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Two years of conflict have ravaged Gaza.

The Israeli aerial assaults and ground invasion have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians as reported by the Hamas-controlled health authority, nearly the entire population has been forced to move, and the UN states the majority of residences have been destroyed or severely damaged.

The military operation was launched after Hamas's unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were slain and 251 more were taken hostage.

Israeli authorities claim it is trying to destroy the military and governing capabilities of the militant organization, which is committed to the elimination of Israel and has been governing Gaza since 2007.

A peace plan has been proposed by American President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would end the fighting immediately. Hamas has agreed to release all captives - alive and dead - 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 future political role in the leadership of Gaza.

Gaza is only 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide - roughly one-fourth the area of London - surrounded on three sides by closed borders with Israel and Egypt and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, where Israel imposes a blockade. It is inhabited by over two million residents.

Scale of Destruction

More than 90% of homes are estimated 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 UN investigative commission says Israel has committed acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - although Israel has rejected the findings of the commission, labeling it as "inaccurate and misleading".

This visual guide shows how Gaza has turned into unlivable.

How the Destruction Spread

The Israeli operation initially focused on the northern part of Gaza - where it said militants were hiding among the non-combatant residents. Hamas denied this.

The town in the north of Beit Hanoun, only 2km (1.2 miles) from the frontier, was one of the first areas hit by airstrikes. It experienced severe destruction.

Israel continued to bomb 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 numerous Gaza residents 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 airstrikes on southern and central Gaza 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 truce was announced in early 2025 an estimated 60% of buildings across the Gaza Strip had been harmed, with Gaza City suffering the heaviest destruction. Over 46,000 Palestinians had been killed, as per Gaza's health ministry.

And the devastation has persisted since the truce was terminated by Israel in March - including in Rafah in the south. The UN calculates over 90% of the housing units in Gaza have been affected during the war.

Humanitarian Catastrophe

Throughout the war, Hamas - which is designated as a terrorist organisation by multiple nations including Israel and the UK - and additional factions allied to it have been engaged in intense battles against Israeli troops on the ground. They have also fired thousands of rockets 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 agricultural land where greenhouses once stood have been reduced to debris and dust by heavy vehicles and tanks used for destruction by Israeli troops.

Israel says militants utilize civilian buildings such as hospitals for armed operations - but the group denies these claims.

Prior to the conflict, most of Gaza's 2.1 million people lived in its four main cities - Rafah and Khan Younis in the south, Deir al-Balah, in the centre, and Gaza City.

In just 10 days of October 7, 2023, the Israeli military campaign had forced nearly half to abandon their residences, according to 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 internally displaced - they continue to be unable to go back.

Families have moved repeatedly as Israel changed the focus of its operation, initially telling people in the north to move south of Wadi Gaza river, which cuts the Strip roughly in half, and subsequently directing people to evacuate a number of "safe zones" in the south.

Airdropped leaflets by the Israeli army alerted residents to leave ahead of 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 more and more areas of Gaza as no-go zones - where restrictions are in place - or imposing evacuation directives, meaning Gazans have been told to evacuate entirely.

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

Aid agencies have to co-ordinate with the Israeli government to work within the "no-go" areas.

Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering Gaza at the start of March - accusing Hamas of commandeering it. Restricted assistance is now allowed in, although aid agencies still say it is nowhere near enough.

By the beginning of April every bakery supported by the UN in Gaza had been closed, most fresh vegetables were in extremely short supply and hospitals 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 set up security zones in Gaza to provide a “buffer” to protect Israeli communities even after the war ended - Hamas has insisted that Israeli troops must pull out from Gaza under any permanent ceasefire.

During that period nearly 70% of Gaza was affected by Israeli restrictions - including the majority of North Gaza and Gaza City governorates in the north and the entire 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 seek to secure the release of the 48 remaining hostages - 20 of which are believed to be living - and "finish the destruction" of the militant organization.

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

The first phase of the operation 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 crowded part of the territory prior to the conflict, with 775,000 people residing there.

Those who remained there were ordered to move south to al-Mawasi in the south west of the Strip which Israel has classified as a “humanitarian area” - despite the fact that it has persisted in conducting lethal attacks there and which the UN said was already overpopulated and unsafe.

Numerous residents have thus far evacuated Gaza City, where a starvation was verified in August 2025 by a UN-supported agency.

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

International Response

In September 2025, multiple nations, {including