MapLab: Mapping Gaza’s Destruction

At the Conflict Ecology Lab, Oregon State University geography professor Jamon Van Den Hoek maps the effects of war on landscapes and people. Using satellite imagery and geospatial data, he and his collaborators have charted a huge range of phenomena, including the expansion of illicit farming by rebel groups in the Amazon and conflicts at refugee camps across Africa.

Recently, though, his work has focused almost solely on the war in Gaza. Since mid-October, Van Den Hoek and Corey Scher, a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, have been analyzing satellite radar data and producing estimates of damaged areas across Gaza. Their mapping data has now appeared in dozens of global news outlets, including Bloomberg News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. These maps provide a powerful visual documentation of the toll of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, in which more than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed. The war started after a surprise assault on Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 that left approximately 1,200 Israelis dead.