Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the West Bank) that make up the State of Palestine in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest, Israel on the east and north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its capital and largest city is Gaza City.

The territorial boundaries were established by the Green Line of the 1949 Armistice Agreements at the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, at which time Gaza was controlled by the Kingdom of Egypt. During that period the All-Palestine Protectorate, also known as All-Palestine, was established with limited recognition and it became a refuge for Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestine war. Later, during the Six-Day War, Israel captured and occupied the Gaza Strip, initiating its decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territories. The mid-1990s Oslo Accords established the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a limited governing authority, initially led by the secular party Fatah until that party's electoral defeat in 2006 to the Sunni Islamist Hamas. Hamas would then take over the governance of Gaza in the Battle of Gaza the next year, subsequently warring with Israel.

The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date back to the early 1990s. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its military forces from Gaza, dismantled its settlements, and implemented a temporary blockade of Gaza. The blockade became indefinite after the 2007 Hamas takeover. Egypt also began its blockade of Gaza in 2007. Despite the Israeli disengagement, Gaza was still considered occupied by Israel under international law, being described as an "open-air prison". Israel's actions in Gaza since the start of the war that began in 2023 have resulted in large-scale loss of life, mass population displacement, a humanitarian crisis, and an ongoing famine. These actions have been described by scholars, international law experts, and human-rights organizations as constituting a genocide against the Palestinian people. A provisional ceasefire began in mid-January 2025, lasting two months. In August, Israel began an offensive on Gaza City. By 9 October 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first part of a United States-led peace plan. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on 17 November 2025, contains provisions for the transitional governance of the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip is 41 kilometres (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, and has a total area of 365 km² (141 sq mi). As of 2010, its population of just over 2 million, mostly of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. It is one of the most densely populated territories in the world, with a population density similar to that of cities like Tel Aviv or London. Before the Gaza war, its capital Gaza City was roughly the 90th most densely populated city in the world, and had about a third of the population density of cities like Malé or Giza. The Gaza Strip has a high proportion of youth, with 43.5% being children 14 or younger and 50% under age of 18. Sunni Islam is almost ubiquitous, with a Palestinian Christian minority. Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 1.99% (2023 est.), the 39th-highest in the world. Gaza's unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, with an overall unemployment rate of 46% and a youth unemployment rate of 70%. Despite this, the area's 97% literacy rate is higher than that of nearby Egypt, while youth literacy is 88%. Gaza has throughout the years been seen as a source of Palestinian nationalism and resistance.