A rocket launched from Gaza on Tuesday struck a packaging plant in southern Israel, killing two Thai workers inside, local authorities said. Only hours before, Israeli airstrikes had destroyed a six-story building that housed bookstores and educational centers in the Gaza Strip. Dig deeper: Key players in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and why peace remains elusive in Gaza. Hamas, a militant group that does not recognize Israel's right to exist, has controlled Gaza, which is home to about 2 million Palestinians. The U.

Home to about two million people, Gaza is 41km 25 miles long and 10km wide, an enclave bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Israel and Egypt. Tensions between Gaza and Israel have recently escalated into the worst violence for several years and led the UN to warn of "a full-scale war". Israel withdrew its troops and around 7, settlers in It is under the control of the militant Islamist group Hamas, which ejected forces loyal to the then governing Palestinian Authority PA after a violent rift in Since then, Israel and Egypt have restricted the movement of goods and people in and out in what they say are security measures against militants. Hamas and Israel fought a brief conflict in , and in May hostilities between the two sides broke out again. The Gaza fighting began after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in occupied East Jerusalem that culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews.

It borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers 6. Gaza and the West Bank are claimed by the de jure sovereign State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory.

Gaza's population is now estimated at , In , the population of Gaza was 63, Gaza has grown by 20, since , which represents a 2. These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects.