Forensic Architecture

Open source investigation, or ‘OSI’, refers to information collected from publicly available sources. Common OSI sources include social networks, online forums, corporate and governmental websites, blogs, videos, news reports, and publicly available satellite images.

Civil society investigators such as ourselves commonly do not have privileged access to classified information, making the information that is available from ‘open sources’ crucial in identifying and analysing human rights violations by states and militaries.

While open source information is available to anyone, it’s not always easy to find, and open source investigators are required to use a wide variety of open source and proprietary research tools. Our partners and friends at Bellingcat maintain a live directory of such tools here.

I.121  Airstrikes on Minab Primary School

Date of Incident
28 Feb 2026
Location
Shajareh Tayyebeh School, Minab, Iran
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Full Story Films
Summary
At least 121 children were killed at their primary school in the city of Minab on the first day of the 2026 US-Israeli war against Iran. Following calls from bereaved families and working with Sky News, we reconstructed the circumstances surrounding the airstrikes that claimed their lives.

I.120  The Massacre of Aid Workers in Tel al-Sultan

Date of Incident
23 Mar 2025
Location
Tel al-Sultan, Gaza
Forums
Human Rights Report, Media
In Partnership With
Earshot
Summary
On 23 March 2025 in Tel al-Sultan, Gaza, Israeli forces massacred fifteen Palestinian aid workers travelling in clearly marked humanitarian vehicles, later burying their bodies and vehicles in a shallow mass grave. FA and Earshot worked with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and survivors of the massacre to reconstruct the incident with unprecedented precision.

I.118  Three Days at Al-Azhar University: 28-30 January 2024

Date
28 Jan 2024 – 30 Jan 2024
Summary
Since October 2023, Israeli evacuation orders have repeatedly displaced Palestinians throughout Gaza, often to areas designated as 'humanitarian' or ‘safe zones’ but that in fact were no less dangerous and critically lacking in life-sustaining provisions. Through the account of a couple from Beit Hanoun, this narrative study tells a harrowing story of endurance in the midst of persistent violence.

I.109  A Cartography of Genocide: Israel's Conduct in Gaza since October 2023

Updated 08 Oct 2025
Date of Incident
07 Oct 2023 – Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Since October 2023, we have closely monitored Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the resulting extensive civilian harm. Comprehensive cartographic analysis, published as a web platform and in-depth report, reveals patterns of violence which indicate a systematic and organised campaign to destroy life, conditions necessary for life, and life-sustaining infrastructure.

I.116  The Architecture of Genocidal Starvation

Date of Incident
18 Mar 2025 – 01 Aug 2025
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
United Nations, Parliamentary Inquiry
In Partnership With
World Peace Foundation
Summary
A ceasefire is not enough. The Israeli military’s weaponisation of aid and starvation to displace and destroy Palestinian society will not stop as long as Israel controls aid distribution. We show how Israel has imposed a deadly aid system through GHF ration stations, while dismantling a proven civilian-led model, to concentrate Palestinians in Rafah and push Gazan society toward collapse.

I.114  Shoot Me, I Bare My Chest: The Killing of Abu Sayed

Date of Incident
16 Jul 2024
Location
Rangpur, Bangladesh
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Drik Picture Library
Summary
On 16 July 2024, police fatally shot a student, Abu Sayed, during mass protests over Bangladesh’s reinstated quota system. His extrajudicial killing became a symbol of resistance amid a broader uprising against authoritarianism, economic injustice, and systemic state violence.

I.111  The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948

Date of Incident
29 Oct 1948
Location
Al-Dawayima, Palestine
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Palestine Land Society
Summary
In collaboration with Palestine Land Society and working first-hand with Palestinian survivors of the 1948 Nakba, FA has uncovered new evidence related to a major massacre carried out by Israeli forces on 29 Oct 1948 in the village of al-Dawayima.

