Ceasefire in Name Only: Satellite Images Reveal Over 1,500 Gaza Buildings Demolished by Israel Since Truce Began

Jerusalem/Gaza City — Satellite imagery analyzed by BBC Verify shows that Israeli forces have demolished more than 1,500 buildings in Gaza since the truce took effect on October 10, 2025. The destruction, concentrated in areas still under Israeli military control, has transformed once-intact neighborhoods into vast expanses of rubble, prompting accusations of systematic land clearance and ceasefire violations.

The findings, published Tuesday by the BBC, underscore the precarious state of the U.S.-brokered agreement, which was hailed by President Donald Trump as the cornerstone of his 20-point peace plan for the region. Under the deal, mediated by the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, Israel agreed to withdraw forces to a "yellow line" demarcating northern, eastern, and southern boundaries of Gaza, suspending "all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment."

Yet, in the month since, the imagery reveals a pattern of controlled demolitions behind this line, leveling residential clusters that had largely survived the prior 18 months of conflict.

BBC analysts employed a change-detection algorithm on radar satellite photos from commercial providers, comparing pre-ceasefire images—some dating back to October 2023—with those captured as recently as November 8. The results paint a devastating picture: In eastern Khan Younis, including the village of Abasan al-Kabira, homes once surrounded by gardens, orchards, and irrigation systems now lie in heaps of debris. Similar devastation has struck al-Bayuk near Rafah, Shejaiya in Gaza City, and areas around the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, where entire blocks have been methodically razed.

"The actual number could be significantly higher," the report cautions, noting gaps in satellite coverage due to weather, dust, and sensor limitations.

Lana Khalil, a displaced resident of Abasan al-Kabira who fled to the coastal al-Mawasi area, described her former home as a "heaven" of farms and vegetables. "Now it's all gone," she told BBC Verify, her voice heavy with loss. Drone footage corroborates the scale, showing Israeli engineering units widening roads and carving corridors through neighborhoods—a tactic experts liken to Israel's past creation of "buffer zones" in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have not denied the demolitions but insist they fall within the ceasefire's framework. An IDF spokesperson told the BBC that operations target "terror infrastructure, including tunnels" as mandated by Point 13 of Trump's plan, which requires the destruction of "all offensive, military and terror infrastructure" under independent monitoring.

On Sunday, IDF Chief Eyal Zamir addressed troops in Gaza, declaring the yellow line a "new border line" for defensive purposes, emphasizing operational control over swaths of the territory.

Recent IDF statements on X (formerly Twitter) have highlighted strikes on "terrorists" approaching the line, framing such actions as responses to immediate threats.

Critics, however, see a darker intent. The Gaza Government Media Office has documented 282 violations since the truce began, including 12 incursions into residential areas, 124 artillery strikes, and 52 bombings on civilian sites—resulting in at least 242 Palestinian deaths and over 620 injuries.

Independent tallies cited on social media platforms like X suggest even higher figures: 347 Palestinians killed and 497 violations in the first 49 days alone.

Humanitarian groups warn that aid restrictions persist, with less than a third of the agreed minimum entering Gaza, exacerbating a crisis where over half a million Palestinians remain displaced in coastal camps amid winter storms.

"This ceasefire exists only on paper," said one legal observer quoted in reports, pointing to Israel's failure to fully withdraw and its apparent reshaping of Gaza's landscape.

 On X, voices from activists to displaced residents echo this sentiment, decrying the truce as "state terror" and calling for sanctions and Israel's expulsion from the United Nations.  "Israel demolished more than 1,500 buildings... Bloodshed was supposed to stop, but no sign of normal life," tweeted one user, capturing the widespread disillusionment.

The first phase of the ceasefire includes hostage-prisoner exchanges and initial reconstruction steps, but with Phase Two—envisioning a Hamas-free governance structure—still distant, analysts fear the agreement is unraveling. As Trump repeatedly asserts "the war is over," the images from Gaza tell a different story: one of continued ruin, where peace remains as elusive as the homes now reduced to dust.