This article has interactive before and after images that you can look at.

Earlier this week, several viral social media posts and news articles stated that Google had updated satellite imagery over Gaza.

The imagery shared in these posts and articles shows several areas, including the southern city of Rafah. Huge destruction is detailed in the images, including what appears to be entire neighbourhoods flattened

But the imagery wasn’t entirely new.

A Google spokesperson told Bellingcat that they regularly updated third-party satellite images and that the latest Gaza imagery had actually been available since June 2026.

Bellingcat has access to satellite imagery from commercial space company Planet Labs, which shows further destruction in Rafah after the June Google update.

The Planet Labs imagery also gives insight into destruction further north in Gaza as recently as September.

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[–] 10 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Not to downplay the amount of destruction, but this is after the US and Israel both bombed the Gaza strip in 2014 and didn't allow enough material back inside to rebuild.

So this is how Gaza is going to look for decades because of the US backed Israeli blockade that literally counts how many calories go into Gaza.

The genocide has been constant for decades.

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