Saint Hilarion Monastery

Tell Umm el-'Amr, also known as Tell Umm Amer, is an archaeological site located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip, Palestine.

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.

The Besor (Hebrew: נחל הבשור, romanized: Nahal HaBesor) or Wadi Gaza (Arabic: وادي غزة, romanized: Wadi Ghazza) is a stream in southern Israel and Palestine. The stream begins at Mount Boker (near Sde Boker), and spills into the Mediterranean Sea near Al-Zahra in the Gaza Strip. Further upstream it was marked as Wadi esh-Shallaleh on the 1878 Survey of Western Palestine map. The area has several important archaeological sites.The stream is the largest in the northern Negev, and together with its largest tributaries, the Nahal Gerar, and the Beersheba stream, reaches as far east into the desert as Sde Boker, Yeruham, Dimona, and Arad/Tel Arad. The Gaza section of the Coastal Aquifer is the only significant source of water in the Gaza Strip. The Wadi Gaza runs through a wetland, the Gaza Valley, and as of 2012 it is used as a wastewater dump.

Nuseirat (Arabic: مخيّم النصيرات) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, five kilometers north-east of Deir al-Balah. The refugee camp is in the Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the refugee camp had a population of 31,747 and the surrounding Nuseirat municipality had a population of 54,851 in 2017.The Nuseirat camp was named after the local Nuseirat tribe, part of the larger Hanajira confederation, that historically dominated the area between Deir al-Balah and Gaza. Most refugees came from the southern areas of Palestine such as Beersheba and the coastal plain. Prior to the camp's establishment by UNRWA, the roughly 16,000 original refugees settled in the grounds of a former British military prison at the site.In May 2018 a mosque, the Grand Nuseirat Mosque, was opened by the Qatari envoy to Gaza, Mohammed Al Emadi.

On 31 October 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces struck a residential building in the Gaza Strip during its operations in Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war, killing at least 106 people, including 54 children. Human Rights Watch said there was no evidence of any military targets in the area at the time of the attack, making the strike an apparent war crime. The incident was not public knowledge until April 2024.

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 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.

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.

Maghazi (Arabic: مخيم المغازي) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the Deir al-Balah Governorate in the central Gaza Strip. It was established in 1949. The camp is built on 559 dunums (0.6 km2). In July 2023, the UNRWA reported its population to be 33,000. During the first months of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, its population tripled and faced repeated airstrikes by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Al-Maghazi refugee camp was struck several times.

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.

Deir al-Balah Camp (Arabic: مخيّم دير البلح) is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Deir al-Balah Governorate of the southern Gaza Strip, located one kilometer northwest of the center of Deir al-Balah city, of which it practically forms part. The camp consists of concrete buildings and has eight schools, sewers, and other municipal services. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the camp had a population of 6,985 in 2017. It is the smallest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Deir al-Balah Camp is built on an area of 0.16 square kilometers (16 hectares; 39 acres (160,000 m2); ). As of March 2005, the population registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was 19,534 persons.