Mosques, churches, museums... The cultural heritage of Gaza ravaged by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

While Israeli military operations continue in the Gaza Strip, and in the absence of foreign observers free to move around, a complete inventory of the damage to the centuries-old heritage of the territory remains very complicated to establish. Since October, Heritage for Peace has been working on this by trying to identify and verify the testimonies or documents reporting the destruction. The NGO, which benefits in particular from the support of the British and Spanish governments, published a first report on November 7 in which it lists ten sites whose future is uncertain and estimates around a hundred places of cultural interest damaged by the bombings. According to another NGO, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, more than 150 places of worship have been damaged to date. Since the first Heritage for Peace report, several pieces of information, notably cross-checked by Western media, have established with certainty heavy destruction of historic buildings. To the point that Father Jean-Baptiste Humbert, in charge of archeology at the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem who has worked in Palestine for decades, confided to the Daily Mail that he feared “destruction total cultural heritage of Gaza.

The Al-Omari Grand Mosque is one of the most important buildings in the Gaza Strip. The site, which may have housed a Philistine temple, was occupied by a Byzantine church dating from the 5th century, transformed into a mosque in the 8th century, itself ravaged by an earthquake. A new church was built by the Templars in the 12th century, destroyed by the Ayyubids, before the Mamluks rebuilt a mosque. The current building, which again suffered from British bombing in the 20th century before being restored once again, covers an area of ​​approximately 4000 m². Since the beginning of December, several photos, relayed by Al Jazeera and since identified by Western media such as the BBC, show that the building was, at the very least, heavily damaged.

It is considered the oldest church in Gaza still in operation. The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyry is located in the Zaytun district of the city where it is believed to have been built by the Crusaders around 1150. According to the Christian NGO Caritas, at least 17 people were killed in an attack on October 19. Testimonies collected by L'Orient-Le Jour report damage to the facade and the collapse of an adjacent building within the religious complex.

The archaeological site of Tel Umm Amer, in Deir el-Balah, is famous for the remains of the monastery of Saint Hilarion, which span four centuries, from the end of the Roman Empire to the Umayyad period. The first buildings were founded in 329. It was one of the largest Christian monasteries in the Middle East. Dedicated to Saint Hilarion, a native of Gaza and father of Palestinian monasticism, it includes five successive churches, a baptistery, baths and sanctuaries, complex geometric mosaics and a vast crypt. The site, excavated and restored in particular thanks to help from France, is located relatively far from the most urbanized areas of the Gaza Strip and seems for the moment to have been spared.

Discovered in 1997, the site was excavated and restored by the French NGO Première urgence international with the French Biblical and Archaeological School and was open to the public since 2022. The 5th century Byzantine church and its numerous mosaics, sheltered under a modern building, adjoined the Jabaliya camp hospital which was bombed. According to the NGO Heritage For Peace, the place was completely destroyed by “direct bombing”.

The port of Anthédon, the first known seaport in Gaza, occupied from 800 BC. to 1100 AD, would have been considerably affected by bombardments. It is one of three sites in Gaza included on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

The cemetery in Gaza, where more than 3,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen killed during the First World War are buried, has been damaged, according to a report from the Daily Mail. Of all the graves, 781 are unidentified and bear the inscription: “A Soldier of the Great War, Known to God.”

The archaeological site of Tel Es-Sakan, which is located in the Al-Zahra area south of Gaza City, is partially damaged according to Heritage For Peace. Twenty-five years ago, Palestinian and French archaeologists began excavating what is considered the first archaeological site in Gaza; unearthing what they believe to be a rare 4,500-year-old Bronze Age settlement. The entire Al Zahra district, in which the archaeological site is located, was practically destroyed by the bombings.

Built by the Ottomans in the 19th century after the destruction of the 12th century building by Napoleon's troops, the Sayed al-Hashem Mosque is one of the most beautiful mosques in Gaza and one of the largest, with its wide esplanade surrounded by galleries. It houses the tomb of Hachim ibn Abd Manaf, great-grandfather of Muhammad. The building was apparently partially damaged by direct bombardment.

Founded in 2016, the Al Qarara Museum showcases the archeology and history of the region. Mohammad Abulehia, who established the museum, confirmed to The Art Newspaper that the building and collection suffered significant damage when a missile struck an adjacent house on October 12. The collection included antiquities from the Byzantine period, while the free-entry museum also served as a community center.

The Rafah Museum, in the south, is dedicated to teaching about the multicultural heritage of the Gaza Strip. According to its director Suhaila Shaheen, the place housed priceless coins, precious stones, copper plates and clothing and all kinds of objects dating back to eras in Gaza's history, when the region was a hub of commerce and culture under Egypt.

The French Institute in Gaza was targeted on November 3 by an Israeli airstrike. France is the only foreign country to maintain a cultural venue in Gaza. At the time of the bombing, no French agent or national was inside the building, built on land offered to former President of the Republic Jacques Chirac by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.