Deir al-Balah Camp

The Deir al-Balah Governorate (Arabic: محافظة دير البلح Muḥāfaẓat Dayr al Balaḥ), also referred to as Central Gaza Governorate (Arabic: محافظة الوسطى) is one of 16 Governorates of Palestine in the central Gaza Strip which is administered by Palestine aside from its border with Israel, airspace, and maritime territory. Its total land area consists of 56 sq. kilometers. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in mid-year 2022 it had a population of 310,820 inhabitants distributed between eight localities.

RAF Gaza was an Royal Air Force airfield on the southwest coast of Mandatory Palestine, in the present day Gaza Strip.

Deir al-Balah or Deir al Balah (Arabic: دير البلح, lit. 'Monastery of the Date Palm') is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and the administrative capital of the Deir el-Balah Governorate of the State of Palestine. It is located over 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) south of Gaza City. The city had a population of 75,132 in 2017. The city is known for its date palms, after which it is named. Deir al-Balah dates back to the Late Bronze Age when it served as a fortified outpost for the New Kingdom of Egypt. A monastery was built there by the Christian monk Hilarion in the mid-4th century AD and is currently believed to be the site of a mosque dedicated to Saint George, known locally as al-Khidr. During the Crusader-Ayyubid wars, Deir al-Balah was the site of a strategic coastal fortress known as "Darum" which was continuously contested, dismantled and rebuilt by both sides until its final demolition in 1196. Afterward, the site grew to become a large village on the postal route of the Mamluk Sultanate (13th-15th centuries). It served as an episcopal see of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem in Ottoman times until the late 19th century. Under Egyptian control Deir al-Balah, whose population tripled through the influx of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, was a prosperous agricultural town until its capture by Israel in the Six-Day War. After 27 years of Israeli occupation, Deir al-Balah became the first city to come under Palestinian self-rule in 1994. Since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, it has witnessed frequent incursions by the Israeli Army with the stated aim of stopping Qassam rocket fire into Israel. Ahmad Kurd, a Hamas member, was elected mayor in late January 2005.

The Palestine Technical College (Arabic: كلية فلسطين التقنية, romanized: Kullīyat Filasṭīn al-Tiqniyah) is a college in Deir El-Balah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. The college offers bachelor degree programs and 2-year associate degrees in technical education at the post-secondary level, as well as programmers for different target groups through continuing education. It is a governmental college that was established in 1993. Currently there are more than 1800 student enrolled in the college in 20 diploma programs and 8 B.Sc. programs. The main college campus is located at the city of Deir El-Balah. The college has a branch campus in the north of Gaza City. In the academic year 2015/2016, PTC employed around 200 full time employees of which 120 were academic staff. In 2023 it was used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and its buildings were damaged by Israeli military strikes.

The World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack occurred on 1 April 2024, when Israeli drones targeted a three-car convoy belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in the Gaza Strip, killing seven aid workers. The workers had been overseeing the transfer of a shipment of food from a makeshift pier to a warehouse some distance away in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been pushed close to famine by Israel's invasion and blockade during the Israel–Hamas war. The attack occurred three days after a unanimous ICJ ruling in the ongoing Genocide Convention case that ordered Israel to ensure the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza. The Israeli military acknowledged that their drone operators fired three missiles in five minutes at three of the WCK's cars, with some survivors of the first strike boarding the second car, which was minutes later hit by a second missile. Some survivors of the second strike boarding the third car, which was in turn struck by a third missile. All seven aid workers were killed, and their bodies were sent to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital. They held Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish, and dual American-Canadian citizenships. Despite the convoy's route having been coordinated in advance, the Israeli military claimed it had been targeting unauthorized gunmen but admitted its commanders had misidentified their location, failed to properly disseminate information about the convoy, and violated rules of engagement by striking all three cars in succession. Two officers were dismissed and three more reprimanded, including Southern Command head Yaron Finkelman. WCK founder, Spanish chef José Andrés, accused Israel of deliberately attacking the convoy; the group argued that the military could not credibly investigate itself and called for an independent inquiry. While noting serious failings on the part of the IDF, an Australian government report largely supported the Israeli position. The attack drew widespread international condemnation, and led WCK and other humanitarian organizations to pause their operations in Gaza. Statements made by the Israeli ambassador in Poland on the incident led to a diplomatic spat between the two countries. The event led to allegations from various commentators that Israel is deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war, which is a war crime.

Tell Ruqeish (Arabic: تل الرقيش) is an Iron Age settlement and archaeological site situated on the Mediterranean coast between Rafah and Gaza in the Gaza Strip. It was established in the 8th century BC and continued as a trading port by the Neo-Assyrian and Achaemenid empires until the 4th century BC. The tell (an archaeological mound) began as a fortified settlement, but the fortifications were abandoned while habitation continued. The remains include a cemetery, fortification walls, possible warehouses, and structures connected to industrial processes. The site was partially excavated at several points in the 20th century. Part of the settlement has been submerged by rising sea levels.

On 14 October 2024, the Israeli Air Force struck tents within the grounds of the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip. As of 14 October 2024, at least 5 people were confirmed killed in the attack and at least 70 were injured after a major fire broke out in nearby tents. The death toll was expected to increase due to the large number of victims with severe burns. 25 people were transferred to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. It was the seventh attack on the hospital since March 2024. Following the spread of videos showing people burning alive in nearby tents, the White House expressed its concerns to Israel. Around one million displaced people are estimated to be sheltering in Deir el-Balah, which is supposedly considered to be part of Israel's "humanitarian zone" in the Gaza Strip.

Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital (English: al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital) is the only hospital located in the middle area of the Gaza Strip in Deir al-Balah and was founded in 2001. As of 2018, this hospital is one of fifteen public hospitals in the Gaza Strip and is managed by UNRWA, The Ministry of Health, and various NGOs. The hospital serves an estimated 18,000 patients each month. According to The Ministry of Health, the hospital's emergency department had over 11,000 visits. In 2018, the hospital had 166 beds.

The Kfar Darom bus attack was a 1995 suicide attack on an Israeli bus carrying civilians and soldiers to Kfar Darom, an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip. The attack killed seven Israeli soldiers and one American civilian. The Shaqaqi faction of the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. A United States Federal district judge ruled that the Iranian Government had provided financial aid to the group that carried out the attack and were therefore responsible for the murder of the U.S. citizen. The court ordered the Government of Iran to pay the victim's family $247.5 million in damages.

Kfar Darom (Hebrew: כְּפַר דָּרוֹם, lit. South Village), was a kibbutz and an Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip.

Az-Zawayda (Arabic: الزوايدة), also spelled Zawaida, is a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip, in the Deir al-Balah Governorate of the State of Palestine. It is located about three kilometers northeast of the city of Deir al-Balah and just west of Maghazi refugee camp. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2017 census, there were 23,841 residents.

Tel Katifa (Hebrew: תל קטיפא), was a small Israeli settlement located in the northeast end of the Gush Katif settlement bloc of the Gaza Strip, and evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005.