New satellite images show that most urban spaces in the Gaza City neighborhoods of Shujaiyeh, Zeitoun, and Tuffah have been destroyed in recent weeks, underscoring the accelerating collapse of civilian life in the enclave.
The images, analyzed by independent experts and first reported by Haaretz, depict entire residential blocks flattened, with roads, schools, and community infrastructure severely damaged or erased altogether.
According to figures obtained by Haaretz, over 85 percent of the neighborhoods of Shujaiyeh and Tuffah have been destroyed, while in Jabalya, Zeitoun, and other districts, more than 70 percent of buildings have been demolished. Entire residential blocks have disappeared, and infrastructure critical for civilian life — schools, roads, clinics, and utilities — has been devastated.
A City Under Fire
Rescue services also documented the broad use of quadcopter drones, which launched explosives on buildings in the eastern parts of Gaza City, alongside sustained artillery fire in the north and west of the Strip. The combination of aerial and ground-based strikes has left neighborhoods unrecognizable and has further complicated rescue and relief efforts.
“Large parts of Gaza City are no longer habitable,” said one civil defense worker. “If urgent steps are not taken to rehabilitate what’s left, humanitarian systems could collapse completely.”
Due to the large-scale demolition, many of Gaza City’s residents have been displaced from their homes. The rescue services estimate that tens of thousands have been displaced from the destroyed neighborhoods in the city and other areas in the northern Strip. They are crowded into areas covering about 12 percent of the Strip. The difficult living conditions there are increasing the fear of a humanitarian disaster even more serious than the present one.
Sources in the rescue services say that the absence of access to basic services – water, electricity and medical care – is making life in areas where displaced persons are staying intolerable.
Additional satellite photos published in recent weeks demonstrate that the IDF has almost totally destroyed the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.
In the last few months, thousands of buildings were destroyed in the city and its surroundings within an area of about 90 square kilometers (35 square miles). In the southern city of Rafah, as well, there has been documentation in recent months of a large-scale demolition process.
The destruction has displaced tens of thousands of residents, many of whom are now crowded into temporary shelters with limited access to food, water, and medical care. Aid agencies warn that the breakdown of sanitation systems, combined with shortages of clean water and medicine, could spark outbreaks of disease and deepen malnutrition, particularly among children.
The United Nations has warned that Gaza faces an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” unless aid convoys are granted safe and consistent access to the Strip.
Even if fighting were to halt, experts estimate that reconstructing Gaza City’s destroyed neighborhoods would require billions of dollars and years of coordinated effort. Political barriers, including restrictions on the entry of building materials, further cloud the prospects of recovery.
For now, satellite imagery and on-the-ground reports provide stark evidence: much of Gaza’s urban landscape has been erased, leaving behind a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions.
Source: Haaretz
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