If you look up Beit Hanoun in Gaza on Google Earth, a large Star of David can be seen from above
Sara Jabakhanji | CBC News | Posted: February 6, 2025 6:02 PM | Last Updated: 8 hours ago
Satellite images of the symbol date back to November 2023
Satellite images in Beit Hanoun, a city on the northeast of the Gaza Strip, show the Star of David etched into the ground of what previously looked like vibrant green fields and farmland in the now war-torn territory.
While it is unclear exactly when the symbol appeared, satellite images of it date as far back as November 2023, according to Google Earth — one month after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Palestinian defence and security analyst Hamzé Attar said the sheer size of the symbol, which appears likely to have been carved by Israeli tanks, was something that was intended to be seen from the sky rather than from the ground.
"If you make something that big, intentionally, you mean it to be seen," Attar told CBC News Wednesday. "You want it to be seen, you want it to tell someone that this is my signature."
The six-pointed Star of David is a common symbol for both Judaism and Israel but has been used to mark destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory and frequently spray-painted on Palestinian homes and flags. In one incident, police officers in Jerusalem allegedly imprinted a Star of David onto the face of a Palestinian detainee.
'97' marked next to Star of David
The numbers nine and seven also appear next to the Star of David symbol in between what appear to be markings of a tank vehicle where it entered and exited.
Attar said the numbers are likely in reference to the 97th Netzah Yehuda battalion, previously known as Nahal Haredi, a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
"It's like saying the destruction in Gaza is [signed] by Netzah Yehuda," he said.
Netzah Yehuda battalion, which operated around Beit Hanoun and other areas of the enclave over the 15-month-long war, has been implicated in a number of human rights violations since 2015 and is notorious in the occupied West Bank where they are known to enforce Israel's rules.
In one incident in 2022, members of the Netzah Yehuda unit dragged a 78-year-old American Palestinian man, Omar Assad, from his car after he was stopped at a checkpoint. He was bound, gagged, blindfolded and beaten. An autopsy concluded he died of a heart attack from the stress of the encounter.
CBC News asked the IDF about the Star of David Symbol and whether it was left by the Netzah Yehuda unit, which is made up of ultra-orthodox and religious nationalist members, but did not get a response in time for publication.
Once green fields now dull, lifeless
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced within Gaza have returned to their homes amid the ongoing ceasefire, particularly in the north.
The heavy combat has caused total destruction in north Gaza alone, where Beit Hanoun is, and has wiped out most of its infrastructure, leaving it in almost complete ruin.
The northern areas, particularly Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, were well-known for their rich agricultural output. The once verdant farmland in Beit Hanoun, where the Star of David was carved, has been reduced to barren, cracked earth and a dull, lifeless brown.
Attar said the symbol markings are not a remote incident.
"It is actually connected to everything that happened in the Gaza Strip," Attar said. "The [military] was driven by genocidal motivations and things were said by political leaders in Israel that people in Gaza are now animals and everything is going to be destroyed, so they went and [did] the job."
'Not our Judaism,' Jewish peace group says
The satellite images circulated across social media in the past few weeks, drawing reaction from advocates and other groups.
In a post on X, the group Jewish Voice for Peace said it was "appalled" by the image.
"This scene serves as a stark symbol of the horror and unflinching cruelty of the Israeli government's genocidal actions against Palestinians in Gaza — and its motivations," the group said on Friday.
"We are appalled by the way the state of Israel has co-opted the Star of David, weaponizing it for conquest and colonial domination — to intimidate, oppress and inflict trauma. This is not our Judaism; this is Zionism."
Another X user defended the symbol.
"The Star of David carved into Beit Hanoun isn't just a symbol — it's a statement: this land will no longer be a launchpad for terror. We are DONE playing defence," a user by the name of JewsFightBack said in a post.
Israel and Hamas are currently in a six-week truce as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal that began on Jan. 19. The truce has remained largely intact, but prospects for a durable settlement are unclear.
The Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, with around 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Some 76 hostages are believed to remain in the territory; it is unclear how many are alive.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's 15-month military campaign, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Due to the chaos of war, verifying the exact number of casualties has been challenging and subject to scrutiny. The Palestinian Civil Defence has said it is searching for roughly 10,000 bodies believed to be remaining under the rubble.