Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Dec. 6, 2025
Update	: Dec. 6, 2025
Parts	: 01

Synopsis:



With the ongoing terrible and destructive war which has been raging between Israel's IDF -- Israel Defense Forces -- and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, I became rather curious regarding the actual size of the Gaza Strip. I already knew that it had to be quite small, because the size of the nation of Israel itself is rather small to begin with.

In fact, online research reveals that at its widest point -- which is from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east -- Israel is approximately 135 kilometers, or 85 miles, wide. From north to south, the length of Israel is approximately 470 kilometers, or 290 miles, according to one online source. At the nation's narrowest point -- which is from the Mediterranean Israeli coastal town of Netanya, to the town of Tulkarm on the western border of the West Bank -- Israel is only 14.97 kilometers, or 9.3 miles, wide. This means that the total area of the country of Israel is about 22,145 square kilometers, or 8,630 square miles. About half of Israel's population resides in a 60-mile wide strip along the Mediterranean coastline.

In stark contrast, the Gaza Strip -- which is bordered by Egypt on the southwest, and by Israel on the east and north -- is about 41 kilometers, or 25 miles, long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers, or 3.7 to 7.5 miles, wide. The Gaza Strip has a total area of only about 365 square kilometers, or about 141 square miles. Furthermore, the Gaza Strip happens to be one of the most densely populated territories in the world. In fact, its estimated population as of mid-2025 has been estimated to be approximately 2.1 million inhabitants.

You should know though that prior to the start of the war in October of 2023, Gaza's population was estimated at around 2.23 million inhabitants. Thus, the current 2025 figure of 2.1 million Gazans represents a significant decline. This is of course attributed to the ongoing conflict, including both war casualties and displacement.

Being as I myself live on a small tropical island which is located in the Western Pacific Ocean, I was rather shocked by the statistics concerning the Gaza Strip. My surprise is mainly due to the fact that the Gaza Strip is even SMALLER than my longtime home of Guam. While Guam happens to be the largest island in the Mariana Islands archipelago -- and in fact the largest island in all of Micronesia -- it is only about 48.55 kilometers, or 30.17 miles, long, and about 6 to 19 kilometers, or about 4 to 12 miles, wide. That depends on where one lives. That means that it has an area of about 540 to 549 square kilometers, or about 208 to 212 square miles.

So as you can plainly see, Guam really isn't too much larger than the Gaza Strip. It is in fact for that very reason that I was so shocked by the big population difference. While the Gaza Strip has an estimated population of 2.1 million Gazans, as of late 2025, Guam's total population is estimated to be approximately 169,518 inhabitants. That roughly equates to a population density of about 811 residents per square mile, or about 313 Guamanians per square kilometer.

By comparison, 2023 statistics indicate that the population density of the Gaza Strip hovers around 15,609 residents per square mile, or 6,024 inhabitants per square kilometer. Well, at least it did before all of the fighting and killing began. Wow! What a difference! Quite frankly, I can't even begin to imagine our island being so heavily populated. If such were the case, it most definitely would NOT be a very nice place to live.

One other rather interesting and related fact is that while the average age on the island of Guam is 31.5 years, almost half of the Gaza Strip's population are under the age of 18. In my mind, that immediately causes me to think of all of those impressionable, young people who are easy targets for radicalization by the leaders of Hamas. My friends, that is NOT a very comforting picture, and I am sure that the war is not helping the situation.

As I pondered the aforementioned population figures, not only did it make me realize how crowded the Gaza Strip really is compared to Guam, but it also made me ponder how the Gazans have been forced to move multiple times from one location to another throughout that narrow piece of land, as Israel has blasted the hell out of that place, in its endeavors to fully wipe out Hamas.

My dear friends, regardless of who you personally believe is to blame for the war -- I really don't want to get into the dirty politics of it all in this article, other than to say that I think that there is plenty of guilt on both sides of the fence in this millennia-old family feud -- I think that most of us can agree that what has been happening in the Gaza Strip amounts to a very troubling human tragedy. The level of devastation and human suffering is absolutely mind-boggling. I discuss these events in more detail in the articles "Donald Trump, Gaza, and the Tyre Prophecy" and "Gaza Strip Horrors and the Trump Plan", which you will find listed at the end of this same article.

