Al Jazeera Net Says Google Maps Shows Israeli Army Military Site Over Khan Younis Cemetery Ruins

Google updated its 2026 satellite imagery for the central and southern Gaza Strip, with the update first appearing on May 22 via the Google Earth Pro app and planned to roll out on Google Maps.

“From distant space, things appear as silent details and pale colors, but as the lens moves toward Gaza’s sky, that coldness dissipates to reveal the details of annihilation and irreparable tragedy when entire cities and neighborhoods become mere ruins”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al Jazeera Net said the February 25, 2026 images were captured to provide “new, more precise evidence of the violent and systematic destruction” in the southern governorates, particularly Rafah and Khan Younis.

Al-Jazeera Net

The outlet described the images as showing the Israeli army establishing a military site in the Ma’na area of Khan Younis over the ruins of the Sheikh Muhammad cemetery, with soldiers setting up tents and vehicles over the remains of the dead.

Al Jazeera Net quoted journalist Muhand Qusta from Rafah describing the impact on families, saying, “We have reached a point where we cannot find our loved ones’ graves, even the dead have not escaped this war.”

Al Jazeera Net reported that the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (EMHRN) said Israel destroyed about 94% of Gaza’s cemeteries either wholly or partially as part of a genocidal crime against Palestinians.

The outlet said Broadly, Rafah’s main neighborhoods including Al-Janina, Al-Salam, Khirbet al-Adas, and Al-Zuhur appeared devastated to such an extent that distinguishing one neighborhood from another became extremely difficult.

Jewish Voice for Liberation

Al Jazeera Net described the Saudi neighborhood in Al-Tal al-Sultan, west Rafah, as a housing project with 752 housing units, schools, and vital facilities that turned into piles of rubble across wide areas.

In the same report, Al Jazeera Net said the Rafah crossing “turned into something like a large prison gate” after its facilities were largely destroyed and replaced with military checkpoints and tight surveillance and wires.

The Palestine Chronicle reported that the Gaza Human Rights Center warned Saturday that Israeli occupation forces are escalating a systematic campaign targeting what remains of Gaza’s residential areas.

“ByPalestine Chronicle Staff A Gaza-based human rights organization warned Saturday that Israeli occupation forces are escalating a systematic campaign targeting what remains of Gaza’s residential areas”

Palestine Chronicle

The rights group said ongoing demolitions and repeated displacement orders are creating conditions that could force Palestinians from large parts of the Strip, and it cited newly released aerial images showing extensive destruction across Rafah and Khan Yunis.

The Palestine Chronicle said the center documented destruction of entire residential blocks in the Nuseirat, Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi camps between May 20 and May 22, and it said at least 12 attacks during May followed phone evacuation orders.

The outlet also reported that current estimates indicate approximately 90 percent of Gaza’s buildings have already been destroyed during the war, and it said nearly two million Palestinians now live in tents, beside rubble or inside damaged structures no longer considered safe for habitation.