Air quality comparison · Palestinian Territory, 79 km apart
East Jerusalem vs Gaza Air quality index (AQI) today
East Jerusalem has cleaner air than Gaza right now: AQI 51 (Moderate) against 54 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 42. Gaza has lost more forest since 2001. East Jerusalem has more tree cover.
Palestinian Territory
AQI 51
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 9.1 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 18:00 local
Palestinian Territory
AQI 54
Moderate
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 10.6 µg/m³
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 18:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
East Jerusalem51Gaza54
Head to head
East Jerusalem vs Gaza at a glance
East Jerusalem is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Gaza on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| East Jerusalem | Gaza | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 51 (better) | 54 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 9.1 (better) | 10.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 42 | 42 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 9 ha (better) | 12 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 6.9% (better) | 0.6% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 72.6K (better) | 92.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in East Jerusalem and Gaza right now?
East Jerusalem has cleaner air than Gaza right now: AQI 51 (Moderate) against 54 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
East JerusalemGaza
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
East Jerusalem: Ground station · Bar Ilan University - the'' UN, Jerusalem, Israel (ישראל,בר אילן -י''ם, ירושלים), 1.8 km away · median of 4 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Gaza: Ground station · Cedar, southern coastal plain, Israel (ישראל,ארז, מישור החוף הדרומי), 11.4 km away · median of 3 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 42. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- East Jerusalem3Gaza4
- Average AQI
- East Jerusalem42Gaza42
- Worst day, AQI
- East Jerusalem60Gaza56
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | East Jerusalem | Gaza |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 60 | 54 |
| Nov 6 | 45 | 30 |
| Nov 7 | 28 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 33 | 32 |
| Nov 9 | 43 | 39 |
| Nov 10 | 45 | 56 |
| Nov 11 | 43 | 55 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in East Jerusalem and Gaza today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do East Jerusalem and Gaza compare with the rest of the world?
Right now East Jerusalem's air is cleaner than 61% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Gaza's is cleaner than 55%. Within Palestinian Territory, that is 75% and 25% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- East Jerusalem
- Beats 61%
- Gaza
- Beats 55%
More tree cover than…
- East Jerusalem
- Beats 14%
- Gaza
- Beats 1%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, East Jerusalem or Gaza?
Gaza has lost more: about 12 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 9 ha around East Jerusalem. 11 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2013, with 4 ha lost.
Worst year: 2004, with 4 ha lost.
| East Jerusalem | Gaza | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 9 ha (better) | 12 ha |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 7 ha (better) | 11 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (79%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (72%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
East Jerusalem
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Gaza
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, East Jerusalem or Gaza?
East Jerusalem has more tree cover: 6.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.6% around Gaza, or about 21,677 trees against 1,885.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| East Jerusalem | Gaza | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 21.7K (better) | 1.9K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 72.6K (better) | 92.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 477K kg (better) | 41.5K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
East Jerusalem vs Gaza: your questions answered
Is East Jerusalem cleaner than Gaza?
On air quality, yes, right now: East Jerusalem reads AQI 51 against 54, a gap of 3 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, both averaged AQI 42.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in East Jerusalem and Gaza today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. East Jerusalem reads AQI 51 and Gaza reads AQI 54.
Which has lost more forest, East Jerusalem or Gaza?
Gaza has lost more: about 12 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 9 ha around East Jerusalem. 11 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, East Jerusalem or Gaza?
East Jerusalem has more tree cover: 6.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.6% around Gaza, or about 21,677 trees against 1,885. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do East Jerusalem and Gaza need?
East Jerusalem needs about 72,571 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Gaza about 92,363 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are East Jerusalem and Gaza measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the East Jerusalem vs Gaza comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 16, 2026 and Sep 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare East Jerusalem with somewhere else
This place
East Jerusalem