What satellite images tell us about North Gaza as report accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’

The situation in northern Gaza has been described as “apocalyptic” by acting UN aid chief Joyce Msuya, as Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the area continues.

Using satellite imagery and analysing Israeli evacuation orders, Sky News examines the scale of destruction in northern Gaza since the latest offensive began and the increase in military activity in an area near the Israeli border.

It comes as an independent report into the displacement of Palestinians by Human Rights Watch (HRW) suggests that Israel is pursuing a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and its policies and practices are evidence of “crimes against humanity”.

It amounts to what the HRW calls war crimes – a breach of the Geneva Conventions and a crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In response to our report and the separate claims made in the HRW report, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it is “committed to international law and operates accordingly”.

It said there is “no IDF doctrine that aims to cause maximal damage to civilian infrastructure regardless of military necessity”, that it is “committed to mitigating harm to civilians” and works in “various ways” to evacuate civilians in proximity to combat zones prior to attacks.

Destruction in the north

Israel launched its latest military offensive in the north last month claiming that Hamas was regrouping in the area. Since then, tens of thousands of civilians have fled. With Israel denying independent media access into Gaza, the full extent of the military’s operation is difficult to quantify.

But indications of the scale of destruction from this offensive are visible in satellite imagery taken in the past seven weeks.

Recent satellite imagery shows large areas west of the Jabalia refugee camp have been cleared, and dozens of buildings seen are damaged or destroyed.

Between 14 October to 24 October, two camps for internally displaced people in northern Gaza were also removed. More than 50 tents in a civilian displacement camp less than 500m north of the Indonesian Hospital, which is one of three major hospital in northern Gaza, were removed.

It’s unclear whether the camps were cleared by the military or by civilians who may have fled south during the mass evacuations in October. The image taken of the camp below on 24 October shows earth fortifications, suggesting the military’s recent presence in the area.

The widespread destruction across Gaza has been criticised in a HRW report which suggests much of it is caused by “deliberate razing” by Israel.

It claims: “The Israeli military has brought about widespread destruction in Gaza, much of this caused recklessly as a result of the hostilities or through deliberate razing of land and buildings after the military took control of the area.

“Given the sheer number of Palestinian civilians in Gaza driven from their land and the manner of their displacement, and the attempts to make their return impossible, the forced displacement is widespread, systematic, and intentional, and amounts to a crime against humanity.”

The IDF said each of its strikes are based on “accurate and reliable intelligence indications of terrorist infrastructure or the presence of terrorists in the target, directed to the enemy”.

Military activity and new paths near Israeli border

Recent satellite imagery also shows an increase in military activity around a road the Israeli military built earlier this year which connects western Israel to an area deep inside Gaza, south of Beit Hanoun, a city in northern Gaza.

It is not clear from the satellite imagery exactly what the road is for. HRW describe it as a “new access road” and while construction started as early as last December – comparing images taken on 27 September and 12 November show significant new development and further clearing operations in fields less than 2km to the south.

Israel denies it has a policy to partition Northern Gaza from the rest of the territory, but concerns have been raised about the possibility that people moved from northern Gaza might not be able to return.

On 16 October the UK’s Ambassador to the United Nations Dame Barbara Woodward told the UN Security Council: “Northern Gaza must not be cut off from the south. Palestinian civilians, including those evacuated from northern Gaza, must be permitted to return to their communities and rebuild.

“There must be no forcible transfer of Gazans from or within Gaza, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.”

Sky News asked the IDF what the area is being used for, but did not receive a direct answer. However the IDF has previously used corridors to assert its military control elsewhere in Gaza.

Israel constructed the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the strip from east to west just below Gaza City, in March citing security reasons. Its construction signalled Israel’s intent to expand its military presence in the strip.

Israel also seized control of the 14km long Philadelphi Corridor which runs across the bottom of Gaza in May. The military’s aim was to prevent Hamas from re-arming itself as Israel says the group uses tunnels linking Gaza and Egypt to smuggle weapons.

The HRW report says Israel’s use of buffer zones and security zones in Gaza suggests authorities are “pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing” adding that “organised and forced displacement of Palestinians” has removed much of the population from areas that have been their homes in Gaza.

The report said: “Nowhere is this clearer than in areas which have been razed, extended, and cleared for buffer zones and security corridors.”

“The intention of Israeli forces appears likely to ensure they remain permanently emptied and cleansed of Palestinians and, in their place, occupied and controlled by Israeli forces. Taken together, these acts indicate that, at least in the buffer zones and security corridors in Gaza, the Israeli authorities are pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing.”

The IDF said reports and complaints regarding the violation of international law by the IDF are transferred to the General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism which is a body designed to examine exceptional operational events that happened during the war.

It added: “The IDF is fully committed to respecting all applicable international legal obligations, including the Law of Armed Conflict.”

Mass evacuations of the north

In the first few weeks of the offensive, mass evacuations of the civilian population took place in the north.

Sky News analysis of Israeli evacuation orders posted online found that over the course of five days in mid-October, the military ordered the evacuation of 90% of the North Gaza governorate – an area half the size of Manchester.

We analysed the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson’s social media accounts and found that the IDF posted three evacuation maps between 1-29 October – on 7, 8 and 12 October. The areas evacuated between 7 and 12 October encompass 90% of the North Gaza governorate.

Two of the maps, posted on 7 and 8 October, show the same area, covering the majority of North Gaza governorate. The third map, posted on 12 October, covers the neighbourhood of Jabalia. We compared these maps with UN maps of Gaza’s official administrative boundaries.

The military has frequently posted evacuation maps online – instructing civilians on which zones to leave and where to go. These maps are not the only form of evacuation notices issued by the IDF, who also use other methods like leaflets. But the Israeli military says they are created to minimise civilian casualties.

It is possible that the IDF has issued more evacuation orders in the period we analysed using maps and other methods which were not posted online.

Of the three maps we found, only one of them details the time period in which civilians were safe to travel on the given route. The other two do not provide a length of the evacuation order or an expiry date.

The HRW report criticised Israel’s evacuation system in Gaza throughout the war and said Israel has “not secured the safety of displaced Palestinians in Gaza in any meaningful way” adding that it has “created an evacuation system that has caused widespread terror and confusion, misery, and anxiety”.

In response, the IDF said it uses various methods to evacuate civilians in proximity to combat zones prior to attacks including flyers, phone calls and media broadcasts and that throughout the fighting in northern Gaza it allows movement southward via the Salah al Din route.

It adds that most of the population “complies with evacuation orders, but some choose to remain in the dangerous combat areas” and said it calls and acts for the evacuation of civilians from combat zones to safer areas whenever possible.

Israeli forces continue to carry out operations in northern Gaza, but it’s currently unclear exactly how and when the operation there will end and what it might look like for Palestinians from northern Gaza.