206 priceless archaeological, heritage sites destroyed by Israel in Gaza

The Israeli occupation army has destroyed and vandalised 206 priceless archaeological and heritage sites in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said today.

“Palestinian archaeological and heritage sites were not spared from destruction, vandalism, looting and theft by the Israeli occupation army,” Ismail Thawabteh, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Anadolu.

He said some of the sites were completely destroyed, while others suffered severe damage.

“Israel’s targeting of these sites reflects a systematic strategy to obliterate the Palestinian identity,” he added.

Prominent among archaeological sites targeted by the Israeli army in Gaza are the Great Omari Mosque, Byzantine Church in Jabalia, Shrine of Al-Khadir in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah and Blakhiya Byzantine cemetery (the Anthedon of Palestine) in northwestern Gaza City.

Also on the list are the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, 400-year-old Al-Saqqa House, and Sayed Al-Hashim Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Gaza.

Some of the ancient and archaeological sites destroyed by the Israeli occupation army date back to the Phoenician and Roman eras, while others date from between 800 BC and AD 1400. The more recent additions were built 400 years ago.

Gaza is an ancient and historic city that came under the rule of several empires and civilisations, including the Egyptian pharaohs, the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines, and then Ottoman rule in the Islamic era, among others.

“These criminal acts aim to harm the Palestinian people, their history and culture,” Thawabteh said.

Israel, he said, seeks “to obliterate Palestinian cultural heritage, break the will of the Palestinians and consolidate the occupation as part of a plan to empty the land of its people and impose a new reality.”

READ: Israel targeted almost 200 archaeological, historic sites in Gaza, says minister