US actress Angelina Jolie has drawn attention to the extensive destruction in the Gaza Strip by publishing satellite images comparing several areas of the territory before and after the war. The founders of the Gaza Film Academy said her position helps bring the humanitarian situation to a broad international audience, and called on artists and public figures to continue speaking about what residents are facing.
Jolie, 51, urged her followers on Instagram to use Google Earth to view the scale of the changes that have taken place across the territory. She said the effects of the war were not limited to residential buildings, but included neighbourhoods, schools, universities, hospitals, roads, and water and sewage networks, all of which are essential facilities for residents’ lives.
In the message accompanying her post, Jolie said Google Earth images revealed the physical scale of the destruction inflicted on Gaza, but did not convey the reality of daily life among the ruins. She added that the images could not convey what families who had lost members had gone through, or show the conditions faced by those who remained alive.
UN analysis tracks scale of destruction to Gaza structures
The US actress drew on a UN satellite analysis which reported that 82% of structures in the Gaza Strip had been damaged by 16 June 2026. According to the analysis cited by Jolie, estimates indicated that about two-thirds of the damaged structures had been destroyed.
Jolie ended her message by stressing that satellites could show the scale of the physical destruction, but could not convey its humanitarian consequences for residents. She described what would happen during the next phase as “important”, as she called for action to support residents of the territory and provide for their basic needs.
Gaza Film Academy welcomes Jolie’s message
The founders of the Gaza Film Academy welcomed Jolie’s publication, saying that the involvement of well-known artistic figures in addressing such issues draws international attention to the humanitarian situation in the territory. They stressed the need for artists and public figures to continue speaking about residents’ suffering and not allow the issue of Gaza to fall out of the global spotlight.
Dr Ezzedine Shellah, the academy’s co-founder, said Jolie’s post helped convey the destruction in Gaza to a broad audience. He said the scenes meant more to residents of the territory than simply destroyed buildings and streets, as they were connected to homes their owners had lost, and to memories and places that had been part of their daily lives.
Director and producer Mai Masri, the academy’s co-founder, said Jolie’s position demonstrated the ability of artists and influential figures to direct attention towards humanitarian issues. She added that the responsibility of filmmakers required placing people and their experiences at the centre of attention, and giving those who had lived through the experience space to express it and make their voices heard by audiences.
Academy links recovery to restoring culture and the arts
The academy’s founders, including Kaouther Ben Hania, Annemarie Jacir, Saleh Bakri, Rami Youssef, Hiam Abbass, Alaa Karkouti and Graziella Bildesheim, stressed that Gaza’s needs in the next phase would not be limited to providing aid or rebuilding what the war had destroyed.
They said recovery also required restoring cultural and artistic institutions and spaces, and providing opportunities for young people to learn, work and create. The founders said the Gaza Film Academy was acting on this vision by investing in a new generation of Palestinians and equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to make films and participate in the cultural and cinematic scenes inside and outside Palestine.
They stressed that culture and the arts should be part of restoring life in Gaza, alongside reconstruction efforts. Jolie’s post follows previous positions in which she declared her support for Palestinians.
Jolie’s previous visits to follow up on Gaza’s wounded and aid efforts
At the beginning of 2026, she visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to follow up on the conditions of injured Palestinians receiving treatment in Egypt and to learn about efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. During the visit, Jolie went to a hospital in the city of Al Arish and met several wounded Palestinians.
At the Rafah crossing, she also met Red Crescent members and aid-truck drivers heading towards the territory, as part of her follow-up on the humanitarian situation and aid-delivery operations. Jolie had previously criticised what Palestinian civilians in Gaza were being subjected to after posting images on Instagram of the destruction caused by Israeli air strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the territory.
She said at the time that Gaza’s residents were being subjected to collective punishment as they continued to be denied food, medicine and humanitarian aid. In her earlier statement, the US actress referred to entire families being killed and the rising proportion of children among the victims.
She also criticised governments which, she said, had failed to act to impose a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, and said that continuing the war in those circumstances made world leaders complicit in what Palestinian civilians were being subjected to.
