All About the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Enclave Where Hamas Rules

Since the militant Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the small, overcrowded enclave has been the focal point in Israel’s military conflict with the Palestinians. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants in Gaza pulled off a shocking air, sea and land invasion of southern Israel, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and taking dozens of hostages. Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 2,650 people in Gaza since then. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, which the US and European Union have designated a terrorist group.

Also known as the Gaza Strip, it’s a territory about 25 miles (40 km) long and 7.5 miles wide bounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Once a part of the Ottoman and later the British empire, it became a refuge for an estimated 200,000 Palestinians uprooted by the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Gaza now has a population of more than 2 million, a majority of whom are those refugees and their descendants. Egypt ruled Gaza until it lost it to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 2005, Israel withdrew troops from Gaza and abandoned settlements of Israeli citizens. Today Gaza is one of two territories, along with the West Bank, where Palestinians exercise limited self-government. Israel maintains control of Gaza’s airspace and maritime territory and, along with Egypt, has long enforced a blockade of the territory. While Hamas controls security in Gaza, funding for health, power and other services comes mostly from the United Nations and foreign countries. The sole power plant runs on diesel that is usually supplied by Israel and paid for by Qatar.