The Israeli army has destroyed about 200 historical buildings, archaeological and heritage sites in Gaza during its more than two-and-a-half-month offensive on the Gaza Strip, according to the Government Communication Office, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.

The destruction of this The sites account for more than half of the total of 325 historical sites in the enclave, and include “ancient mosques, churches, schools, museums, old houses and various heritage sites.”which represents an attempt “to erase the Palestinian cultural and heritage presence,” the same source added.

Among the buildings destroyed during the war are the Al Omari Mosque in Gaza, the largest and oldest in the strip, as well as the Otman Bin Qashqar Mosque, another of the oldest temples in the enclave, both in the old Center of the city. from Gaza.

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There was also some of the Byzantine Christian heritage of the Strip that has suffered damageIt was destroyed, just like the Byzantine Church of Jabalia or the Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyry in Gaza City, which was hit by an Israeli bombardment in November, causing about twenty dead Christians to take refuge.

Saint Porphyry was the oldest church still active in Gaza City, it was among the three oldest in the world and its original construction dated back to the 5th century.

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Another building destroyed is the central archives in Gaza Citywhere manuscripts and ancient documents testifying to its history were stored.

“The heritage and archaeological sites that were destroyed dated back to the Phoenician era, some to Roman times, some to 800 BC,” others “1,400 years ago” and some up to 400 years ago, the government news agency reported from Gaza.

He added that Israeli attacks on ancient or millennia-old heritage sites in Gaza are “a clear international crime,” which also violates the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Episodes of Armed Conflict. (JO)