Gaza War in Maps Following Two Years of Fighting

Two years of conflict have devastated Gaza.

The Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion have resulted in over 67,000 Palestinian fatalities according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, almost the entire population has been displaced, and the UN says most homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.

The offensive came in response to Hamas's unprecedented assault across the border on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were slain and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israeli authorities claim 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 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would end the fighting immediately. The group has consented to free all remaining hostages - living and deceased - and to hand over control of Gaza to independent Palestinian experts, but it has not committed to laying down arms or to giving up any political involvement in Gaza’s leadership.

Gaza is only 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide - roughly one-fourth the area of London - surrounded 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 home to over two million residents.

Extent of Damage

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

A UN investigative commission says Israeli forces have perpetrated acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - although Israel has rejected the commission’s report, describing it as "inaccurate and misleading".

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

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

Israel continued to bomb Gaza City and additional cities 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.

Simultaneously, Israel conducted air strikes on the southern cities which numerous Gaza residents from the north were escaping to. 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 southern and central Gaza at the start of December, before launching a ground offensive on Khan Younis, and by the start of 2024 more than half of Gaza's buildings had been destroyed or damaged.

By the time a truce was announced in early 2025 an approximately 60% of structures throughout Gaza 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 continued since the truce was terminated by Israel in the month of March - encompassing Rafah in the south. The UN estimates more than 90% of the residential buildings in Gaza have been damaged during the war.

Humanitarian Crisis

During the conflict, the militant group - which is classified as a terror group by Israel, the UK and many other countries - and other armed groups affiliated with it have been engaged in fierce combat against Israeli troops on the ground. They have also launched numerous projectiles into Israel, especially in the first months of the war.

However, within Gaza, entire districts have been completely demolished, medical facilities and places of worship have been obliterated and agricultural land where greenhouses previously existed have been reduced to sand and rubble by armored vehicles and machinery used for destruction by Israeli soldiers.

Israel says Hamas uses non-military structures such as medical centers for armed operations - but the group denies these claims.

Before the war, the majority of Gaza’s population lived in its primary urban centers - Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Deir al-Balah, in the centre, and the city of Gaza.

Within 10 days of 7 October 2023, Israel’s offensive had compelled almost 50% to leave their homes, according to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

And by the time the ceasefire was declared 15 months later, an estimated 1.9m people had been internally displaced - they remain unable to return home.

Households have relocated multiple times as Israeli forces shifted the focus of its operation, 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 leave a number of "evacuation zones" in the south.

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

Restricted Areas Grow

After the truce was terminated, it has designated more and more areas of Gaza as prohibited areas - where limitations are enforced - or making them subject to displacement orders, meaning residents have been instructed to leave completely.

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

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

Israel had also blocked any relief supplies from entering Gaza at the start of March - accusing Hamas of diverting it. Restricted assistance is now permitted to enter, although relief groups 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 extremely short supply and medical facilities were limiting distribution of medications and antibiotics.

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

Israel’s defence minister announced on 16 April that Israel would establish protected areas in Gaza to provide a “buffer” to protect Israeli communities following the conclusion of hostilities - the group has demanded 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 entire Rafah governorate in the south, according to the UN.

And in the month of May, Israel launched a land operation named Operation Gideon's Chariots, which Netanyahu said would seek 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 areas covered by displacement orders and other restrictions have been extended to cover 82 percent of the territory, according to the UN.

The first phase of the operation focused on objectives within northern Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah but in 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 south west of the Strip which Israel has classified 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 so far fled Gaza City, where a starvation was verified in August 2025 by a UN-backed body.

But many more thousands remain there in dire humanitarian conditions, with health and other essential services collapsing.

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