Israel-Gaza war: Chinese satellites detail scale of destruction in besieged Palestinian territory
- Analysis using remote sensing technology from Wuhan University puts the level of damage at about 60 per cent
- Researchers from the university tracked the conflict’s impact since mid-October
“Comparative analysis shows that as of March 2, 2024, 58.4 per cent of buildings and 34.1 per cent of farmland in the Gaza Strip were damaged,” Li Deren, a professor of remote sensing at Wuhan University, told the China Space Conference in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Wednesday.
The estimate was based on comparison of observations by the university’s Luojia-3 and Dongfang Huiyan Gaofen01 satellites taken since October 17, before Israeli forces invaded the Gaza Strip.
Using advanced automated recognition algorithms, the satellites detected and assessed damage to various types of structures including schools, universities, hospitals, and places of worship. They then categorised the destruction.
Li said that before November 10, 18.7 per cent of buildings in Gaza had been damaged. This increased to 32.6 per cent by November 29, and 56 per cent by January 22, before stabilising at 58.4 per cent by March.
According to researchers at the City University of New York and Oregon State University, 55.9 per cent of buildings in Gaza, or about 160,800 structures, had been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombings as of November 29.