Ancient history 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. Excavations in the area have revealed remains of a large
coenobium, including a church with a crypt, a bathhouse and a hospice, reminiscent of the
monastery of Martyrius at
Ma'ale Adummim. The side has been tentatively identified as that of the
monastery of Seridus.
Origin of the refugee camp The camp was established after the
1948 Palestinian expulsion during the
1948 Palestine war. Most refugees of this camp 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.
2000s In May 2018 a mosque, the Grand Nuseirat Mosque, was opened by the
Qatari envoy to Gaza, Mohammed Al Emadi.
Gaza war The Nuseirat refugee camp has been bombed repeatedly since the start of the
Gaza war. On 18 October 2023 the Grand Nuseirat Mosque was bombed and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, subsequently the attacks continued causing more than a hundred victims. On 8 June 2024, the
IDF and
Yamam rescued four
Israeli hostages held by
Hamas in Nuseirat, including
Noa Argamani, during
a rescue operation. An IDF spokesperson claimed that the hostages were guarded by armed militants and concealed among Gazan civilians. The
Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 wounded in the Israeli airstrikes on the refugee camp, causing international outrage and the attack deemed a
massacre. The operation took place in two sites in Nuseirat, where the hostages were kept, a school and a marketplace. The IDF killed at least 10 civilians and injured at least 16 in a missile strike on a water distribution point on July 13, 2025. Six of the dead and seven of the wounded were children. The Israeli military stated the missile missed its intended target dozens of meters because of a "technical error". == Population ==