Tehran – A land stained with millennia of history, the Gaza Strip faces what experts describe as an unprecedented attack on cultural heritage, with archaeologists warning that the destruction of ancient sites, museums and archives risks erasing Palestinian historical memories forever.
Professor Salah Hussein Al-Houdalieh, an archaeologist at Al-QUDS University and executive director of Icomos-Palestine, remembers caution about the devastating impact of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, which is now in its 17 months.
“The cultural heritage of the Gaza Strip has endured occupation, looting and neglect for decades, but what we are witnessing now is a systematic erasure,” said Al Houdalier.
“This is not just a collateral loss, it’s an ideologically driven attack on Palestinian identity.”
Gaza’s strategic location has been a crossroads of civilization for over 1.5 million years, hosting ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Pericinians, Byzantines and Islamic dynasties. A 2019 UNESCO-backed survey documented 354 heritage sites, including the region’s oldest Bronze Age settlements, including the Great Omali Mosque, Ansidon Harbor and Telsakan.
However, since October 2023, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have reduced historic landmarks to Kura Rub. Government reports show that over 61,709 Palestinians have been killed, with 14,222 still missing under the wreckage, while 111,588 have been injured. This humanitarian catastrophe, museums, libraries and archives (the existence of manuscripts, artifacts, oral history) was destroyed.
“Booding museums and mosques from centuries ago doesn’t just destroy stones, they’re erasing the roots of people,” said Al Houdalier. “This is light and reliable.”
Targeting Gaza heritage fits harsh historical patterns, from burning at the Alexandria Library to the destruction of Palmyra and Bamiyan Buddhas. Al-Houdalieh points out that such acts are “an instrument of colonial rule, not an accident of war.”
The UN Human Rights Council accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and Icomos Palestine expanded the term to include cultural suicide, cities and the environment, which is the deliberate disappearance of culture, urban life and the environment.
An urgent question is approaching now. Should Palestinians rebuild their lost heritage or protect the ruins as evidence of destruction?
In Ramala, Palestinian authorities quickly rebuilt the bombed headquarters and erased traces of the attack. “He fears Gaza will face the same dilemma. Whether sites like Omali Mosque are being rebuilt or the crushed ruins are left as symbols of resistance.
Despite the devastation, Al Houdalier argues that Palestinian identity cannot be completely erased. Farmers still use the Canaanite agricultural terminology, but refugees hand over keys to their 1948 home as a symbol of rehabilitation.
“Our heritage is not just about buildings. It lies in our story, our traditions, our tenacity,” he said. “But without urgent global intervention, Gaza risks losing physical evidence of a civilization that has been thousands of years ago.”
The organization of international heritage is largely silent, and Gaza archaeologists continue to document the damage. Over time they continue the race to save what remains of Palestinian memories before they are buried forever.
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