Destroying People's Homes in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun creating interactive 3D models of destroyed homes, hospitals and businesses in order to help convey the devastation that ongoing military conflicts can have on ordinary people's lives. Using photogrammetry the ICRC has managed to create harrowing 3D models of an apartment block in Gaza destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in 2021, a teaching hospital in Iraq destroyed during the Battle of Mosul, and Al Madina Souk, Aleppo destroyed during the conflict in Syria.

Broken Cities allows people around the world to explore the civilian costs of military conflicts. The ability to explore in detail 3D models of the wreckage caused to people's homes and lives by military attacks provides the sort of shocking insight into the consequences of war that hopefully most readers will never have to encounter first-hand.

As you scroll through the ICRC interactive 3D models narrated audio recordings also contribute to these harrowing insights. In the case of the Gaza apartment block the narration is provided by some of the residents whose homes were destroyed by the Israeli airstrike. In Aleppo market stall owners and customers recount the unbearable loss of a 1,000 year market place. While in Iraq doctors and hospital workers try to explain the effect the hospital's destruction has had on Mosul's healthcare.

You can discover how photogrammetry has also been used in Ukraine to document and record some of the destruction caused by the Russian invasion in Documenting Russian Crimes in Ukraine.