Area Code 825 – Deir al-Balah

Overview of Area Code 825

Area code 825 is a geographic National Destination Code (NDC) within the Palestinian Territories' national numbering plan, assigned to the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Under the ITU-T E.164 international dialing standard, the full country calling code for the Palestinian Territories is +970, followed by the NDC and the subscriber number. For callers outside the Palestinian Territories, the international format is +970 8 25X XXXX (where X represents the remaining digits of the local subscriber number). Within the Palestinian Territories, callers dial 0 8 25X XXXX using the national trunk prefix 0 before the NDC.

Geographic Coverage and Administrative Jurisdiction

Deir al-Balah is the administrative center of the Deir al-Balah Governorate, located in the central Gaza Strip. The area code covers the city itself and surrounding localities, including refugee camps such as Deir al-Balah Camp and adjacent villages. The region is part of the Palestinian enclave governed by the Palestinian National Authority, though the Gaza Strip has been under separate administrative control since 2007. The numbering plan, however, remains consistent across the Palestinian Territories, with geographic codes allocated to specific governorates.

Dialing Formats and Caller Instructions

For local callers within the Palestinian Territories (including the West Bank and Gaza), the national dialing format is 08 25X XXXX. The leading 0 is the trunk prefix used for domestic calls. For example, to call a landline in Deir al-Balah from Ramallah, one would dial 08 25X XXXX.

For international callers, the format is +970 8 25X XXXX (or 00970 8 25X XXXX when using the international prefix from many countries). The 0 is omitted when dialing from abroad. For instance, a caller in the United States would dial 011 970 8 25X XXXX, while a caller in the United Kingdom would dial 00 970 8 25X XXXX.

Overlay and Numbering Considerations

As of the latest ITU-T allocations, the Palestinian numbering plan does not currently implement overlay codes for geographic areas; each governorate retains a distinct NDC. However, due to the limited number of landlines in Gaza, some numbers may be assigned to VoIP or fixed-wireless services, but they remain geographically associated with the Deir al-Balah area. Callers should be aware that mobile numbers in the Palestinian Territories use separate non-geographic prefixes (e.g., 59, 56) and are not affected by this area code.

Practical Usage Notes

When storing numbers in international format, always include the +970 country code and drop the leading 0. For example, a Deir al-Balah number formatted as 08 255 1234 locally becomes +970 8 255 1234 internationally. This ensures correct routing via PSTN or VoIP networks. If you experience difficulties reaching a landline in Deir al-Balah, verify that you are using the correct NDC and subscriber number length, as local numbers are typically 7 digits after the NDC.