Why does it appear so blurry in Google Maps Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on the planet?
This is the question asked by a number of researchers who brought the issue to light, wanting to record the Israeli attacks and the magnitude of the disaster.
“The fact that we do not have high-definition satellite imagery from Israel and Palestine is holding us back,” researcher Samir told the BBC.
Most of Israel and Palestine appear in Google Earth with low resolution images, despite the fact that there are high definition satellite images.
The use of satellite imagery is now crucial in recording an armed conflict. That’s where researchers look to confirm reports of attacks.
The latest Google Earth images for Gaza, however, are blurry. “The latest images of Google Earth are from 2016 and look crap,” while the images from Syria are of very good quality, as revealed on Twitter by journalist Aric Toler.
Google claims that its goal is to “refresh images of densely populated areas on a regular basis,” but that does not seem to be the case in Gaza.
According to the BBC, until last year the US had imposed restrictions on the quality of satellite images provided by US companies for both Israel and Palestine.
The restrictions have been in place since 1997, following Israel’s claim for security reasons. It is not uncommon for some “sensitive” areas to appear cloudy, as is the case with military bases, but Israel was the only country to have achieved this settlement.
However, when non-US companies began to provide high-resolution satellite imagery, such as France’s Airbus, Americans realized that these restrictions had to cease to exist.
Something that has officially happened since July 2020. But why does Gaza remain cloudy?
The BBC has spoken to Google and Apple about the issue. Apple says it is working to update its maps with high quality images.
Google said its images came from various providers and was considering “opportunities to refresh satellite imagery as long as high resolution images became available.” Stressing, however, that this will not happen immediately.
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