I.110  The Evros/Meriç River: A Century of Border Design

Date of Incident
1926 – 2025
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greece/Turkey
Forums
Web Platform
In Partnership With
Self-Initiated
Summary
First drawn a century ago, the border that separates Greece from Turkey along the Evros/Meriç river at the EU’s southeastern frontier is deadlier and more opaque than ever. FA/Forensis built an interactive platform that unpacks this complex and lethal border infrastructure, and examines the present-day condition of the border against the transformation of the river landscape over the past century.

I.102  Airstrike in Tel al-Sultan: Israel attacks its own ‘humanitarian zones’

Date
24 May 2024 – 26 May 2024
Summary
An Israeli airstrike on a tent camp filled with displaced civilians west of Rafah prompted outrage, since the attack killed at least 45 people in an area previously declared 'safe' by Israeli social media posts and leaflets. Here, we highlight how Israel's inconsistent and contradictory guidance leaves international media confused, and Palestinian civilians exposed to mortal danger.

Attacks on Aid in Gaza: Preliminary Findings

Date
08 Oct 2023 – 25 Apr 2024
Summary
As part of an in-depth investigation into Israel’s attacks on aid in Gaza since October 2023, we are releasing a series of preliminary findings and a map of the attacks we have documented to date. Our analysis shows the systematic targeting of civilians seeking aid, aid infrastructure, aid convoys, and personnel responsible for aid distribution.

I.101  ‘No traces of life’: Israel’s Ecocide in Gaza 2023-2024

Date of Incident
07 Oct 2023 – Ongoing
Location
Gaza
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Since October 2023, the Israeli military has systematically targeted agricultural land and infrastructure in Gaza. Marking the occasion of Land Day in Palestine, our investigation reveals that the widespread destruction of orchards and greenhouses in Gaza is a deliberate act of ecocide that supports Israel’s genocidal campaign.

I.100  Humanitarian Violence in Gaza

Date of Incident
07 Oct 2023 – Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has abused and weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’, and ‘safe zones’ to facilitate the systematic mass displacement of the Palestinian civilian population toward the southern border of Gaza.

I.99  An Assessment of Visual Material Presented by the Israeli Legal Team at the ICJ

Date of Incident
12 Jan 2024
Location
—
Forums
Legal Process
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Forensic Architecture’s analysis of the visual material presented by the Israeli legal team at the ICJ hearing on 12 January 2024 found multiple instances of misrepresentation, mislabelling, and misleading descriptions.

I.84  Drift-backs in the Aegean Sea

Date of Incident
March 2020 – Ongoing
Location
Aegean Sea
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry, Web Platform
In Partnership With
Forensis
Summary
Asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea are intercepted within Greek waters or arrested after they arrive on Greek shores, beaten, stripped of their possessions, and then forcefully loaded onto life rafts and left to drift back to the Turkish coast. FA/Forensis verified and mapped evidence for over 2000 such ‘drift-backs’, demonstrating the scale of this violent and illegal border defence practice.

I.97  Destruction of Medical Infrastructure in Gaza

Date of Incident
07 Oct 2023 – Ongoing
Location
Gaza, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Since 7 October 2023, we have aggregated news reports of Israeli military attacks on medical infrastructure in Gaza. Our analysis suggests that hospitals in Gaza have been subjected to a pattern of intimidation, direct targeting, siege, and occupation by the Israeli military over the course of the 2023 invasion.

I.95  The Pylos Shipwreck

Date of Incident
13 Jun 2023 – 14 Jun 2023
Location
Mediterranean Sea, Greece
Forums
Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
On 14 June 2023, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank inside the Greek search and rescue zone in the Mediterranean Sea—the deadliest migrant shipwreck in recent history. Our digital reconstruction of the boat and mapping of its trajectory reveal inconsistencies in the Hellenic Coast Guard’s (HCG) account and indicate that over 600 people drowned as the result of a failed towing by the HCG.

