New satellite images available on Google Maps show large grey-brown areas of rubble in Rafah, while images of Gaza City still show buildings with visible structure and shadows. Social-media users noticed the map update; Google has not issued an official comment.
Rafah lies on the Egyptian border and has repeatedly served as one of the few access points into Gaza, including for aid deliveries. The map still displays street lines and labels for former buildings, including a computer shop, two pharmacies, a mosque marked “temporarily closed” and Kuwait Specialty Hospital. Some of those structures are no longer visible among the debris.
Israeli forces attacked Rafah during an offensive in 2024. Israel described the city as a Hamas stronghold; after taking the border crossing in early May, an Israeli military representative called the operation precise and limited. The International Court of Justice ordered the offensive to stop immediately in late May 2024. A data analysis by German public broadcaster BR published last year found that about 80% of the city’s buildings had been damaged or destroyed.
Before evacuation orders, an estimated 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents were in Rafah, many having fled attacks in the north and centre. UN experts cited in the report estimate that 371,000 housing units across Gaza were damaged or destroyed and about 1.9 million people displaced, many more than once. The report says roughly 60% of the population are homeless.