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Bellingcat
@bellingcat.com

Viral reports this week suggested new Google satellite imagery showed unseen destruction in Gaza. But the imagery actually depicts the scene in February 2026. Bellingcat has obtained satellite images from September that show how the destruction has continued. www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...

bellingcat.comViral Google Maps Images Shared Widely This Week Show Gaza Ruins. We Obtained More Recent Satellite Imagery - bellingcatEarlier this week, several viral social media posts and news articles stated that Google had updated satellite imagery over Gaza. But the images weren't entirely new.

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Bellingcat
@bellingcat.com

The images now visible on Google Maps and Earth were published in June 2026 but show a scene captured by the imagery provider Airbus in February. These images show a vast difference between the previous images published on Google which were from June 2024.

Bellingcat
@bellingcat.com

The most recent high-resolution imagery from Planet Labs, was taken in September 2026, seven months after the Airbus images now displayed on Google were published. The Planet images show that numerous other buildings in Rafah have since been demolished.

Bellingcat
@bellingcat.com

The centre of Bani Suheila, a town to the east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, also looks drastically different from how it appears in the latest Google imagery. Updated imagery from Planet shows that even more of the buildings have been reduced to rubble, with an IDF outpost now visible on top.

Bellingcat
@bellingcat.com

Satellite images such as these appear to confirm that Israel has not stopped reducing buildings in Gaza to rubble despite the continuation of an official ceasefire.