I.94  Executions and Mass Graves in Tantura, 23 May 1948

Date of Incident
22 May 1948
Location
Tantura, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights
Summary
Our investigation reveals new evidence about massacres conducted in the Palestinian village of Tantura by Israeli forces after its occupation on 22-23 May 1948 and subsequent depopulation. Launched on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, it brings together testimonies and photographic evidence to locate several mass graves in which the victims were buried—including one previously unidentified.

I.92  'Tear Gas Tuesday' in Downtown Portland

Date of Incident
02 Jun 2020
Location
Portland, Oregon, USA
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Over the summer of 2020, Portland's police force deployed large amounts of tear gas to suppress local demonstrations against racialised police violence. Focusing on a single representative day—2 June 2020—we simulated the path of the toxic tear gas clouds as they spread widely across the city centre, demonstrating that the concentration levels were in serious excess of recognised safe thresholds.

SP.1  A City Within a Building: The Mariupol Drama Theatre · Supported Project ↗

Date of Incident
24 Feb 2022 – 16 Mar 2022
Location
Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre, Mariupol, Ukraine
Forums
Media
An FA-supported project by
The Center for Spatial Technologies (CST), Forensis
Summary
Before it was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, the Mariupol Theater was not only a key refuge in the besieged city but a unique site of solidarity and resistance. Working with Forensis and FA, the Center for Spatial Technologies assembled a vast archive of evidence and interviewed survivors of the strike to tell the story of a self-organised commune: a city within a building.

SP.91  Fire in Moria Refugee Camp · Supported Project ↗

Date of Incident
08 Sep 2020
Location
Lesvos, Greece
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Lawyers for the Moria 6
Summary
The fire which destroyed the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos was at least the 247th outbreak to have occurred in and around the overcrowded camp since 2013. Six young asylum seekers who came to be known as the 'Moria 6' were accused of arson and jailed. FA and Forensis reconstructed the fire’s spread, casting significant doubt on the basis for those convictions.

I.90  The Beirut Port Explosion: Destruction of Destruction

Date of Incident
04 Aug 2020 – Ongoing
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
—
In Partnership With
Febrayer Network
Summary
Following the 2020 Beirut port explosion, the city's grain silos suffered a prolonged period of steady ruination. To understand how the gradual destruction of a ruin happened behind state cordons in the nearly two-year period since the blast, Febrayer and FA reconstructed the site to present a unified account of the state’s mismanagement of this important site of material evidence and memory.

I.89  The Beirut Port Explosion: The Welders

Date of Incident
04 Aug 2020
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Febrayer Network
Summary
This investigation examines the validity of the most widely accepted theory to explain what triggered the deadly blast in the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020. Lebanese and international authorities, as well as the FBI and the Lebanese Internal Security, claimed the fire that in turn instigated the explosion was caused by the shoddy work of Syrian welders—but our analysis challenges these claims.

I.84  Gold Mining and Violence in the Amazon Rainforest

Date of Incident
2019 – Ongoing
Location
Yanomami Territory
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
The Climate Litigation Accelerator (CLX)
Summary
This investigation demonstrates how the Bolsonaro administration’s policies led directly to a rapid spread of destructive gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon and increasing violence against Indigenous communities.

I.83  Sheikh Jarrah: Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem

Date of Incident
12 May 2021
Location
Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
This interactive urban narrative explains the ways in which Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah are being forcibly displaced, and their struggle with Israeli courts and settler groups. The story traverses multiple scales starting from homes invaded by settlers, and moves to the street, neighbourhood, city and the land, showing how colonial practices and apartheid planning displace Palestinians.

I.82  Russian Strike on the Kyiv TV Tower

Date of Incident
01 Mar 2022
Location
Kyiv, Ukraine
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
The Center for Spatial Technologies (CST)
Summary
The Russian strike on the Kyiv TV tower and the site of Babyn Yar on 1 March 2022 resulted in civilian casualties and urban destruction—but it also pierced through layers of historical strata, exposing a history of violence, genocide and negation that unfolded on the very same ground. This is the first installation in a new long-term collaboration with the Center for Spatial Technologies.

