The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a small self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km (32 mi) border. The term "Palestinian territories" has been used for many years to describe the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.More recently, the official United Nations (UN) terminology has been used, occupied Palestinian territory (OPT or oPt) increasingly replacing other terms since 1999.

Many of the historical issues concerning Israelis and Palestinians involve geography and maps.

The Gaza Strip is unusual in being a densely settled area not recognized as a de jure part of any extant country. Gaza Strip, Arabic Qiṭāʿ Ghazzah, Hebrew Reẓuʿat ʿAzza, territory occupying 140 square miles (363 square km) along the Mediterranean Sea just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula.
In 1967, Israel occupied the remaining 22% of historic Palestine: the West Bank and Gaza (as well as large sections of Syria and Egypt). Since Israel withdrew its military forces and settlers from Gaza in 2005, the relationship between the Palestinian territory and Israeli authorities has been, to say the least, fraught. A new and updated map published by Gisha in January 2020 emphasizes the spatial dimensions of Israel’s ongoing control over Gaza, and the means by which Israel … In recent years the fragmented Palestinian Territories are generally located within the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Of the G-8 nations, only Russia officially defines Palestine as a sovereign state.