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▲ Updated Google Maps shows destruction of the city of Rafah(twitter.com)
113 points by slowin 8 hours ago | 20 comments
▲bognition 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Its really telling to see the destruction limited to where the structures used to be rather than to all of the surrounding green spaces. If the destruction of civilian dwellings was purely an accident you'd expect to see the destruction spread evenly over the area. Instead it looks much more like a prolonged set of surgical strikes to destroy the buildings while preserving as much of the surrounding areas as possible.

For a great example of this, look at this pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZcMbdFcx87PrqoYNA

And here's a pin of where the farms were spared https://maps.app.goo.gl/iZbbTH4iH27FCz4s9

▲biimugan 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don't quite understand your argument here. In your first pin I'm struggling to find a single building that isn't leveled, or at least severely damaged. Even buildings far away from the city center in the boonies are leveled.

▲cogman10 14 minutes ago | parent [-]

They are saying that this is genocidal destruction. In a war sometimes civilian infrastructure is hit as collateral. But here, all infrastructure is destroyed and it's clear this wasn't done by 1 or 2 errant bombs but rather because of direct targeting. It can't be argued to be an accident because in farmland you see no bombs which hit the farmland by mistake. In other-words, this is entirely purposeful.

▲ImPostingOnHN 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They just use bulldozers to flatten whatever the bombs don't. They can drive a bulldozer pretty precisely, especially when they don't care who's in front of it or under it.

Caterpillar even supplies the IDF with bulldozers just for this purpose, which then get up-armored and sent into Palestinian civilian areas to do this (including unmanned versions).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDF_Caterpillar_D9

▲AuthAuth 6 hours ago | parent [-]

By the time the bulldozers are there civilians have long moved out of the area.

▲johnnyApplePRNG 40 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Rachel Corrie would like a word. [0]

I suggest that you learn more about the Nakba, friend. [1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba

▲porkshoe 40 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Rachel Corrie was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer.

Let's be clear and honest: Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians and they routinely murder civilians as part of this.

▲ImPostingOnHN 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Interesting claim. Where did you hear that? The IDF is pretty infamous for crushing people alive with these bulldozers, and also for denying search & rescue access to find civilians buried in the wreckage (and also for just killing said SAR and hiding the bodies and lying about it*).

* surprise, it was in Rafah, the city formerly located in the wasteland from the article we're discussing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafah_paramedic_massacre

▲neom 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If you want to compare before and after:

https://earth.google.com/web/search/31%2e297226,+34%2e243649... - then click "show historical imagery" next to the search box.

▲drcongo 7 hours ago | parent [-]

The horror of the "Playground" marker here: https://earth.google.com/web/@31.28532193,34.25349609,77.611...

▲wilburx3 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The icons from what was there before are a haunting digital ghost. School, Restaurant, Pharmacy all the city is just rubble.

▲igleria 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Atomic dome vibes when looking at some of the few buildings still standing

▲ChrisArchitect 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

non-X Google Maps link to ~location of screenshot: https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2857778,34.2533333,1010m

▲saturn_vk 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's sad that most world leaders do nothing to combat such genocide. There are so few sanctions against the state, or specific people, of Israel. Foreign forums are very much still open for business to them.

▲bamboozled 26 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

What do you think world leaders should've done differently?

▲cogman10 a few seconds ago | parent | next [-]

A lot.

Literally on Oct 7, Hamas tried to return civilian hostages, who the IDF killed. This is why Hamas changed policies to only give up hostages through 3rd parties. They reached out to israel to try and return hostages and were ignored. They reached out to the US to return hostages and were ignored. [1]

So for starters, the US could have pressured Israel to negotiate with Hamas to return the hostages.

As Israel started to show genocidal intent (for example, killing aide workers multiple times). The US could have at a minimum threaten to withhold aide. In fact, there are laws on the books that a country such as Israel committing war crimes is ineligible for aide.

Finally, the UN should have deployed peace keepers to gaza specifically to stop the genocide.

Actions could have been taken, but they weren't because our politicians are so bribed by Israeli lobby money as to turn a complete blind eye to it's misdeeds.

[1] https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-09-...

▲sdenton4 7 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Cut off weapon gifts+sales to Israel, impose sanctions. Same way we dealt with the South African apartheid state.

▲skywhopper 10 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

The post you are responding to lists several possible actions. Another good start would be to stop providing the weapons that have done this damage.

▲lenerdenator 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

1) Ultimately, money means more to foreign nations than what happens with internal affairs of their trading partners

2) Accusations of genocide, whether they stand up or not, are great fodder for whataboutism discussions. Let's say the world's two largest economies, the US and China, decided to start sanctioning Israel for what's happening in Gaza. You could expect other countries to start threatening actions against the US and China over their previous or current genocidal behaviors. These are obviously not things that the US and China want to deal with.

▲lenerdenator 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Another one to look at is the maps of Ukraine [0]

[0] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/google-maps-...