Gaza’s Heritage Sites Struggle Against War to ‘Bury Memory’

The impact of the unprecedented Israeli war has left Gaza’s heritage severely damaged, mirroring the struggles of its people. Experts believe that the extensive destruction and targeted attacks signal an attempt to “bury memory” under the debris of missiles and shells.

A 2019 survey by the Palestinian National Authority’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities identified 37 archaeological sites in Gaza, representing various historical periods and architectural styles.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, experts estimate that the recent conflict has destroyed over 70% of these sites, either completely or through significant damage.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Astal affirmed that the recent conflict has targeted Gaza’s historic sites, some dating back to 3500 B.C. and 2000 A.D.

Among the most affected are the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City, which has sustained severe damage, and the Church of Saint Porphyrius, thought to be the third oldest church in the world and a key site in the Middle East.

Al-Astal, who leads the Iwan Center for Cultural Heritage at the Islamic University of Gaza, claims that most of Gaza’s landmarks, museums, and archaeological sites have been hit by Israeli airstrikes aimed at erasing the region’s history.

Just three months before the conflict, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of five new graves in the Roman Cemetery in Jabalia, bringing the total to 130 Roman graves found as of July 2023.

Now, Jabalia, along with nearby Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, is a focal point of military operations under the so-called “Generals’ Plan,” which seeks to create an Israeli buffer zone to isolate the northern Gaza Strip.

Al-Astal believes there is a “widespread targeting” of not only religious sites but also museums, graves, and archaeological locations.

UNESCO Listing

Before the war, several museums, including the Pasha Palace and the Rafah Museum, drew many visitors. The site of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion was also discovered in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, dating back 17 centuries.

In July, UNESCO placed the Monastery of Saint Hilarion on its World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, highlighting “the site's significant value and the need for its protection.”

The Monastery of Saint Hilarion is one of the oldest sites in the Middle East. Founded by Saint Hilarion, it housed the first monastic community in the Holy Land.

Located at a major crossroads for trade between Asia and Africa, the monastery was a center for religious, cultural, and economic exchanges, representing the desert monasteries of the Byzantine era.

Due to the threats posed by the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the World Heritage Committee included the monastery on its emergency sites list as part of the World Heritage Convention.

Military Sites

A recent study by the Heritage for Peace group found that the Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023 has destroyed over 100 archaeological and historical sites. The Gaza government’s media office, affiliated with Hamas, reports that 206 heritage sites have been either severely or partially damaged due to the conflict.

Asharq Al-Awsat experts note that the full extent of the damage is hard to determine, as some sites are located in areas designated as Israeli military zones, restricting access. This includes the Tel Um Amir site near Israeli forces at the Netzarim junction and the Roman Cemetery in northern Gaza, close to other military positions where residents cannot go.

Nearly all of these sites have been targeted, despite some being listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Gaza’s Oldest Mosque

The Great Omari Mosque is among the most heavily damaged archaeological sites in Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes. As one of the oldest mosques in the area, it was converted into a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist by Crusaders in 1149.

The Ayyubids destroyed much of it in 1187, but the Mamluks rebuilt it in the early 13th century. The mosque faced further destruction by the Mongols in 1260, was reclaimed by Muslims, and then damaged in an earthquake at the end of the 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Ottomans restored the mosque, but it was again damaged during British bombing in World War I. It was renovated in 1925 by the Higher Islamic Council.

Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids and people simply yearning for the promise of spring marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year at the ancient Stonehenge monument on Saturday.

Revelers cheered and beat drums as the sun rose at 8:09 a.m. (0809 GMT) over the giant standing stones on the winter solstice — the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. No one could see the sun through the low winter cloud, but that did not deter a flurry of drumming, chanting and singing as dawn broke.

There will be less than eight hours of daylight in England on Saturday — but after that, the days get longer until the summer solstice in June.

The solstices are the only occasions when visitors can go right up to the stones at Stonehenge, and thousands are willing to rise before dawn to soak up the atmosphere.

The stone circle, whose giant pillars each took 1,000 people to move, was erected starting about 5,000 years ago by a sun-worshiping Neolithic culture, according to The AP. Its full purpose is still debated: Was it a temple, a solar calculator, a cemetery, or some combination of all three?

In a paper published in the journal Archaeology International, researchers from University College London and Aberystwyth University said the site on Salisbury Plain, about 128 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of London, may have had political as well as spiritual significance.

That follows from the recent discovery that one of Stonehenge’s stones — the unique stone lying flat at the center of the monument, dubbed the “altar stone” — originated in Scotland, hundreds of miles north of the site. Some of the other stones were brought from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 240 kilometers (150 miles) to the west,

Lead author Mike Parker Pearson from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology said the geographical diversity suggests Stonehenge may have served as a “monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos.”

Gaza’s Heritage Sites Struggle Against War to ‘Bury Memory’