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Two years of fighting have devastated Gaza.

Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run health authority, almost the entire population 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 others were captured.

Israeli authorities claim it is attempting to dismantle the armed and administrative capacities of the Islamist group, which is committed to the elimination of Israel and has been governing Gaza since 2007.

A ceasefire proposal has been proposed 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 - living and deceased - and to transfer control of Gaza to Palestinian technocrats, but it has not committed to laying down arms or to relinquishing any political involvement in Gaza’s leadership.

Gaza is only 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide - about a quarter of the size of London - surrounded 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 estimated to be destroyed or damaged; the medical, water, and sanitation infrastructure have broken down; and experts supported by the UN say there is famine in Gaza City.

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - even though Israel has rejected the findings of the commission, labeling it as "distorted and false".

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

How the Destruction Spread

Israel's campaign first targeted northern Gaza - where it said militants were hiding among the civilian population. Hamas denied this.

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

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.

Simultaneously, Israel conducted aerial bombardments on the urban areas in the south which hundreds of thousands of Gazans from the north were fleeing towards. 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 bombing of the southern and central regions at the beginning of December, before initiating a land assault on Khan Younis, and by January 2024 over 50% of structures in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.

By the time a ceasefire was declared in January 2025 an approximately 60% of buildings across the Gaza Strip had been harmed, with Gaza City experiencing the most severe damage. More than 46,000 Palestinians had been fatally wounded, according to the Gaza health authority.

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

Humanitarian Crisis

During the conflict, the militant group - which is classified as a terrorist organisation by multiple nations including Israel and the UK - and additional factions affiliated with it have been involved in fierce combat against Israeli forces on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, especially in the first months of the war.

But in Gaza, entire districts have been completely demolished, hospitals and mosques have been obliterated and farmland where greenhouses previously existed have been reduced to debris and dust by armored vehicles and machinery used for destruction by Israeli troops.

Israel says Hamas uses non-military structures such as medical centers for armed operations - but Hamas denies that.

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

In just 10 days of October 7, 2023, Israel’s offensive had forced nearly half to leave their homes, as per the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

And by the time the ceasefire was declared 15 months later, an approximately 1.9 million individuals had been forcibly relocated - they continue to be unable to go back.

Families have moved repeatedly as Israeli forces shifted the emphasis of their campaign, initially telling 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 leave ahead of operations in the area. However, not every Israeli attack 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 limitations are enforced - or imposing evacuation directives, meaning residents have been instructed to leave completely.

Initially the orders to evacuate applied to two areas - in the North Gaza and Khan Younis governorates - with a “no-go” area in place along the entire frontier.

Humanitarian organizations have to coordinate with the Israeli authorities to work within the "no-go" areas.

Israeli forces had also prevented any humanitarian aid from entering Gaza at the beginning of March - accusing Hamas of diverting it. Restricted assistance 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, most fresh vegetables were in extremely short supply and medical facilities were limiting distribution of medications and antibiotics.

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

The Israeli Defense Minister declared on 16 April that Israel would establish security zones in Gaza to create a protective barrier to safeguard Israeli towns even after the war ended - Hamas has insisted that Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza under any permanent ceasefire.

At the time nearly 70% of Gaza was impacted by Israeli restrictions - including most of the North Gaza and Gaza City governorates in the north and the whole of the Rafah governorate in the south, as reported by the UN.

And in the month of May, Israel launched a land operation named Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which Netanyahu said would aim to obtain the freedom of the 48 remaining hostages - 20 of which are believed to be living - and "finish the destruction" of the Palestinian armed group.

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

The initial stage of the operation focused on targets in Rafah, Khan Younis and northern Gaza but in the month of August Israel revealed intentions to capture and occupy all of Gaza City itself - which it has called the “last stronghold” of Hamas.

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

Those who remained there 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 persisted in conducting deadly strikes there and which the UN said was already overpopulated and dangerous.

Numerous residents have thus far evacuated Gaza City, where a famine was confirmed in August 2025 by a UN-backed body.

But many more thousands remain there in severe living conditions, with medical and vital services failing.

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