GAZA, (PIC)
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) destroyed 79% of mosques in the Gaza Strip during the year of the ongoing war of genocide on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, according to the Ministry of Awqaf (endowment) and Religious Affairs.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry reported statistical data on the destruction and damages inflicted by the Israeli war on Islamic and Christian holy places in Gaza.
The Gaza Endowment said the IOF caused complete destruction to 814 out of 1,245 mosques in the Gaza Strip, at a rate of 79%, and 148 mosques were partially damaged, while three churches were completely destroyed across Gaza City.
The ministry indicated that IOF bombed a number of mosques and prayer halls on top of safe worshipers, as happened in the prayer hall of the Al-Tabi’in School in Gaza City, causing a massacre that claimed the lives of dozens of martyrs and wounded many others.
The ministry also reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted 19 out of a total of 60 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip, leading to complete destruction of eight cemeteries, and partial damage to 11 graveyards.
The ministry monitored Israeli crimes including exhuming graves, stealing thousands of bodies of the dead and martyrs, and mutilating them, noting that the statistics related to the cemeteries have not yet been completed due to the difficulty of accessing a number of them in light of the ongoing war of extermination.
It revealed that 11 administrative and educational headquarters affiliated with the ministry were not spared from direct targeting, representing 79% of the total number of the ministry’s 14 headquarters in the Gaza Strip, with nine of which completely destroyed.
The ministry indicated that the completely destroyed headquarters included the ministry’s main headquarters, the headquarters of the Holy Quran Radio, the Khan Yunis Endowments Directorate, the Antiquities and Manuscripts Center, the Endowments Sharia School for Boys, and the College of Islamic Propagation – Northern Branch.
The ministry added that the IOF destroyed nine of its vehicles, six of which were completely destroyed, and three others were severely damaged, while the number of martyrs among the ministry’s employees, preachers, and imams reached 238 martyrs, in addition to 19 detainees in Israeli jails.
The ministry condemned the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, holy sanctities, and cemeteries, calling on all countries of the world and international organizations to condemn these heinous crimes against humanity and places of worship and to intervene to stop the war of genocide.