Updated Google Maps imagery shows the scale of devastation in Gaza

Updated Google Maps imagery has shown the scale of destruction in Gaza and the continuing humanitarian crisis. The images, taken in June, show damaged homes, businesses, places of worship and infrastructure.

Huge tented camps stretch along much of the shoreline, while Gaza’s badly damaged main port is empty of fishing boats. Open spaces in Gaza City are filled with shacks, tents and temporary shelters.

Destroyed districts and towns

The imagery shows extensive damage in northern Beit Hanoun and to the Istiqlal mosque in Khan Younis. Gaza City’s Jabaliya and Shuja’iya districts, repeatedly targeted during Israeli offensives, now appear uninhabitable.

Large areas of rubble are visible in southern Gaza, including a broad strip along the Egyptian border that the report describes as cleared by Israeli forces. Rafah appears almost entirely reduced to rubble, while Tel al-Sultan has been razed.

Destruction and displacement figures

According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, more than 2.1 million displaced people are living in tents and temporary shelters. About 82% of structures—roughly 200,000 buildings—have been damaged, with around two-thirds destroyed.

A recent UN assessment found that the number of destroyed structures had risen by 9% since the ceasefire was declared in October 2025. Jaco Cilliers, the UN Development Programme’s special representative in Palestine, said the rubble in Gaza is estimated at 61 million tonnes, with human remains still potentially buried beneath it.

More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, mostly civilians. The conflict followed a surprise Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 others taken hostage.