Israel is besieging Gaza City from three directions, pushing the nearly 1m Palestinians currently sheltering there towards southern Gaza.

Each military advance flattens homes and infrastructure in its path, threatening the erasure of millennia-old Gaza City, and displacing the people sheltering there. Most of the areas in southern Gaza which the military have allocated for relocation are within ‘no-go’ zones, or in areas unsuitable for habitation. Israeli troops are advancing towards Gaza City from three directions: Jabalia in the north, Shujaiya in the east, and—most recently—the Netzarim Corridor in the south. This leaves Palestinians with only one place to go: towards the coast, along al-Rashid Road and into southern Gaza.

NEW: Salman Abu Sitta is a Nakba survivor and historian of Palestine. Together, we digitally reconstructed his birthplace, the village of al-Ma’in, exploring its history and documenting how, in 1948, the village was destroyed and its people forcibly expelled: forensic-architecture.org/investigation/… On 14 May 1948, al-Ma’in was occupied and demolished by Zionist forces.

FA has documented a pattern of Israeli attacks on areas into which they have previously instructed civilians in Gaza to evacuate. Our research confirms that the Israeli military carried out multiple attacks in areas towards which civilians had been directed, either on the same day as the evacuation order, or on the day after. See more: frames.forensic-architecture.org/gaza/updates/a… 1) On the morning of 23 Mar 2025, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah, directing civilians to move northeast. That evening, there was an airstrike northeast of Tel al-Sultan, in Khan Younis, that hit the Nasser Medical Complex, the largest hospital in the area.

Israel has designated the majority of the Gaza Strip for evacuation. 34 evacuation orders have been issued to civilians in Gaza since the dissolution of the ceasefire on 18 March 2025. Many of these orders define differing boundaries for the militarised buffer zone in the east of Gaza, gradually expanding the area designated for evacuation. See more: frames.forensic-architecture.org/gaza/updates/i… We have documented 4 instances where the declared boundaries of the buffer zone have subsumed areas previously subject to evacuation orders. As of 3 June 2025, the buffer zone has expanded to encompass the municipality of Rafah, as well as areas to the east of Khan Younis and in the north of Gaza.

Israel is constructing a second militarised ‘corridor’ in Gaza, to expand their control of the Strip. Plans for the Morag Corridor were announced on 2 April; since that time, we’ve identified widespread destruction throughout the remains of Rafah city, and several new Israeli military outposts. Follow this developing situation in our new mapping portal: frames.forensic-architecture.org/gaza/updates/m… A comparison of satellite imagery from 3 April and 11 May reveals how entire areas of central Rafah have been destroyed by the Israeli military.

At the summit last week on 4 March, a new plan for Gaza’s reconstruction was presented by Arab leaders as an alternative to Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Our analysis indicates that this initiative—which has gained support from the European Council—includes an architectural master plan that carries forward key elements of Israel’s designed destruction of Gaza (as addressed in our Cartography of Genocide report bit.ly/cartography-of…), with its proposal for a ‘buffer zone’, security corridors, and raid routes. The Egyptian master plan consists of three parts.

1. Buffer Zone: Since October 2023, Israel has destroyed all structures within 1,000-1,500 metres of the Gaza perimeter fence and targeted Palestinians who entered this zone. The Egyptian plan integrates the buffer zone into its design and effectively endorses the erasure of multiple historically and politically significant Palestinian neighbourhoods, including Jabalia and Shuja’iyya, by rezoning them for agricultural, investment, and industrial purposes.

NEW: ‘A Cartography of Genocide’. Since October 2023, we have collected and analysed data related to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Our findings indicate that Israel has systematically targeted all aspects of civilian life. tinyurl.com/bdcrnzka We present our findings in a report and an interactive platform, revealing how Israel’s military campaign has fundamentally reshaped Gaza. Much of this reshaping appears to embody in practice the statements of genocidal intent made by Israeli state and army officials and media. We found:

A year ago today, doctors stood among the bodies of victims of the Al-Ahli blast, warning that if Israeli impunity continued, more attacks on Gaza’s hospitals would follow. Among them was surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a firsthand witness to the blast, whose testimony was overlooked. We’ve recorded it here: forensic-architecture.org/investigation/… Dr Abu-Sittah's expert testimony on the nature of the injuries he treated that night offers clues about the type of weapon used in the attack. His analysis of the wounds suggested that a ‘fragmentation bomb’ rather than a simple explosive was likely the cause of the blast.

NEW INVESTIGATION: Between 24 and 28 August 2023, a fire caused by a leaking petrochemical tank at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Garyville, Louisiana waxed, waned, and reignited, producing a thick plume of toxic smoke that spread for miles over neighbouring communities. Authorities claimed that the incident was contained to the site. Suspecting a cover-up, residents asked us to investigate: forensic-architecture.org/investigation/… Marathon’s facility in Garyville is one of the largest refineries in the western hemisphere. Residents of ‘fenceline’ communities, which directly border this and other facilities across Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, are forced to breathe some of the most toxic air in the US. FA previously worked with @risestjames and @project_descend to investigate the construction of industrial facilities atop unmarked Black cemeteries: forensic-architecture.org/investigation/…

Our joint investigation w/ @earshot_ngo and @AJFaultLines into the killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her 4 cousins, her aunt and uncle, and 2 paramedics on 29 Jan 2024 challenges the Israeli Army’s claim that troops weren't in the area that day.
forensic-architecture.org/investigation/… Hind and 6 family members, fleeing invading Israeli forces, left in the early hours of 29 Jan from a home in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, driving north.

