GAZA, (PIC)
The Government Media Office (GMO) confirmed that the Israeli occupation army destroyed more than 200 heritage and archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip in a failed attempt to obliterate the Palestinian cultural and heritage presence and to bury the historical evidence and Palestinian historical depth in the Gaza Strip.
The Office said in a statement that the occupation army targeted and destroyed more than 200 archaeological and heritage sites out of 325 sites in the Gaza Strip, including ancient mosques, churches, schools, museums, ancient houses, and various heritage sites.
It pointed out that the most prominent sites destroyed by the Israeli occupation army during its aggression on Gaza are:
Jabalaya Byzantine Church, Omari Mosque in Jabalia, Sheikh Sha’ban Mosque, Al-Daffar Mosque in Shuja’iya, Al-Khidr Mosque in Deir al-Balah, Al-Balakhiya site “Anthedon Port” northwest of the old city of Gaza, Khalil al-Rahman Mosque in the Abasan area in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip, the Manuscripts and Ancient Documents Center in Gaza City, and other important archaeological and heritage sites.
The GMO added, “The occupation army also targeted the St. Porphyrius Church in the Zaitun neighborhood of Gaza City, the archaeological house of Al-Saqqa in Shuja’iya, Tel al-Mintar in Gaza City, Tel al-Sakan in Zahra, and Hill 86 in Qarara, and the Sayed Hashem Mosque in Gaza City.
It said that some of the heritage and archaeological sites destroyed by the occupation army have their origins in the Phoenician era, and some of them date back to the Roman era, some of them were built 800 years BC, and some were built 1400 years ago, and some of them were built 400 years ago, which is a clear indication of the entrenched Palestinian right in Palestinian land, which Israel is trying to change its features through bombing and direct targeting.
The GMO stressed that the targeting and destruction of heritage and archaeological sites by the occupation army in the Gaza Strip is a “clear international crime according to international laws,” especially the international humanitarian law and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in case of Armed Conflict and the Second Protocol to the 1999 Convention, which prohibits deliberate targeting, under all circumstances, of cultural and religious sites.
It called on international and UN organizations concerned with the cultural and heritage dimension to condemn this organized crime committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip.
The Office finally called for immediate and urgent intervention to stop this crime and to work on rehabilitating and restoring these destroyed heritage and cultural sites.
