Israel-Hamas war: Satellite data shows Israel intensifying bombing of south Gaza
For three weeks, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip as part of its war with Hamas.
The two sides have published conflicting accounts of the toll taken by the airstrikes. Satellite data gives us an independent view.
Every 12 days, NASA’s Sentinel-1 satellite passes three times over the Gaza Strip, firing out radar waves and listening for their echo. Buildings typically bounce the signals right back, but rubble scatters them in all directions.
By comparing signals before the war with those taken more recently, we can estimate the scope and scale of the destruction.
This map shows what Gaza looked like before the war, its population densely clustered in Gaza City, in the far north, and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
Map of buildings in the Gaza Strip, with major cities highlighted. SOURCE: Open Street Map
By 13 October, six days after Hamas launched its attacks in southern Israel, much of Gaza City had been hit by airstrikes.
The satellite data suggests 15% of buildings in northern Gaza were damaged or destroyed in less than a week, along with 2% in southern Gaza.
That same day, Israel ordered all 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to flee southwards to relative safety.
Since then, however, Israel has stepped up its bombing of the south.
The map below shows the estimated damage to buildings across Gaza on 13 and 25 October, with the most damaged areas highlighted in yellow.
Almost half of all new damage detected between 14 and 25 October was in southern Gaza (47%), up from 14% before the evacuation order.
While there was a decrease in new damage across the Gaza Strip during those two weeks, the level of destruction in southern Gaza increased by 85%.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces declined to comment.
Many of those who fled the north after 13 October have ended up in the Gaza Strip’s second most populous city, Khan Younis.
Since then, satellite data shows neighbourhoods across the city have sustained damage.
The video below, uploaded to Snapchat on 24 October, shows smoke rising from behind a school in Khan Younis.
Sky News has verified the location of the footage, and satellite analysis shows that a row of buildings immediately behind the school sustained damage between 14 and 25 October.
The Gaza Strip has been under aerial bombardment since Hamas’s 7 October attack, in which the Israeli government says more than 1,400 were killed.
Israel says that Hamas is still holding more than 200 people hostage inside the enclave. Five British citizens remain missing.
The airstrikes come as Israel prepares to launch an anticipated ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, more than 6,500 people have been killed in the airstrikes – two-thirds of them women and children.
Sky’s satellite data suggests that one in four buildings in northern Gaza (25%) have been damaged or destroyed in the past three weeks, along with 8% of those in the south.
The Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City has been hit particularly hard.
This video below, uploaded to Snapchat on 20 October and verified by Sky News, shows the local high street in ruins.
From the satellite analysis, we can see that the video shows just a small part of the destruction in Rimal.
Map of estimated damage to buildings in Rimal, Gaza Strip, 25 October. SOURCE: NASA/Open Street Maps
Sky’s analysis of satellite data followed a method developed by academics and promoted by NASA.
This is a conservative estimate – Sky News has only classified an area as damaged if the satellite records at least a 30% decrease in surface smoothness over a 1,600 square metre area.
Damage to a single building, or even its total destruction, is unlikely to reach that threshold. Damage to the side of buildings may not be detected at all.
The Gaza Ministry of Public Works says that 27,781 housing units, or around 7% of the total, have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable since 7 October.
Additional reporting by Sanya Burgess
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.
Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.
A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.
“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”
It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.
A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.
Police officers block protesters outside the hotel. Pic: PA
‘Those involved will be brought to justice’
Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.
“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.
Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
‘No excuse’ for violence
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”
He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”
The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.
It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.
Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.
Many protesters carried Republic of Ireland flags
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.
A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.
Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.
He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”
It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
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There are no plans for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in person in the near future, according to a White House official.
The presidents last week agreed to meet in Budapest after a phone call Mr Trump called “extremely frank and trustful”.
The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.
However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.
The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.
The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.
The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.
The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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Why Tomahawks are off the table
Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.
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Professor Michael Clarke answers your questions on the Ukraine war.
Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.
Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.
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The Kremlin’s refusal to budge effectively rejects Mr Trump’s latest assessment that the frontlines should be frozen as they are.
The president shifted position last week after previously telling the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back all the land it has lost.
Read more:
Putin’s ‘not so secret weapon’ | Ukraine war Q&A
UK ‘ready to spend over £100m’ on possibly sending troops to Ukraine
Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.
But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
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Trump: ‘We can end this war quickly’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.
Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.
Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.
He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.
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