The Gaza Cinema Academy’s founders said the actress’s post could draw international attention to the war’s toll; Jolie highlighted damaged infrastructure and a shortage of shelter and essentials.
Angelina Jolie posted satellite images on Instagram showing Gaza before the war and after widespread destruction, urging attention to the needs of the Strip’s residents. The founders of the Gaza Cinema Academy called the post an important way to bring the effects of the war and the humanitarian situation to an international audience.
The 51-year-old actress invited followers to compare parts of Gaza on Google Earth. She said destruction had affected not only homes but also neighborhoods, schools, universities, hospitals, roads, and water and sewage networks. The images, Jolie wrote, show physical damage but cannot convey daily life among the rubble, the loss of family members or the circumstances facing survivors.
Jolie cited a United Nations satellite analysis that found 82% of structures in Gaza had been damaged as of June 16, 2026, with about two-thirds of damaged structures estimated to have been destroyed completely. She also said that 1.98 million people — 94% of the population — need shelter assistance and essential items as winter approaches. Aid and shelter supplies face restrictions and delays, according to the post.
Academy co-founder Ezz El-Din Shallah said Jolie’s post had brought information about the destruction to a broad audience. For Gaza’s residents, the images are connected to lost homes, memories and places that formed part of their lives. Director and producer Mai Masri said artists can draw attention to humanitarian issues and that filmmakers should center human experience and give people a chance to tell what they have lived through.
Other founders include Kaouther Ben Hania, Annemarie Jacir, Saleh Bakri, Ramy Youssef, Hiam Abbass, Alaa Karkouti and Graziella Bildesheim. They said Gaza’s recovery needs include more than housing and basic aid: cultural institutions and creative spaces must also be restored, alongside opportunities for young people to study, work and make art. The academy aims to support a new generation of Palestinian filmmakers and cultural life alongside reconstruction.
Earlier this year, Jolie visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing and a hospital in El-Arish, where she met injured Palestinians, as well as Red Crescent members and aid-truck drivers. She had previously criticized the consequences of Israeli strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, said Gaza’s residents were being collectively punished and deprived of food, medicine and aid, and criticized governments that had not pressed for a humanitarian ceasefire.