NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites The style is unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

I’m in Kuala Lumpur this week for the Global Investigative Journalism Conference #GIJC2025 If you’re here + want to talk visual investigations, open source methods, remote sensing, etc. def feel free to reach out! Super happy to meet potential collaborators/fellow practitioners

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH @Cen4infoRes Location E - Road to Garni Another video posted appears to show elements of this same group having progressed approx. 3 km NW on the dirt road to Garni. At least one set of persons seen in the video matches a group seen in a previous location 13.7316, 25.2380

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH Location D - RSF collection point 2 @Cen4infoRes has published several geolocations from this site. Clips were filmed around here: 13.7103123, 25.2572195 Across various clips, persons can again be spotted in matching clothing to previous vids https://t.co/uB18R2G58M

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH Location D - RSF collection point 2 Several videos show a mass disembarkation of this group further northwest to Garni. A man in M018 wears seemingly blood-stained clothing Shadows here indicate that these clips were recorded towards late afternoon

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH Location D - RSF collection point 2 Some clips from this location show the sequestration of apparent detainees in the back of vehicles, blindfolded in one case. It is unclear what the criteria for this separation was.

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH Location D - RSF collection point 2 A number of the videos show the group coerced into chantings such as in M056 and M009

@SamDoak5 @HRL_YaleSPH Location D - RSF collection point 2 A second location just past the earth berm was evidently used as another collection point. Many videos were recorded of civilians here, predominantly men.

@SamDoak5 Location C - Garni Gate Colleagues from @HRL_YaleSPH explain here how this entry/exit point on the berm has since been covered/closed https://t.co/eCpgD9plmQ

Location C - Garni Gate Another clip shows people moving on foot through the earth berm gate on the road to Garni. Shadows indicate it was recorded late morning Multiple persons can be matched to videos at "RSF collection point 1" 13.707891, 25.257412 (h/t @SamDoak5)

Location B - Column in fields A column of roughly 600 civilians moves NW on foot under RSF escort. The clip geolocates to a point ~500 m NW of the previous site. Individuals in matching clothing appear in both locations, likely linking the previous sequence 13.6729, 25.2868

Location A: RSF collection point 1 Geolocation possible via matching of background trees to recent sat imagery. Shadow positioning indicates the videos were taken in the morning. Planet Labs imagery of the site b/w 25 + 26 Oct shows path erosion at the site 13.6691, 25.2882

Location A: RSF collection point 1 Videos from the location show differently sized columns yet consistent individuals b/w them. This indicates a prolonged collection period which changed the shape of the column, prior to dispersal of the group(s) northwest in video M049

Location A: RSF collection point 1 Videos show individuals in the column violently treated under heavily armed RSF presence. In M037 an injured person is recorded being kicked. In M049, the group is violently forced to embark northwest

Location A: RSF collection point 1 Videos filmed on the outskirts of a village ~4 km west of the city show RSF soldiers assembling large group of mostly men into a long column

To ensure this material can be used by others investigating the events, I’m sharing relevant videos we archived, most filmed by RSF-alligned fighters following the events of Oct 26 They are grouped by site w/ some supplementary analysis where relevant CW: distressing content

THREAD: Last week we @LHReports w/ @SkyNews + @sudanwarmonitor published an investigation into RSF actions against escapees from Al Fashir Much of the open-source material we analyzed didn’t make it into the publications + many original posts have since been since scrubbed

"The division commander had left the garrison. They completely abandoned us and we were suddenly surrounded 26 to 1 in the morning hours." The collapse of Al Fashir crashed down on soldiers and civilians holding on for 18 months. Over 60,000 escapees are unaccounted for - we

Fascinating, yet infuriating expose revealing how the graphics Israel published to claim that Hamas hid command centers and weapons cashes under hospitals and schools were actually just lifted from a cyberpunk sci-fi art project, the Scottish Maritime Museum, and elsewhere.

“The alleged underground Hamas command center at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, used to justify an unprecedented assault on the biggest medical center in Gaza, was actually an animation the IDF had used the previous year, saying at the time it was a tunnel beneath a UN school.”

Fascinating work here tracing how the IDF recycled 3D assets from a cyberpunk sci-fi art project, the Scottish Maritime Museum and elsewhere to populate its widely-seen models of supposed enemy locations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. One of the most infamous, the alleged underground