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Two years of conflict have ravaged Gaza.

The Israeli aerial assaults and military incursion have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians as reported by the Hamas-run health authority, nearly the entire population has been displaced, and the UN says the majority of residences have been destroyed or severely damaged.

The offensive was launched after Hamas's unprecedented assault across the border on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 individuals were slain and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel says it is attempting to dismantle the military and governing capabilities of the militant organization, which is dedicated to the elimination of Israel and has been governing Gaza since 2007.

A peace plan has been proposed by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would end the fighting immediately. Hamas has agreed to free all remaining hostages - alive and dead - and to hand over control of Gaza to independent Palestinian experts, but it has not committed to disarmament or to relinquishing any future political role 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 coast to the west, where a naval blockade is enforced by Israel. 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 collapsed; and UN-backed experts say there is famine in Gaza City.

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israeli forces have perpetrated acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - even though Israeli officials have dismissed 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 first targeted northern Gaza - where it said Hamas fighters 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 border, was among the initial locations struck by Israeli strikes. It sustained heavy damage.

Ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeted Gaza City and other urban centres in the north and instructed residents to relocate southward of the Wadi Gaza river before it launched its ground invasion at the end of October 2023.

But Israel was also launching aerial bombardments 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 a large portion of the north.

Israeli forces escalated its airstrikes on 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 structures in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged.

By the time a ceasefire was declared in early 2025 an estimated 60% of structures throughout Gaza had been damaged, with Gaza City suffering the heaviest destruction. Over 46,000 Palestinians had been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry.

And the destruction has continued since Israel ended the ceasefire in the month of March - encompassing Rafah in the south. The UN calculates more than 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 terror group by multiple nations including Israel and the UK - and additional factions allied to it have been involved in intense battles against Israeli forces on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, particularly during the initial phase of the war.

However, within Gaza, entire districts have been razed to the ground, hospitals and mosques have been obliterated and farmland where greenhouses previously existed have been turned into sand and rubble by heavy vehicles and tanks used for destruction by Israeli soldiers.

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

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 city, in the centre, and Gaza City.

In just 10 days of October 7, 2023, the Israeli military campaign had compelled almost 50% to leave their homes, 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 forcibly relocated - they continue to be unable to go back.

Families have moved repeatedly as Israeli forces shifted the emphasis of their campaign, first instructing people in the north to move south of Wadi Gaza river, which divides Gaza approximately in two, and subsequently directing people to evacuate a number of "safe zones" in the south.

Leaflet drops by the Israeli military warned people to leave ahead of military actions in the region. However, not all Israeli strikes 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 restrictions are in place - or imposing evacuation directives, meaning residents have been instructed to leave completely.

Initially 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.

Aid agencies have to coordinate with the Israeli government to operate in the "no-go" areas.

Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering the territory at the start of March - alleging that Hamas was diverting it. Restricted assistance 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, the majority of fresh produce were in very limited supply and medical facilities were rationing painkillers and antibiotics.

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

The Israeli Defense Minister announced on 16 April that Israel would set up protected areas in Gaza to create a protective barrier to protect Israeli communities following the conclusion of hostilities - the group has demanded that Israeli forces must withdraw from Gaza under any lasting truce.

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, as reported by the UN.

And in May, Israel initiated 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 believed to be living - and "finish the destruction" of the militant organization.

From that point onward the areas covered by evacuation directives and limitations have been extended to cover 82% of Gaza, according to 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 announced plans to seize and control all of Gaza City itself - which it has called the “last stronghold” of Hamas.

The city had been the most densely populated part of the territory prior to the conflict, with 775,000 residents living there.

Individuals who stayed behind were instructed to relocate south to al-Mawasi in the south west 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 overpopulated and unsafe.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have so far fled Gaza City, where a famine was confirmed in August 2025 by a UN-supported agency.

But hundreds of thousands more continue to stay in severe living conditions, with medical and vital services failing.

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