Does a real image show how Gaza looks in 2026 compared to how it looked in 2023? No, that's not true: The "before image" really shows the Al Rasheed coastal road in 2022 or 2023 but the "after image" purporting to show 2026 is fake. The modern architecture of the Sheikh Ajlin Mosque's upright minaret tower serves as a landmark visible in the before picture and in the fake after picture. But, satellite imagery as far back as April 2024 shows the mosque almost entirely flattened and the tower fallen in the rubble. This is corroborated by drone footage posted by a Turkish news agency in Nov. 2025.
The fake image appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @HasanEssam29636 on May 12, 2026. It was captioned:
One of the most terrifying images in history: a transformation from life to death. Gaza in 2023 and 2026!
This is the image included with the post:
(Image source: @HasanEssam29636 post on X.)
This neighborhood was already heavily damaged in airstrikes by April 2024. In 2026, the mosque no longer looks as the fake image depicts it. Visible in the lower right corner of the image above, it is damaged but still recognizable with an almost intact facade and a standing tower.
The fake image has a watermark with a name, "Mohammad ismail shamallk". A Google search for the name did not produce any relevant results. An image search with Google Lens for 'exact matches' only returned duplicate social media posts, but no other site on which the photo is found.
The "before" image has the watermark of freelance press photographer Mustafa Thuraya, whose Instagram bio describes him as "a drone photographer from Gaza", and his name is spelled Thraya (archived here). Reuters reported he was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Jan. 7, 2024 (archived here). Lead Stories has not verified if this image was indeed from Thuraya or what date it was taken. At least two versions of the image exist. Version two, with no watermark (archived here) has small changes to brighten colors, change the clouds, and obscure the advertising on the billboard. The buildings in the two versions of the "before image" remain the same, as do the positions of the vehicles on the street. Similar drone footage was posted on TikTok on April 2, 2023 by the official account of the mosque's architect, Ridwan Kamil (archived here). The caption of the 2023 TikTok post (automatically translated) explains the significance but does not credit a photographer:
The Sheikh Azlin Mosque, which was destroyed in 2014 by an Israeli bombing, is now standing tall. And this is the first Ramadan people in the district to be able to worship with afdal, after 8 years of prayer always use emergency tents. All thanks to donations from institutional donors, individuals and Indonesian netizens raised through @ amanpalestin _ id.
A Nov. 28, 2022 video on YouTube (archived here) is titled, "Reconstruction of Masjid Sheikh Ijlin (Khalil Al-Wazir)". This video has several exterior shots which show the buildings on either side of the mosque, the ornamental lattice of the facade, the tower, and the surrounding neighborhood. The screenshot below is from the 00:15 mark.
(Image source: Aman Palestin video on YouTube.)
The 'Historical Imagery' feature on Google Earth allows a viewer to toggle across a timeline of satellite images of a specific location through the years. Lead Stories used it to examine the location: 31.502630, 34.414586. The comparison images below shows the Sheikh Ajlin mosque on the Al Rasheed coastal road.
The top image is dated "older-10/19/2023".
The lower image is dated "older-4/3/2024."
(Image source: Airbus imagery on Google Earth.)
The Google Earth Help page has an explainer (archived here) regarding why some imagery is marked with a range of dates. The place labeled 'mosque" in the lower image would be unrecognizable if it were not for the minaret tower which has fallen diagonally across the rubble of the building.
A video (archived here) titled, "Sheikh Ajlin neighbourhood in western Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip was left in ruins" was published on YouTube by the Turkish state media outlet, Anadolu Agency, on Nov. 6, 2025. The toppled tower appears at the 00:24 mark. (pictured below).
(Image source: Anadolu English video on YouTube.)
