How many people are displaced in Gaza?

How many people are displaced in Gaza?

On 24 September 2026, WHO's Director-General told a UN General Assembly side event that "approximately 1.7 million people remain displaced" in Gaza. OCHA puts Gaza's current population at 2.1 million (23 September 2026), so most people in the Strip are still away from their homes. OCHA had described nearly the entire population as displaced in January 2026, many of them multiple times.

You may also see a higher figure. On 12 September 2026 UN News reported that some 2.1 million people, "almost the entire population of the Strip", were displaced and living within the limits of the "yellow line"; that matches OCHA's estimate of the whole population, so the two figures appear to measure different things (everyone confined west of the line, versus people still displaced from their homes), and OCHA's latest situation reports, up to 2 October 2026, do not give a separate count of displaced people.

Either way, displacement in Gaza isn't a small subset of the population; it is most people. If you are looking for Gaza's population in 2026, OCHA's estimate is 2.1 million.

These are internally displaced people: they have been forced from their homes but remain inside Gaza. The patients who leave for treatment abroad are covered in our guide to medical evacuations.

What the "yellow line" is

The "yellow line" was set up after the ceasefire agreement announced in October 2025. It splits Gaza in two: most Palestinians are confined to the western zone, while the eastern zone is under Israeli military control. Israel has marked it with painted cement blocks.

At first the line left roughly 47% of the Strip for the Palestinian population. According to OCHA, Israeli forces have gradually pushed it inwards. By September 2026 Palestinians lived in less than 40% of Gaza's land area, and on 2 October 2026 OCHA said access to 65% of the Strip was restricted, leaving the remaining 35% overcrowded. Families near the line describe being displaced again and again. "Every two to three months, we are forced to move and leave our belongings behind," one resident of Zeitoun told UN News.

The shrinking space also makes it harder to set up new camps. The UN says much of the suitable land lies in prohibited or restricted areas.

Where displaced people are living

Displaced families in Gaza live in tents and makeshift shelters at displacement sites, in schools and public buildings used as shelters, and in the damaged remains of homes. UN figures show how poor these conditions are:

• Some 1.98 million people, 94% of Gaza's population, need shelter and non-food items such as bedding and kitchen sets, according to the Shelter Cluster assessment reported by OCHA on 23 September 2026. 65% of assessed households were living in tents or makeshift shelters.
• 84% of families live in extremely difficult conditions, including shelters or tents that don't protect them from the weather (UN News, September 2026).
• More than 950,000 people were estimated to live in 989 displacement sites at medium or high risk of flooding, including over 400,000 in 451 high-risk sites (Shelter Cluster, Site Management Cluster and IOM, reported by OCHA on 23 September 2026). After physically assessing over 400 sites, the Site Management Cluster found 217 at medium to high risk, hosting about 235,000 people (OCHA, 2 October 2026).
• More than 2,300 buildings assessed as unsafe and needing full or partial demolition were still inhabited, sheltering nearly 44,000 people (Shelter Cluster estimate, OCHA, 2 October 2026). On 16 September 2026, a war-damaged six-storey building in Gaza city collapsed, killing 21 people, including 12 children.

What displaced families need

With winter coming, the most urgent needs are weatherproof shelter, blankets and warm clothing, drainage for flood-prone sites, clean water and food. OCHA reported in September 2026 that aid groups were helping families move voluntarily from damaged buildings and flood-prone areas to safer sites, but that restrictions on tents, tarpaulins and other critical items were holding the response back. Shortages of machinery, fuel, engine oil and spare parts were also limiting repairs and relocations.

The UN's emergency relief chief said in September 2026 that it was urgent to bring in supplies to support some two million people in Gaza through the winter. For more on each need, see Gaza winter relief, Gaza food aid and Gaza water aid.

Gaza and the wider humanitarian appeal

You may also see the figure of 3 million people in need. That is the UN's 2026 Flash Appeal figure for the whole occupied Palestinian territory, Gaza and the West Bank together, with US$4.06 billion requested to support them. It is not a count of displaced people in Gaza.