I.80  The Shelling of Khudair Warehouse: Chemical Warfare by Indirect Means

Date of Incident
15 May 2021
Location
Gaza, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
In Partnership With
Al-Haq
Summary
Marking the launch of Al-Haq’s Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit based in Ramallah, we examined the circumstances of the 15 May 2021 Israeli bombing of the Khudair Pharmaceuticals and Agricultural Tools Company in Beit Lahiya—the largest agricultural chemical warehouse in Gaza—as part of the environmental disaster imposed on Palestinians.

I.79  Living Archaeology in Gaza

Date of Incident
7th Century BCE – Ongoing
Location
Gaza
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Decades of bombings and humanitarian disaster inflicted by the Israeli occupation have posed a constant threat not only to Palestinian lives but also to their cultural heritage. FA has conducted the first open-source excavation of this remarkable archaeological site along Gaza’s coastline, illustrating the myriad risks it faces.

I.78  Pushbacks Across the Evros/Meriç River: The Case of Parvin

Date of Incident
01 Feb 2020
Location
Evros/Meriç river, Greek-Turkish border
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
Summary
At Europe’s southeastern river border, migrants report being beaten, detained, and illegally ‘pushed back’ to Turkey from Greece by unidentified masked men. Greek and EU authorities refuse to investigate. We worked with Parvin, a young woman from Iran, to analyse evidence she had gathered during her crossings and reconstruct her journey and experiences of ‘pushback’.

I.74  The Murder of Lucas Villa

Date of Incident
05 May 2021
Location
Pereira, Colombia
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Cerosetenta, Baudo Agencia Pública
Summary
On the 5th of May 2021, Lucas Villa, a Colombian student, was shot and fatally wounded in Pereira, Colombia while participating in the National Strike. Our findings suggest Lucas was targeted in a coordinated assassination.

I.73  Digital Violence: How the NSO Group Enables State Terror

Date of Incident
01 Jan 2015 – Ongoing
Location
At least 45 countries worldwide
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
Supported by Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab, Forensic Architecture’s Digital Violence investigation is a multidimensional study of the global use of the malware Pegasus made by Israeli cyber-surveillance company NSO Group.

I.69  The Extrajudicial Execution of Ahmad Erekat

Date of Incident
23 Jun 2020
Location
Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, Human Rights Report, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
On 23 June 2020, Ahmad Erekat, a 26-year-old Palestinian, was shot by Israeli occupation forces after his car crashed into a booth at an illegal checkpoint in the occupied West Bank in Palestine. Working in collaboration with the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, Forensic Architecture’s Palestine Unit was asked by the Erekat family to examine the incident.

I.68  NSO Group’s Breach of Private Data with ‘Fleming’, a COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Software

Date of Incident
01 Mar 2020 – ongoing
Location
Israel and around the world
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
Self-Initiated
Summary
In May 2020, an unprotected database belonging to Israeli cyber-weapons manufacturer NSO Group’s COVID-19 contact tracing software called 'Fleming' was left exposed. NSO denied there was a security breach. Forensic Architecture analysed a sample of the exposed database, which suggested that the data was based on ‘real’ personal data belonging to unsuspecting civilians.

I.67  Tear Gas in Plaza de la Dignidad

Date of Incident
20 Dec 2019
Location
Plaza de la Dignidad, Santiago de Chile
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
No+lacrimógenas
Summary
On 20 December 2019, the Chilean security forces used unprecedented quantities of tear gas within a relatively small area against people engaging in peaceful and unarmed protest. Using visual open source analysis and fluid dynamic simulation, we measured the concentration of tear gas in air and on the ground to estimate the scale of health risks posed on civilians on this day.

I.65  The Beirut Port Explosion

Date of Incident
04 Aug 2020
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Mada Masr
Summary
The explosions that ripped through the port of Beirut in 2020 devastated the city, leaving as many as 300,000 homeless. Following calls for an independent investigation, we mapped the contents of the warehouse where the blast originated and the spread of fire that instigated it, and have released our 3D models of the incident as a free resource for investigators and civil society.

