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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-...

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.

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.

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.

According to United Nations data, about 82 percent of the structures in Gaza are damaged, with two -thirds of them destroyed. With international journalists still widely unable to enter Gaza freely, satellite imagery remains one of the only ways to assess the true scale of destruction.