GAZA CITY, Palestine: Gaza’s historical and cultural heritage has not been spared during Israel’s two-year military campaign, with more than 20,000 rare artifacts—ranging from prehistoric times to the Ottoman era—now missing or looted.
“The Israeli army has systematically and extensively destroyed Gaza’s archaeological sites as part of a policy aimed at erasing Palestinian identity,” Ismail al-Thawabteh, head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Anadolu news agency.
Official data indicate that Israeli forces have fully or partially damaged over 316 archaeological sites and structures across the Gaza Strip.
Most date back to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, while others originate from early Islamic centuries and the Byzantine era.
Among the affected sites is Qasr al-Basha, a Mamluk-era palace built on a UNESCO-listed heritage site dating back to 800 BC.
According to Hamouda al-Dahdar, a cultural heritage expert at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation in Bethlehem, the palace—located in Gaza City’s Old City—sustained damage to nearly 70% of its structure.
Technicians and workers continue to sift through the rubble using basic tools in an effort to recover and preserve what remains of Gaza’s historical legacy.
“What happened to Gaza’s heritage was not only destruction; it was organised looting—an act prohibited under international law and considered an assault on global cultural heritage,” Thawabteh said.
He added that more than 20,000 rare artifacts, spanning prehistoric times through the Ottoman period, disappeared from the museum during the war.
“Each artifact carries historical weight and represents a chapter of Palestine’s civilizational story,” he said, describing the looting as “a grave cultural crime that harms national identity and humanity’s shared heritage.”
The expert added that the site had previously suffered extensive destruction during earlier Israeli military operations before its withdrawal in 1994.
After the Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinian Authority restored the palace and turned it into a museum featuring valuable historical collections.
The Israeli army launched a brutal offensive on Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 69,000 people, mostly women and children, injuring over 170,000 others, and arresting thousands.
The assault came to a halt under a ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10.
