Systematic clearing in Rafah to confine Palestinians within fully Israeli-controlled military area
Satellite images analysed by Forensic Architecture and the Drop Site platform show that Israel is systematically razing a strategic area in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. The work involves levelling and compacting the ground and removing rubble, in a pattern that suggests preparation for new residential infrastructure. The findings indicate that this area could be used to house Palestinians and effectively contain them in an area under full Israeli military control.
Analysis of the satellite images shows that this pattern of activity—clearing the land, compacting soil, and removing rubble—does not appear at this scale in any other area east of the yellow line, despite widespread destruction affecting more than 53 per cent of Gaza east of this line since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October. The activity is concentrated in an area of about one square kilometre at the junction of two military corridors in Rafah.
The area is located on the northern edge of what Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described in July as a “humanitarian city,” which was planned to eventually house the entire population of the Gaza Strip.