The Gaza Strip is a non-sovereign territory under the de facto control of Hamas (particularly the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades). There is no sovereign Palestinian air force or organic military aviation unit in the Gaza Strip; military air operations are primarily characterized by the use of improvised unmanned systems and extensive ground-based rocket and missile capabilities.
GAZA STRIP AVIATION (HAMAS CONTROLLED) • Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Status: De facto control by Hamas since 2007; under military blockade and active conflict. Paramilitary Personnel: ε15,000–30,000 (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades). Aviation Capabilities: Focused on asymmetric warfare, improvised uncrewed systems, and long-range precision fires.
Forces by Role & Equipment by Type
Paramilitary Strike & Reconnaissance Forces
• AIRCRAFT Total 0 (Organic).
- No fixed-wing military aircraft are maintained or operated by Gazan security forces.
• HELICOPTER Total 0 (Organic).
- No rotary-wing military aircraft are maintained or operated by Gazan security forces.
• UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS (UAS) & LOITERING MUNITIONS
- Loitering Munitions: Hamas has demonstrated and utilized locally constructed or assembled loitering munitions.
- ISR & Combat UAS: Small-scale, improvised systems used for surveillance and targeted attacks.
• GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENCE (GBAD)
- SAM • Point-defence: Misaq-2 (QW-18).
- Anti-Aircraft Artillery: Improvised anti-aircraft guns and varying calibres of machine guns.
• TACTICAL MISSILE & ARTILLERY FORCES
- Surface-to-Surface Missiles (SRBM): Ayyash-250 (claimed range of 250 km).
- Multiple Rocket Launchers (MRL): Qassam rockets (multiple calibres); 122mm; 240mm (Fadjr 3); 330mm (Fadjr 5).
- Anti-Tank/Infrastructure (MANPATS): 9K11 Malyutka (AT-3 Sagger); Dehlavieh (Kornet).
• PARAMILITARY MARITIME AVIATION
- Maritime Police Force (ε600 personnel): No organic aviation assets; maintains light patrol boats for coastal monitoring.
Note: As of 2026, the Gaza Strip remains a conflict zone where sovereign aviation control is exercised by the Israel Air and Space Force, which conducts frequent strikes against infrastructure in the territory. Gazan forces rely entirely on smuggling and local assembly for their limited "air power," which is strictly restricted to uncrewed systems. During the 2024–2025 period, international air forces also conducted humanitarian relief drops into Gaza using tactical transport platforms like the E-11A and C-130J.
Gaza Strip Aviation
Facility:
Yasser Arafat International Airport
Yasser Arafat International Airport (Arabic: مطار ياسر عرفات الدولي Matār Yāsir 'Arafāt ad-Dawli) (IATA: GZA, ICAO: LVGZ), formerly Gaza International Airport and Dahaniya International Airport, is located in the Gaza Strip, in Rafah close to the Egyptian border.
It is owned, and was operated, by the Palestinian Authority, and served as the home airport for Palestinian Airlines. The airport was able to handle 700,000 passengers per year and operated 24 hours and 364 days a year (closed on Yom Kippur). The airport opened in 1998, but it closed in 2001 after being severely damaged by Israeli military forces. Its destruction left Gaza Airstrip as the only serviceable runway in the Gaza Strip.
On July 22nd, 2010, 7,203 Gazan children between the ages of 6 and 15 participated in setting a new Guinness World Record for the simultaneous dribbling of basketballs on the airport's undamaged tarmac ramp. Three weeks later, in August of 2010, the tarmac ramp was dismantled by Palestinians seeking stones and recycled building materials for reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the Gaza War.
Air Traffic Control at the airport was assumed by the Palestinian Civil Aviation Authority, but traffic to and from the airport was also under the jurisdiction of the Israel South Control.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)
Local Aviation
Knowledge of aircraft and helicopters.
(Under Construction)
4/5 Generation Fighters 
