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Two years of conflict have devastated Gaza.

The Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion have resulted in over 67,000 Palestinian fatalities according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, nearly the whole populace has been displaced, and the UN states the majority of residences have been damaged or destroyed.

The offensive came in response to Hamas's unprecedented assault across the border on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were slain and 251 more were taken hostage.

Israel says 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 governing 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. Hamas has agreed to free all remaining hostages - living and deceased - and to transfer Gaza’s governance to Palestinian technocrats, but it has not committed to disarmament or to relinquishing any political involvement in the leadership of Gaza.

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

Extent of Damage

More than 90% of homes are believed to be destroyed or damaged; the medical, water, and sanitation infrastructure have collapsed; and experts supported by the UN say there is starvation in Gaza City.

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israeli forces have perpetrated acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - although Israeli officials have dismissed the findings of the commission, labeling it as "inaccurate and misleading".

This graphic overview shows how Gaza has turned into unlivable.

Expansion of Damage

Israel's campaign first targeted the northern part of Gaza - where it claimed militants were concealed within the non-combatant residents. Hamas denied this.

The town in the north of Beit Hanoun, a mere 2km from the frontier, was one of the first areas struck by Israeli strikes. It experienced severe destruction.

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

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

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

By the time a ceasefire was declared in January 2025 an estimated 60% of structures throughout Gaza had been harmed, with Gaza City experiencing the most severe damage. More than 46,000 Palestinians had been fatally wounded, as per the Gaza health authority.

And the destruction has continued since the truce was terminated by Israel in the month of March - including in Rafah in the south. The UN estimates more than 90% of the housing units in Gaza have been damaged during the war.

Humanitarian Catastrophe

Throughout the war, the militant group - which is classified as a terror group by multiple nations including Israel and the UK - and other armed groups affiliated with it have been involved in intense battles against Israeli troops on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, especially in the first months of the war.

However, within Gaza, whole neighborhoods have been completely demolished, hospitals and mosques have been obliterated and agricultural land where greenhouses previously existed have been turned into debris and dust by armored vehicles and machinery used for destruction by Israeli soldiers.

Israel says militants utilize non-military structures such as hospitals for military purposes - but the group denies these claims.

Prior to the conflict, the majority of Gaza’s population lived in its primary urban centers - Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Deir al-Balah city, in the centre, and the city of Gaza.

Within 10 days of 7 October 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 15 months later, an approximately 1.9 million individuals had been internally displaced - they continue to be unable to go back.

Households have relocated multiple times as Israeli forces shifted the focus of its operation, initially telling people in the north to relocate southward of Wadi Gaza river, which cuts the Strip roughly in half, and later ordering people to evacuate a number of "safe zones" in the south.

Leaflet drops by the Israeli army alerted residents to evacuate before military actions in the region. However, not every Israeli attack are preceded by warnings.

Expansion of Restricted Zones

After the truce was terminated, it has designated more and more areas of Gaza as prohibited areas - where restrictions are in place - or making them subject to evacuation directives, meaning residents have been instructed to leave completely.

Initially the orders to evacuate covered two areas - 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 authorities to operate in the "no-go" areas.

Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering the territory at the beginning of March - alleging that Hamas was commandeering it. Limited aid is now allowed in, although relief groups still say it is insufficient.

By the beginning of April every bakery supported by the UN in Gaza had been shut down, the majority of fresh produce were in extremely short supply and hospitals were limiting distribution of medications and antibiotics.

The NGO ActionAid warned that a "new cycle of starvation and thirst" was imminent.

Israel’s defence minister declared on 16 April that Israel would establish security zones in Gaza to provide a “buffer” to safeguard Israeli towns following the conclusion of hostilities - Hamas has insisted that Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza under any permanent ceasefire.

At the time almost 70% of Gaza was affected by limitations imposed by Israel - including most of the 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 Netanyahu said would aim to secure the release of the 48 captives still held - 20 of whom are thought to be alive - and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group.

From that point onward the regions affected by displacement orders and other restrictions have been expanded to include 82 percent of the territory, as per the UN.

The first phase of the campaign concentrated on targets in northern Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah but in August Israel revealed intentions to seize and control 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 prior to the conflict, with 775,000 people living there.

Individuals who stayed behind 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 dangerous.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have thus far evacuated the city of Gaza, where a starvation was verified in August 2025 by a UN-supported agency.

But hundreds of thousands more remain there in severe living conditions, with health and other essential services failing.

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In September 2025, multiple nations, {including