Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Gaza Strip is the most densely populated territory on Earth, with nearly 2 million people living within its 365-square-kilometer area before the 2023 war. This extreme concentration of humanity exists within a territory that has been under varying degrees of military control and blockade for decades.
The modern boundaries of the Gaza Strip were drawn in 1906 when the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire agreed on the international border with Egypt. Following World War I, the British ruled the territory from 1920 until 1948 under the internationally accepted frame of Mandatory Palestine.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 during the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. By the 14th of June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip, and the territory became a de facto one-party state.
A total of 1,100 to 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war that began on the 3rd of January 2009. The conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, 15 of Gaza's 27 hospitals, and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities.
On the 7th of October 2023, paramilitaries in Gaza led by Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades invaded southwest Israel, killing at least 1,300 people and taking at least 236 hostages. Israel declared war on Hamas and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip on the 9th of October 2023.
The Gaza peace plan came into effect in October 2025, calling for demilitarization and amnesty for Hamas members who disarmed. A ceasefire came into effect under the plan's first phase, and all 20 living Israeli hostages were released within 72 hours.