Hamas says Israel destroyed historic Gaza Mosque

Hamas said, on Friday, that Israel had bombed Gaza’s medieval Omari Mosque, causing widespread destruction to the building and calling it a “heinous, barbaric crime”, Reuters reports.

Photographs carried by Hamas-run media in Gaza, that Reuters could not immediately verify, showed massive damage to the Mosque, with fallen walls and roofs and a huge crack at the bottom of the stone minaret.

Reuters journalists from Gaza identified the minaret in the picture as being that of the Omari Mosque.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the damage to the mosque.

The Omari Mosque, named after Islam’s second caliph, Omar, is the oldest and biggest in the tiny Palestinian enclave, which has been under Israeli bombardment since a 7 October Hamas attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.

Israel’s assault has killed more than 17,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Territory, and has laid waste to entire city districts, including much civilian infrastructure.

VIEW: Unprecedented attack on journalism in Gaza