July 29, 2025
These two satellite images taken on May 12, 2023 and July 4, 2025 show the Tal al-Sultan area within Rafah, in southern Gaza before and after it was devastated by Israeli attacks.
Between October 7, 2023 and July 16, 2025, nearly 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, some 18,000 children and more than 144,000 have been injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. A report by the UN Special Committee tasked with investigating Israeli practices asserts that the Israeli offensive is consistent with genocide.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza reached new heights on May 27, 2025, when food security became even more precarious as the responsibility for aid distribution was withdrawn from the recognized United Nations agencies and transferred exclusively to a group led by Israel and the United States called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the new system as “a death trap,” with hundreds of killings and gunshot wounds reported at the four isolated aid distribution sites. Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is among more than 200 NGOs to have called for the immediate dismantling of the current Israeli distribution scheme in Gaza.
The heavy and relentless bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the destruction of 70% of all structures according to the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)’s latest figures at time of writing. An estimated, 436,000 homes have been damaged leaving approximately 1.3 million people in need of emergency shelter. According to OCHA, 86.3% of Gaza is currently either within the “no-go” areas or under displacement orders.
Three of the new aid distribution sites are located in the governorate of Rafah, where more than 28,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, according to the latest data from UNOSAT. Millions affected by hunger are being forced to traverse the rubble laden streets to reach food and essential supplies. As the above comparative shows, very few buildings are left standing in the area of Tal al-Sultan.
In addition to the brutal human cost, the unprecedented scale of destruction in Gaza poses both immediate and long-term risks to public health, arable land, and access to drinking water.
CREDITS
- 2025: Planet Labs.
- 2023: Planet Labs.
