- Former UN special envoy shares before-and-after imagery of Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, citing UN data showing 82 percent of structures in the enclave damaged as of June
GAZA 4 OCTOBER 2026 (Agencies) – Actor Angelina Jolie, a former longtime UN special envoy, highlighted the scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, sharing before-and-after satellite images showing extensive damage across the Palestinian enclave, according to Anadolu.
“You can now open Google Earth and see what was done to Gaza,” Jolie wrote on Instagram on Saturday, alongside images comparing areas in Gaza before the war with their appearance this summer. The images show areas near the Al-Qadisiyah School in the city of Rafah, Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and Omar Mukhtar Street in Gaza City, with large sections of previously dense urban areas shown lying in ruins. “Whole neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble,” Jolie said, adding that homes, schools, universities, hospitals, roads, water and sanitation systems and other infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed.
Citing United Nations satellite analysis, Jolie said that as of June, 82 percent of structures in Gaza had been damaged, with roughly two-thirds of the damaged structures assessed as destroyed. She also cited humanitarian figures showing that 1.98 million people, or 94 percent of Gaza’s population, need shelter assistance and essential items as winter approaches, saying aid and shelter materials continue to face restrictions and delays.
Jolie said the satellite imagery helps convey the physical scale of the destruction but falls short of capturing its human impact. “What it cannot show is what it means to live among it, what happened to the families who were killed, and what life is like for those who survived,” she said. She called for shelter, humanitarian assistance and medical supplies to reach civilians, and for conditions to be created allowing Palestinians to rebuild homes, schools, hospitals and communities. “The destruction is visible. The needs are known. What matters now is whether they are met,” she said.
Jolie, a two-time Oscar winner, served as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and then Special Envoy for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, for more than 20 years, from 2001 to 2022.
Since the war began in October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured, according to Palestinian health officials, who also say about 90 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been destroyed. Palestinian authorities and some rights groups, along with Anadolu’s reporting, have characterised the campaign as genocidal; Israel has consistently rejected that characterisation, saying its military operations are directed at Hamas and are conducted in accordance with international law.