Blurred satellite images of Palestine and Israel make reconstruction more difficult

Latest wave After the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, the violent conflict between Israel and Palestine ended on May 20.

The Gaza Strip suffered most of the death and destruction, with airstrikes killing more than 230 people and destroying more than 1,000 residential and commercial buildings.This New York Times Describes the landscape It’s like “a sea of ​​rubble” because many hospitals, power lines, schools, sewage systems and roads have been damaged or destroyed.

The Palestinians are now starting a long reconstruction process with the support of humanitarian organizations and reviewing the conflict with the support of investigative journalists looking for signs of human rights violations. However, due to the lack of good satellite images of Israel and Palestine in the free map tools, this task has become more difficult and expensive.

At the height of violence, Open source investigators on Twitter point out Areas like Gaza appear more blurred on platforms such as Google Earth, which collects satellite images from various sources. The reason is an obscure U.S. regulation called the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, which once prohibited U.S. companies from providing higher resolution satellite images of the region due to security concerns expressed by Israel.The rule is Scrapped last year, And the restriction is now similar to the resolution allowed in other parts of the world. Many commercial satellite image providers, such as Planet Labs, quickly adjusted their products, while popular free tools, including Google Earth, did not.

A comparison between the image provided by Planet Labs and the image found on Google Earth shows a clear difference in resolution.

More accurate images can view the characteristics of buildings, count the number of individual trees, identify vehicles on the road, and count the lines printed on the sidewalk. They show more color variations and precise shapes of squares and blocks. In the free service, the update frequency of satellite imagery in Israel and Palestine is lower than in other parts of the world. For example, on Google Earth, certain areas of New York City have five different satellite images that are only available in 2020, while certain areas of Gaza City have five images from the past 35 years.

This has had a major impact on the local people, including humanitarian organizations trying to help the Palestinians in their reconstruction work.

More risky and less precise

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been working in Israel and Palestine since the 1960s, providing people with medical services and other assistance during and after the outbreak of violence. It also helps communities rebuild. The ICRC is currently repairing the water supply system, electricity network and sewage system in the Gaza Strip.

Many of these activities involve the use of satellite imagery. “During the conflict, we use images to detect the extent of damage and destruction,” said Christoph Hanger, a spokesperson for the ICRC. When it is allowed to enter the conflict zone, it uses images to plan its actions. Once the conflict is over, “updated satellite imagery is essential to detect changes on the ground,” Hanger said, to understand how air strikes affect buildings and infrastructure, and to identify areas that should attract more attention.

The image quality provided by free tools such as Google Earth is too poor for the ICRC to use. Hanger said that the low resolution, “increased the possibility of misunderstanding images, resulting in lower operational response efficiency.” Therefore, he added that the organization was forced to use commercial satellite imagery providers, which are more costly and require Additional human resources.

Vague evidence

Degraded satellite imagery also affects people far away from Israel and Palestine—digital investigators pour conflict images and videos to identify potential human rights violations. They use information that is publicly available online, including content shared on social media, images and videos produced by Israelis and Palestinians, and satellite images provided in free tools such as Google Earth.