Israel claims that the poorly worded 24 May ICJ ruling gives it license to continue attacking Palestinians in Gaza, if it warns civilians to evacuate combat zones and move to safe 'humanitarian zones'. But we have geolocated three strikes within areas Israel suggested were safe. On 6 May, Israel told civilians in Rafah to evacuate to an 'expanded humanitarian area'. But Israel had contracted the safe area in the south, where it had previously told civilians to move. On 26 May, Israel killed 45 people sheltering in tents there.

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1787347748737421635

Responding to the 17 May @CIJ_ICJ hearing, we assessed Israel’s actions re: provision of aid, shelter & safe passage to civilians. Findings suggest Israel is not only neglecting its humanitarian duties, but actively destroying conditions of life in Gaza. bit.ly/inhumane-zones In anticipation of today’s order from the @CIJ_ICJ, we are sharing our analysis on Israeli military actions since 6 May 2024—when the long-threatened invasion of Rafah began—in view of patterns of Israeli military conduct since 7 Oct 2023. Summary of findings follow:

NEW INVESTIGATION: Since Oct '23, the Israeli military has systematically targeted agricultural land and infrastructure in Gaza. To mark Land Day in Palestine, we present our analysis of this widespread destruction as an act of ecocide that supports Israel’s genocidal campaign. We used remote sensing to measure the scale of agricultural destruction by comparing the region’s ‘vegetation index’ before and after the ground invasion. Our analysis reveals that as of Mar 2024, ~40% of the land in Gaza previously used for food production has been destroyed.

Early Monday, Israeli soldiers raided al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for a second time and issued another evacuation order to civilians sheltering in and around the medical compound. We are continuing to document attacks on al-Shifa here: shifa.forensic-architecture.org Very few images and videos are coming out of al-Shifa, and those that do have limited identifying features. Using our interactive 3D model of the compound, we were able to verify the locations captured in the available visual evidence.

NEW INVESTIGATION: Since 7 Oct 23, the Israeli army has weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’ & ‘safe zones’ to support their military operations & facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians.

View the platform: gaza.forensic-architecture.org/displacement
Our analysis reveals how Israel's systematic displacement of Palestinians, towards areas already rendered unliveable by attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, has occurred in three phases.

Read our full text report here: content.forensic-architecture.org/wp-content/upl…

NEW REPORT: We analysed the visual material presented by Israel at the @CIJ_ICJ hearing on 12 Jan '24. We found 8 instances of the Israeli legal team misrepresenting materials presented through incorrect annotations and misleading descriptions. Full report forensic-architecture.org/investigation/… A few examples to follow: 1) Israel’s legal team referenced an annotated drone image to claim Al-Quds hospital was used for military purposes and thus a justified target. We found the hospital boundary annotation was incorrect and no evidence of armed operations inside al-Quds.

Our latest findings on the al-Ahli hospital blast: using 3D trajectory analysis, we dispute the Israeli military’s claim that the hospital was struck by a misfiring Palestinian rocket from a salvo of 17, with most of the damage caused by unspent rocket propellant. Our analysis shows that all 17 rockets travelled 1.8-2km at 500-630m/s and stopped flaring at a 1km altitude, ~4km west of al-Ahli. According to an aerospace expert, these figures indicate that all rockets would have finished burning their propellant while still in mid-flight.

Our aggregation of news reports since 7 Oct suggests that hospitals in Gaza are subjected to a repeated pattern of intimidation, direct targeting, siege, and occupation by the Israeli military: …a-hospitals.forensic-architecture.org
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, has been subjected to this systematic process of destruction and depopulation. We brought together open-source evidence to tell its horrifying story day by day: shifa.forensic-architecture.org

One of Gaza’s most important archaeological sites—threatened previously by Israeli bombings/siege—has been mostly destroyed in the Israeli invasion. The site, near al-Shati refugee camp, consists of several excavations which suggest extensive remains throughout the area: The present destruction of the site by the IOF has unfolded in three stages: (1) airstrikes, (2) surface-level demolition, and now (3) the installation of water pumps ostensibly to flood underground tunnels.

With @alhaq_org, we continue to monitor cases of reported attacks by Israel on medical facilities in Gaza. This task is made harder by Israeli disinformation; in the thread below, we demonstrate that Israeli media statements following the al-Ahli hospital blast were misleading. Our 3D reconstruction and trajectory analysis confirmed reports by @nytimes and @washingtonpost: the Israeli military and media maintain that the 17 Oct blast at al-Ahli was caused by a misfiring PIJ/Hamas rocket based on 2 videos, neither of which in fact shows what they claim.

Preliminary analysis by FA, @alhaq_org & @earshot_ngo into the #AlAhli hospital blast in Gaza casts significant doubt on IOF claims that the source of the deadly explosion was a Palestinian-fired rocket travelling west to east. 3D analysis shows patterns of radial fragmentation on the southwest side of the impact crater, as well as a shallow channel leading into the crater from the northeast. Such patterns indicate a likely projectile trajectory with northeast origins.