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24 months of fighting have ravaged Gaza.

The Israeli aerial assaults and military incursion have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, almost the whole populace has been forced to move, and the UN says the majority of residences have been destroyed or severely damaged.

The offensive came in response to Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were captured.

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

A peace plan has been put forward by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would halt hostilities at once. The group has consented to release all captives - living and deceased - and to hand over Gaza’s governance to independent Palestinian experts, but it has refused to agree to laying down arms or to relinquishing any political involvement in Gaza’s leadership.

Gaza is merely 41km in length and 10km in width - roughly one-fourth the area of London - bordered 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 more than 2 million people.

Extent of Damage

Over nine out of ten residences 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 genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - even though Israeli officials have dismissed the commission’s report, describing it as "inaccurate and misleading".

This visual guide shows how Gaza has become in large parts unlivable.

Expansion of Damage

The Israeli operation initially focused on northern 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 among the initial locations hit by Israeli strikes. It sustained severe destruction.

Israel continued to bomb Gaza City and other urban centres in the north and instructed residents to move south of the Wadi Gaza river before it initiated its land offensive at the conclusion of October 2023.

But Israel was also launching air strikes on the southern cities which hundreds of thousands of Gazans from the north were fleeing towards. By the close of November, parts of the south of the territory lay in ruins, as did much of the north.

Israel intensified its bombing of the southern and central regions at the start of December, before launching a ground offensive on Khan Younis, and by the start of 2024 over 50% of Gaza's buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

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, as per the Gaza health authority.

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

Humanitarian Crisis

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 affiliated with it have been involved in intense battles against Israeli troops on the ground. They have also fired thousands of rockets into Israel, particularly during the initial phase of the war.

But in Gaza, whole neighborhoods have been razed to the ground, hospitals and mosques have been obliterated and agricultural land where greenhouses previously existed have been turned into debris and dust by heavy vehicles and tanks used for destruction by Israeli troops.

Israel says militants utilize non-military structures such as hospitals for military purposes - but Hamas denies that.

Prior to the conflict, the majority of Gaza’s population lived in its four main cities - Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Deir al-Balah, in the centre, and Gaza City.

In just 10 days of 7 October 2023, Israel’s offensive had compelled almost 50% to leave their homes, according to 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 internally displaced - they remain unable to return home.

Households have relocated multiple times as Israel changed the emphasis of their campaign, first instructing people in the north to move south of the Wadi Gaza waterway, which cuts the Strip roughly in half, and later ordering people to evacuate a series of "safe zones" in the south.

Leaflet drops by the Israeli army alerted residents to leave ahead of operations in the area. However, not all Israeli strikes are preceded by alerts.

Restricted Areas Grow

Since Israel ended the ceasefire, it has designated more and more areas of Gaza as no-go zones - where limitations are enforced - or imposing displacement orders, meaning residents have been instructed to evacuate entirely.

Initially 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 coordinate with the Israeli government to operate in the "no-go" areas.

Israel had also blocked any humanitarian aid from entering the territory at the start of March - accusing Hamas of commandeering it. Restricted assistance is now allowed in, although aid agencies still say it is insufficient.

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

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

Israel’s defence minister announced on April 16 that Israel would establish security zones in Gaza to provide a “buffer” to safeguard Israeli towns even after the war ended - Hamas has insisted that Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza under any lasting truce.

During that period nearly 70% of Gaza was impacted by limitations imposed by Israel - including the majority of North Gaza and Gaza City governorates in the north and the entire Rafah governorate in the south, as reported by 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 obtain the freedom of the 48 captives still held - 20 of whom are thought to be alive - and "complete the defeat" of the Palestinian armed group.

Since then the regions affected by displacement orders and other restrictions have been expanded to include 82 percent of the territory, according to the UN.

The initial stage of the campaign focused on objectives within Rafah, Khan Younis and northern Gaza but in 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 densely populated part of the territory prior to the conflict, 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” - despite the fact that it has continued to carry out deadly strikes there and which the UN said was already overpopulated and unsafe.

Numerous residents have thus far evacuated the city of Gaza, where a starvation was verified in August 2025 by a UN-backed body.

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

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In September 2025, multiple nations, {including