Gaza War in Maps After Two Years of Fighting

24 months of conflict have devastated Gaza.

Israel’s aerial assaults and ground invasion 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 states 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 taken hostage.

Israel says it is trying to destroy 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 ceasefire proposal has been proposed by US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would halt hostilities at once. Hamas has agreed to free all remaining hostages - living and deceased - and to hand over control of Gaza to Palestinian technocrats, but it has refused to agree to disarmament or to giving up 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 - 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 inhabited by over two million residents.

Extent of Damage

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

A UN investigative commission says Israel has committed 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 turned into uninhabitable.

How the Destruction Spread

Israel's campaign first targeted the northern part of Gaza - where it claimed militants were concealed within the non-combatant residents. The group refuted these allegations.

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

Ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeted Gaza City and additional cities in the north and instructed residents to move south of the Wadi Gaza river before it initiated its land offensive at the end of October 2023.

Simultaneously, Israel conducted air strikes on the urban areas in the south which numerous Gaza residents 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 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 more than half of structures in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.

By the time a truce was announced in early 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 killed, as per Gaza's health ministry.

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

Humanitarian Crisis

Throughout the war, the militant group - which is designated as a terror group by Israel, the UK and many other countries - and additional factions allied to 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.

But in Gaza, entire districts have been razed to the ground, hospitals and mosques have been destroyed and farmland where greenhouses previously existed have been reduced to debris and dust by armored vehicles and machinery used for destruction by Israeli soldiers.

Israeli authorities state militants utilize non-military structures such as medical centers for armed operations - but the group denies these claims.

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.

In just 10 days of October 7, 2023, Israel’s offensive had forced nearly half to leave their homes, according to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

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

Households have relocated multiple times as Israeli forces shifted the emphasis of their campaign, initially telling people in the north to relocate southward of the Wadi Gaza waterway, which divides Gaza approximately in two, and subsequently directing people to evacuate a series of "safe zones" in the south.

Airdropped leaflets by the Israeli army alerted residents to evacuate before 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 prohibited areas - 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 areas - 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 authorities to work within the "no-go" areas.

Israeli forces had also prevented any relief supplies from entering the territory at the beginning of March - accusing Hamas of diverting it. Limited aid is now allowed in, although aid agencies still say it is insufficient.

By the start of April every bakery supported by the UN in Gaza had been shut down, most fresh vegetables were in extremely short supply and medical facilities were rationing painkillers and antibiotics.

The NGO ActionAid warned that a "renewed period of hunger and dehydration" loomed.

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

During that period nearly 70% of Gaza was impacted 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 initiated a land operation named Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which Netanyahu said would aim to obtain the freedom of the 48 captives still held - 20 of whom are thought to be alive - and "finish the destruction" of the Palestinian armed group.

Since then the regions affected by displacement orders and other restrictions have been expanded to include 82% of Gaza, as per the UN.

The initial stage of the campaign concentrated on objectives within 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 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” - despite the fact that it has persisted in conducting deadly strikes there and which the UN said was already overcrowded and unsafe.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have thus far evacuated Gaza City, 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 collapsing.

International Response

In September 2025, several countries, {including