The Israeli army has destroyed more than 200 archeological and ancient sites out of 325 that were registered in the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Anadolu News Agency quoted the Government Media Office in Gaza as saying that the sites include ancient churches, mosques, schools, museums and other different historical and archeological sites and monuments.
“The ancient and archeological sites destroyed by the army date back to the Phoenician and Roman ages, others date back between 800 BC and 1,400, while others were built 400 years ago,” the Office said in a statement.
The Great Omari Mosque, the Byzantine church in Jabaliya, the Shrine of Al-Khadir in Deir al-Balah city in central Gaza Strip, and the Blakhiya Byzantine cemetery (The Anthedon of Palestine), northwestern Gaza City were among the sites.
The statement noted that other sites were severely damaged, including the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, the 400-year-old Al-Saqqa House and the Sayed al-Hashim Mosque, which is one of the oldest mosques in Gaza.
The Geneva-based rights group, Euro-Med Monitor, said on November 20 that Israel deliberately destroyed archeological and historical monuments in the Gaza Strip, and accused it of “explicitly targeting Palestinian cultural heritage.”
Gaza is rich in history. “Evidence of Hyksos, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and other civilizations which dwelled in that region for thousands of years, is a testimony to the historical significance of the area,” Palestinian journalist and author Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent article.
“What is taking place in Gaza now is but an episode, a traumatic and a defining one, but nonetheless, a mere chapter in the history of a people who proved to be as durable and resilient as history itself,” Baroud added.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 21,672 Palestinians have been killed, and 56,165 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, MEMO)
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