced in January 2025 an estimated 60% of structures throughout Gaza had been damaged, with Gaza City suffering the heaviest destruction. More than 46,000 Palestinians had been fatally wounded, according to the Gaza health authority.
And the devastation has continued since Israel ended the ceasefire in the month of March - including in Rafah in the south. The UN estimates more than 90% of the residential buildings in Gaza have been affected during the war.
Humanitarian Crisis
During the conflict, Hamas - which is classified as a terror group by Israel, the UK and many other countries - and other armed groups affiliated with it have been engaged in intense battles against Israeli forces on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, especially in the first months of the war.
However, within Gaza, entire districts have been razed to the ground, hospitals and mosques 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 troops.
Israeli authorities state Hamas uses non-military structures such as medical centers for military purposes - but Hamas denies that.
Before the war, most of Gaza's 2.1 million people lived in its four main cities - Rafah and Khan Younis in the south, Deir al-Balah city, in the centre, and the city of Gaza.
In just 10 days of October 7, 2023, the Israeli military campaign had compelled almost 50% to abandon their residences, as per the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
And by the time the truce was implemented after 15 months, an approximately 1.9 million individuals had been forcibly relocated - they continue to be unable to go back.
Households have relocated repeatedly as Israeli forces shifted the focus of its operation, first instructing people in the north to move south of Wadi Gaza river, which cuts the Strip roughly in half, and later ordering people to leave a series of "evacuation zones" in the south.
Airdropped leaflets by the Israeli army warned people to evacuate before military actions in the region. However, not every Israeli attack are preceded by alerts.
Expansion of Restricted Zones
After the truce was terminated, it has designated an increasing number of regions of Gaza as no-go zones - where restrictions are in place - or making them subject to displacement orders, meaning residents have been instructed to leave completely.
At first the evacuation orders covered two regions - in the North Gaza and Khan Younis governorates - with a “no-go” area in place along the whole border.
Humanitarian organizations have to co-ordinate with the Israeli government to operate in the "no-go" areas.
Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering Gaza at the start of March - alleging that Hamas was diverting it. Restricted assistance is now permitted to enter, although relief groups still say it is nowhere near enough.
By the beginning of April every bakery supported by the UN in Gaza had been closed, the majority of fresh produce were in very limited supply and medical facilities were rationing painkillers and antibiotics.
The humanitarian organization ActionAid cautioned that a "renewed period of hunger and dehydration" was imminent.
Israel’s defence minister announced on April 16 that Israel would set up security zones in Gaza to create a protective barrier to protect Israeli communities even after the war ended - Hamas has insisted that Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza under any lasting truce.
At the time almost 70% of Gaza was impacted by Israeli restrictions - including 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 May, Israel launched a land operation named Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which the Prime Minister stated would aim to secure the release of the 48 captives still held - 20 of whom are believed to be living - and "finish the destruction" of the militant organization.
Since then the areas covered by evacuation directives and limitations have been expanded to include 82% of Gaza, as per the UN.
The first phase of the operation focused on objectives within northern Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah but in August Israel announced plans to capture and occupy the entire city of Gaza itself - which it has referred to as the “last stronghold” of Hamas.
The city had been the most densely populated part of the territory before the war, with 775,000 residents living there.
Those who remained there were ordered to move 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-backed body.
But many more thousands continue to stay in dire humanitarian conditions, with health and other essential services collapsing.
Global Reactions
In September 2025, several countries, {including
