Jomaa Younis and Lina Altawell

28 September 2026•Update: 28 September 2026

Updated satellite imagery on Google Maps on Monday revealed the scale of widespread destruction caused by Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The aerial images showed entire residential neighborhoods disappeared and vast urban areas reduced to layers of rubble and debris.

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The updated imagery reveals a dramatic transformation of Gaza’s urban landscape, with destruction extending beyond individual buildings to entire residential blocks, leaving vast empty areas where densely populated neighborhoods once stood.

The images provide a broader view of the destruction across neighborhoods and residential blocks, allowing comparisons between Gaza’s current urban landscape and the period before the war and showing the extent of areas that have been destroyed.

The images come as the effects of the destruction continue to threaten Palestinian lives even after the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, 2025.

Since the ceasefire, dozens of buildings damaged by Israeli attacks have collapsed on residents, while Palestinians face a severe shortage of shelter amid continued restrictions on the entry of temporary housing units, or caravans.

The danger is not limited to buildings that were completely destroyed, as Israeli attacks left thousands of structures cracked or severely damaged, increasing the risk of collapse, particularly when exposed to rain, wind, and other weather conditions.

According to a report issued in February by the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, more than 200,000 tons of explosives were dropped on the Gaza Strip over nearly two years.

A satellite assessment by the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) found that around 201,290 buildings, equivalent to 82% of all structures in the Gaza Strip, were damaged as of June 16, 2026.

The figure includes 134,422 destroyed buildings, 13,848 severely damaged structures, 28,096 moderately damaged buildings and 24,924 structures possibly damaged, in addition to around 328,627 damaged housing units.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000 others, while around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged.