Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. Inhabited by mostly Palestinian refugees and their descendants, Gaza is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. An end of 2024 estimate puts the population of the Strip at 2.1 million, which was a 6% decline from the previous year due to the Gaza war. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Its capital and largest city is Gaza City.

The territorial boundaries were established while Gaza was controlled by the Kingdom of Egypt at the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. 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 Islamic 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 is still considered occupied by Israel under international law. The current blockade prevents people and goods from freely entering or leaving the territory, leading to Gaza often being called an "open-air prison". The UN, as well as at least 19 human-rights organizations, have urged Israel to lift the blockade. Israel has justified its blockade on the Strip with wanting to stop flow of arms, but Palestinians and rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment and exacerbates dire living conditions. Israel's actions in Gaza since the start of the war begun in 2023 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.

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, the Strip's population mostly comprised Palestinians and refugees. It 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.