Name: The destruction of 1,500-year-old buildings in Gaza
Uploaded: 2024-01-01T10:20:24.283Z
Duration: 2 min 9 s
Description: More than 100 historic and cultural sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardment since the war started. It’s a big loss for Palestinians - and also for the wider world.

More than 100 historic and cultural sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardment since the war started. It’s a big loss for Palestinians - and also for the wider world. 

Sderot

The U.S-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza is holding, after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages.

Middle East Conflict

The destruction of 1,500-year-old buildings in Gaza

Before Islam, the Amari Mosque in northern Gaza was a church. It's been a holy site for 1,500 years. Because of Israeli airstrikes, now it looks like this. What is happening now in Gaza is cultural genocides, destroying the heritage and the identity and the history of the people in Gaza. Israel is erasing these symbols because Israel don't want the people in Gaza to have this connection with their land. Heritage for Peace has documented over 100 historical sites in Gaza that have been damaged by Israeli airstrikes, including the Qasr Palace, parts of which dated back to the 13th century. It was a museum, receiving thousands of visitors a year. That now looks like this. And the Samra Baths, an Ottoman-era hamam that was still functioning until the war, that now looks like this. Israel, by international law, is obliged to respect the cultural heritage of Gaza now. And that never happened in the last two months. Three sites on UNESCO's World Heritage Preliminary List have been damaged, but so far, UNESCO has been silent. UNESCO has the mandate, under the convention of 1954, the Hague Convention, it's UNESCO who should raise alarm. All those monuments that we see across Gaza and Palestine are documented, a reference would have been passed to the Israelis, they know exactly the geographical location of these sites. Erasure of historical and cultural buildings in Palestine is not new. What the Israelis have done is really part of a systematic campaign that's been going on since 1948. It's a huge loss, not just for the Palestinians, but for mankind as a whole. Entire villages, mosques and cemeteries were erased in 1948. And in Gaza, that appears to be what is happening again. Imogen Kimber, Al Jazeera.

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Middle East Conflict