I.60  Police Brutality at the Black Lives Matter Protests

Date of Incident
25 May 2020 – Ongoing
Location
Minneapolis, MN and across the US
Forums
United Nations, Web Platform
In Partnership With
Bellingcat
Summary
Protests against racialized police violence have swept the US, following the killings of George Floyd and others. Those protests have themselves been met with egregious brutality by police. With Bellingcat, we built a comprehensive archive of that systemic violence, to support accountability efforts.

I.61  The Killing of Muhammad al-Arab

Date of Incident
02 Mar 2020
Location
Evros/Meriç river delta
Forums
Legal Process, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
In Partnership With
Self-Initiated
Summary
When Turkey mobilized refugees and migrants to cross into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing casualties. We confirmed that, despite Greece’s denials, automatic rounds were fired from the Greek side of the border and one person, Muhammad al-Arab, was shot dead near a group of armed Greek soldiers.

I.56  Cloud Studies

Date
2008 - Ongoing
Summary
Toxic clouds colonise the air we breathe.

I.55  The Killing of Muhammad Gulzar

Date of Incident
04 Mar 2020
Location
Kastanies/Pazarkule border crossing, Evros/Meriç region
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports
Summary
After Turkey started encouraging refugees and migrants to cross the Evros/Meriç land border into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing multiple casualties. Despite Greece’s official denials, we confirmed that live rounds were indeed fired from the Greek side of the border, that several people were wounded, and one person, Muhammad Gulzar, was killed.

I.54  Model Zoo

Date of Incident
Various
Location
Various
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Amnesty International, Open source contributors
Summary
Since 2018, Forensic Architecture has been working with ‘synthetic images’—photorealistic digital renderings of 3D models—to train machine learning classifiers. Model Zoo includes a growing collection of 3D models of munitions and weapons, as well as the different classifiers trained to identify them making a catalogue of some of the most horrific weapons used in conflict today.

Detecting Tear Gas: Vision and Sound

Date
20 Feb 2020
Summary
This study documents several case studies undertaken by Forensic Architecture researchers and OSS contributors. Following on from research we released in early 2019, in the course of the year we have expanded our research in human rights and machine learning, with a particular focus on applications of synthetic data.

I.46  The Battle of Ilovaisk

Date of Incident
24 Aug 2014 – 03 Sep 2014
Location
Ilovaisk, Ukraine
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)
Summary
The victory of pro-Russian separatists over the Ukrainian army in the battle for control of Ilovaisk was a defining moment in the 2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine. We used machine learning to search for evidence of Russian military involvement.

I.8  MatchKing: Warren B. Kanders and the Israeli army

Date
14 May 2019
Summary
Warren B. Kanders, formerly vice chair of the board of trustees of New York's Whitney Museum, is connected to the US-based manufacturer Sierra Bullets. Sierra's 'Matchking' bullet is used by military snipers around the world. We traced a line from a manufacturing plant in Missouri to Gaza's eastern border, connecting Kanders to violence committed there against Palestinians by the Israeli army.

I.43  Triple-Chaser

Date of Incident
26 Nov 2018
Location
Tijuana-San Diego border, US/Mexico; Gaza, Palestine; and around the world
Forums
Exhibition, Media
In Partnership With
Praxis Films
Summary
When US border agents fired tear gas grenades at civilians, including children, photographs linked the grenades to the Safariland Group, which is owned by Warren B. Kanders, the vice chair of the board of trustees of the Whitney Museum of American Art. In response to our invitation to the Whitney Biennial 2019, we developed machine learning classifiers to search for Safariland munitions online.

I.27  Torture and Detention in Cameroon

Date of Incident
01 Jan 2015 – 01 Jan 2016
Location
Far North, Cameroon
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Amnesty International
Summary
In the US-backed war against Boko Haram, Cameroon’s security forces are detaining and torturing civilians with impunity. Investigating allegations made by survivors from two sites of illegal detention, we found US military personnel living and working in close proximity to sites of torture.