Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip, a small Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Home to about 2 million people before the Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian situation is now critical. Residents have limited access to clean water, electricity and healthcare. International organisations consistently highlight Gaza’s urgent humanitarian needs while ceasefires remain fragile.

Gaza’s location at the crossroads of key trading and maritime routes brought it under the control of successive rulers, including Egyptian pharaohs, the Babylonians, Philistines and Alexander the Great, who brutally captured Gaza City and killed or enslaved its inhabitants. Gaza was subsequently captured by the Romans, Mongols, Crusaders, Napoleon and the Ottoman Empire before coming under British control during World War I. As British rule ended in 1948 following World War II, Gaza passed to Egyptian rule until 1967 when Israel captured the enclave in the Six-Day War. The first intifada ("uprising" in Arabic) was launched in 1987 against Israeli occupation. In the decades since, Palestinian movements have since continued to battle for independence.

Gaza today is emblematic of both the suffering of civilians caught up in conflict and diplomatic deadlock, which has prevented a long-term resolution to one of the most intractable conflicts on the planet.