Artists Lead Efforts to Restore, Preserve Gaza's Old Houses

Architects and workers renovate the long-abandoned 200-year-old al-Kamalaia school, in the old quarter of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP)
Architects and workers renovate the long-abandoned 200-year-old al-Kamalaia school, in the old quarter of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP)
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Artists Lead Efforts to Restore, Preserve Gaza's Old Houses

Architects and workers renovate the long-abandoned 200-year-old al-Kamalaia school, in the old quarter of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP)
Architects and workers renovate the long-abandoned 200-year-old al-Kamalaia school, in the old quarter of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP)

The grand, 500-year-old brick walls of the al-Kamalaia School slowly emerged from years of accumulated garbage as grassroots preservers began the long process of restoring it to its former glory.

Located in the heart of the old quarter of Gaza City, the Mamluk-era building is one of an ever-dwindling number of historic structures at risk of demolition.

"It was in a very difficult, pitiful state. It was a dump," said Abdullah al-Ruzzi, an artist and leading volunteer.

Al-Ruzzi and other artists launched the Mobaderoon, or Initiators, program, seeking to save abandoned houses and buildings from two periods of Gaza’s history: the Mamluk Sultanate and the subsequent Ottoman Empire.

In the old section of the Palestinian enclave, fewer than 200 houses from these eras are partially or entirely standing, according to tourist officials. They are threatened by neglect, decay or even demolition by new urban development.

"Lack of public awareness and the economic considerations by owners are the greatest threats to these buildings," said Ahmed al-Astal, director of Iwan, the history and heritage institute of Gaza’s Islamic University. "These houses are our identity, but ignorance leads to their destruction."

Because the Gaza Strip is small, with 2 million people living in just 300 square kilometers (115 square miles), the experts and volunteers fear that structures of past centuries will disappear, like those from far more ancient civilizations.

Population growth, conflict with Israel and mismanagement by Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, have contributed to the erasure of many signs of Gaza’s five millennia of history. The territory has been enriched by its prime location along the route connecting ancient Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia. For example, Hamas bulldozers destroyed large parts of a rare 4,500-year-old Bronze Age settlement to make way for a housing project.

Mobaderoon is one of a handful of organizations seeking to preserve ancient sites in Gaza City. But their efforts are typically limited in scope and lack systematic plans.

It took the team two weeks to remove the trash from the al-Kamalaia school, which is named after a Mamluk sultan. Each day, young men and women gather there, sweeping the dusty floor, brushing the bricks and supporting windows with wood frames.

Once the renovation is completed, al-Ruzzi says the goal is to convert the building into a venue for cultural and artistic activities because such facilities are few in Gaza.

"This is the only school that still maintains its architectural standing, it still has classrooms. It’s clear that this school was used until a recent time in education and memorizing the Quran because it’s in the old city," said Jamal Abu Rida, director of the archaeology department in Gaza’s Tourism Ministry.

Residents of Gaza are preoccupied with financial woes, struggling with a 13-year-old Israeli blockade, and combatting a raging coronavirus outbreak that has overwhelmed the health system. Campaigns to protect heritage and archaeological sites are not top priorities, but are welcomed.

"The initiatives are very important because their goal is to preserve the cultural legacy," said al-Astal.

A few blocks from the school, a different team is working on renovating a house, the Ghussein palace, named after the family that has owned it for 200 years. The workers scraped the bricks to remove layers of dust that hid their features. Others took measurements for the door frames.

The work began on this home in August and is scheduled to be complete in January. "It was left for a long time and has a lot of cracks and problems," said Nashwa Ramlawi, the architect leading the restoration. "The place has a great heritage and cultural value. We will dedicate it for anything that serves the community; a cultural, service or social center open to everyone."



Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
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Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)

Nearly 1,000 firefighters and helicopters battled a wildfire about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of France's second-largest city Marseille on Friday, but officials said lower temperatures and increased humidity had improved the situation.

The 240-hectare (593 acres) wildfire flared up a week after a separate conflagration reached the northwestern outskirts of Marseille, forcing people to evacuate or into lockdown and temporarily shuttering the area's airport.

Pierre Bepoix, the colonel of rescue operations and deputy director for the area's firefighters, said 150 people had been evacuated, but firefighters had managed to save 150 homes and portions of the area's forests.

"It was a fire that swept through relatively dense vegetation ... which made our work particularly complicated," Bepoix told Reuters. "Obviously, priority was given to the preservation and protection of these homes and the lives that could be in these buildings."

Local officials said in a statement that 120 homes had been threatened by the fire, adding that it was not possible yet to identify any possible damage to them, and that two firefighters had been injured.

Meanwhile in Spain, a wildfire that broke out on Thursday evening in the central Toledo province and could be seen from downtown Madrid, ravaged 3,200 hectares of woodland.

Regional emergency services said early on Friday firefighters had secured the perimeter, though there were concerns over strong winds and high temperatures forecast throughout the day.