Angelina Jolie Highlights Gaza Destruction Using Satellite Images

Actress Angelina Jolie posted on Instagram on Saturday, using satellite images from Google Earth to illustrate the extent of destruction in the Gaza Strip. She called for "the required amount" of humanitarian aid to be delivered before winter.

"You can open Google Earth now and see what has been done to Gaza," wrote Jolie, an Oscar winner and former special envoy for the UN Refugee Agency. Her post cited a UN satellite analysis indicating that as of June 16, 82% of structures in Gaza had been damaged, with about two-thirds classified as destroyed. Jolie stated that 1.98 million people, or 94% of Gaza's residents, need shelter and essential items, and that aid "continues to face restrictions and delays."

Jolie's post follows viral social media attention to satellite images of Gaza on Google Maps the previous week. Irish MEP Barry Andrews shared the images, calling them "quite stunning." However, Google clarified to Newsweek that its most recent satellite imagery of the Strip is from June, and that the images themselves were taken in February by Airbus, according to Bellingcat.

"What happens now is important," Jolie added. "People need shelter before winter. Hospitals need medical equipment." She urged for conditions to be created for civilians to rebuild their homes, schools, hospitals, and communities, concluding, "The destruction is visible. The needs are known. What matters now is whether they will be met."

This is not Jolie's first public statement on the conflict. In October 2023, she stated that while the events in Israel were an act of terror, they did not justify the loss of innocent lives in Gaza. In January, she visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, advocating for humanitarian access to the Strip to be "continuous, safe, and urgently expanded."