While much of our American mainstream media has been heavily concentrating on reporting on the ongoing grinding three-year war in Ukraine, and US President Donald J. Trump's endeavors to bring peace between Vladimir Putin's Russia and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Ukraine -- one must truly wonder who is actually playing who with regard to that situation -- some people say that what is now occurring in the Gaza Strip truly amounts to ethnic cleansing, and perhaps even to outright genocide. In either case, personally, I find it rather heart-wrenching. I was just reminded of a quote that was spoken by the High Lama in the 1973 musical called "Lost Horizon". The movie itself was a remake of an earlier 1937 movie of the same name, which itself was based on a 1933 novel by famous British novelist, James Hilton.

As I explain in my series entitled "Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory", I saw the 1973 movie the same year that it came out, and I greatly enjoyed it. Towards the conclusion of the movie, the protagonist -- Richard Conway -- is given a private audience with the leader of the Shangri-La monastery who is referred to as the High Lama. Conway learns that the man is actually a 250-year-old French Catholic monk by the name of Father Perrault who miraculously survived his journey to Tibet. The key purpose of the meeting is to inform Conway why he has been purposely brought to Shangri-La. This quote highlights the key part of their conversation:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is! What blindness! What unintelligent leadership! A scurrying mass of bewildered humanity, crashing headlong against each other, propelled by an orgy of greed and brutality. A time must come my friend, when this orgy will spend itself. When brutality and the lust for power must perish by its own sword. Against that time, is why I avoided death, and am here. And why you were brought here. For when that day comes, the world must begin to look for a new life. And it is our hope that they may find it here. For here, we shall be with their books and their music, and a way of life based on one simple rule: Be Kind! When that day comes, it is our hope that the brotherly love of Shangri-La will spread throughout the world. Yes, my son; When the strong have devoured each other, the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth."

----- End Quote -----

So after serving as a globe-trotting diplomat who has seen plenty of war, tyranny and human suffering, Richard Conway has been chosen to lead the Shangri-La monastery upon the death of the High Lama. While the High Lama was obviously a fictitious character, nevertheless, what James Hilton had to say through his character is indeed still true to this very day. My friends, all of this continual hatred, violence and killing all around the world really needs to stop, and people need to turn to Jesus, and learn to live in peace with each other. Yes, I know. At this point in time, it clearly seems like a utopian dream and a fantasy entertained by idealists who don't have their feet planted in reality. I am reminded of the opening verses of the fourth chapter of the Epistle of the Apostle James:

"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."


The Apostle Paul likewise wrote the following wise words in his Epistle to the brethren at Rome:

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."


Tell me now, my friends; isn't that so much better than the seemingly unending and constant wars which we have witnessed for many decades now? And now with hypersonic missiles, AI, drones, robotic warriors, and Russia, China and the USA now talking about resuming their nuclear tests, who knows where it will all end. As James Hilton wrote, it is madness indeed.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory

AI, Deepfakes and Humanoid Robots

Cognitive Computers, DARPA, OpenAI, AGI, Superintelligence and Elon Musk

Donald Trump, Gaza, and the Tyre Prophecy

Gaza Strip Horrors and the Trump Plan

Killing and the Phinehas Priesthood

Killing, Murder, War and Military Duty

Middle East Peace: The Philistine - Palestinian Connection

Palestinian Quest For Statehood And UN Resolution 377

Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Middle East Peace

Robot Wars and Skynet: Is Sci-Fi Becoming Our Reality?

Science and Technology: The Forbidden Knowledge?

Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, on Guam

The Jerusalem Question: Middle East Peace, or War?

United Nations Confrontation: Abbas vs. Obama

Yasser Arafat's Ultimatum: Why May 4, 1999?

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Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.