Israel / Palestine Map: Who Controlled What Before the 2023 Hamas Invasion?

This article was originally published in July 2020, but has been revised and updated to October 2023. The design of the accompanying map has also been slightly revised, but there were no changes to territorial control between the previous edition and this one except for the reopening of the Gaza fishing zone.

This map shows the situation just before the current war began. For the war itself, check out our new map showing control at the height of the October 2023 Hamas invasion the next day.

Click to enlarge. Map by Evan Centanni, incorporating base map by Koen Adams of onestopmap.com and data from B'Tselem's interactive mapping project. (Contact us for permission to use this map.)

Israel and Palestine Controlled Areas: Before the War

October 2023's surprise invasion of Israel by Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip has catapulted the area back to the top of world headlines, and the situation on the ground is now in flux. But what exactly was the situation just before this new chapter of the conflict started? This newly-revised version of PolGeoNow's Israel/Palestine explainer article answers all your questions about who's who and what the significance of each disputed zone is. 

The accompanying map has also been slightly revised and newly fact-checked to ensure that it shows the situation accurately as of October 6, 2023, the night before the Hamas-led invasion of Israel (the only change to control is that the Gaza Strip fishing zone was apparently open for most of this year, rather than closed as it was at the time of our 2021 update).

Note that this is a map of who actually controls what, not of who claims which areas. And it's definitely not supposed to imply that any particular party should or shouldn't control any particular area. As always, PolGeoNow takes no side in these disputes, and we have done our best to report only the facts.

Map Update: Record Number of African Union Members Suspended (Sep. 2023)

Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

AU Suspensions at All-time High

There are now a record of six member countries banned from participation in the African Union (AU), after Niger and Gabon were both suspended in August 2023. AU suspensions are almost always a response to a government overthrow in a member country, implying that coups in Africa are now at their highest point in the organization's 21-year history. The number is also up drastically from our previous African Union map update in June 2021, when we reported that only two countries were currently suspended.

Map: Which Countries are in the African Union?

Correction (2023-09-04): This article was still displaying the previous version of the map after its text was updated yesterday. It has now been fixed.

This map and explainer will be updated whenever there's a change in AU membership, including suspensions and reinstatements. News about each change will be published in separate articles, which you can find listed below, or by viewing all African Union content on PolGeoNow.

Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

What is the African Union?

Launched in 2002 as a replacement for the earlier Organization of African Unity (OAU), the African Union (AU) is an intergovernmental organization that works on increasing cooperation, stability, and development within the continent of Africa. The organization is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Ethiopia is the only African country that the European empires never colonized, and is also the second most populous country on the continent.)

Ukraine: Map of Russian Control in August 2023 (Subscription)

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Research by Djordje Djukic. Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic

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Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian control has made modest progress, even as its forces lose a comparable amount of ground in bits and pieces along the rest of the front. In particular, Russia has pushed back into parts of Kharkiv province while Ukraine makes gains in the south.

(The maps in this report show the situation as of August 18. Territorial changes since that time, including the reported Ukrainian capture of Robotyne, will be covered in the next report.)

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Ukraine war control map, which includes a detailed chronicle of changes and events since our previous Ukraine map report of June 30, with sources cited, as well as a close-up map of control within the claimed borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (which now claim to be self-governing regions within Russia).

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Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Ukraine, color-coded for the Ukrainian government on one side and the Russian military and allied forces on the other side, with areas of uncertainty indicated. Colorblind accessible.
• Darker color indicating which areas were already under Russian or allied control before the 2022 invasion began
• Lines showing Russia's claimed border after its annexations of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson provinces.
  

• 

  Donbas close-up map
  

  Close-up map of territorial control within the self-proclaimed boundaries of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, which now claim to be part of Russia
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events
• Locations of recent control changes and other important events, including Robotyne, Piatykhatky, Synkivka, Kyslivka, Kotlyarivka, Staromaiorske, Urozhaine, Berkhivka, Karmazynivka, and more
  
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since June 30, 2023, with links to sources.

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Syria Control Map & Report - July 2023 (Subscription)

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Research by Djordje Djukic. Map by onestopmap.com, Evan Centanni, and Djordje Djukic

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For years there have been no lasting changes to the lines of control in Syria's nearly-frozen civil war, but sporadic fighting has continued between rival rebel groups, between Turkish-led forces and elements of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and as part of the ongoing insurgency carried out by the so-called "Islamic State" (IS; formerly ISIS/ISIL).

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Syrian Civil War control map, which includes a timeline of key events since our previous Syria map report from last year, with sources cited.

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Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Syria, color-coded for the Assad government, rebel groups, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Colorblind accessible.
• Pattern showing areas of "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) dispersed operational presence now that the group has lost its last firmly-held territory.
  
• Special symbols for joint Turkish/rebel control and joint SDF/government control in the border region
• Extent of "security corridor" sponsored by Turkey and Russia in the rebel-held northwest
• Outline showing approximate location of the one publicly-known US "deconfliction zone"
• Special symbols indicating towns dominated by rebels of the former Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front (now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS) and by the Kurdish YPG militia (part of the SDF anti-"Islamic State" coalition)
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events
• Locations of recent control changes and other important events, including Afrin, Tanf, Al-Kawm, and more
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since February 23, 2022, compiled by our Syria-Iraq expert, with links to sources.

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Can I purchase just this map?
This map and report are not available for automated purchase to non-subscribers. If you need access or republication rights for only this map report, contact service@polgeonow.com for options.