Destruction of cultural heritage during the 2023 Israeli invasion of Gaza

A view down an urban street with ruined multistorey buildings on either side of the street. An Israeli tank occupies the centre of the street.
By late January 2024, more than half of the buildings in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed.

The destruction of cultural heritage during the 2023 Israeli invasion of Gaza has included the damage and destruction by Israel of hundreds of culturally or historically significant buildings, libraries, museums and other repositories of knowledge in Gaza, alongside the destruction of intangible cultural heritage.[1][2] By late January 2024, more than half of the buildings in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed, leaving residential areas devastated and 1.7 million people displaced.[3]

Al Jazeera characterized the destruction as cultural genocide,[2] and South Africa included the destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza as evidence of genocide in their case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.[4]

Cultural heritage is part of civilian infrastructure, and embodies the collective and history of the people who live in the region. Destroyed sites have included archives, museums, mosques, churches and cemeteries. Israel's destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza has been conducted in a systematic way.[5][6][7][8]

  1. ^ Ahmed, Kaamil (2024-04-28). "'Everything beautiful has been destroyed': Palestinians mourn a city in tatters". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-03-27. A recent report by the Palestinian culture ministry into Israeli damage to Palestinian heritage said Israel's bombardment of Gaza had destroyed 207 buildings of cultural or historical significance, including 144 in the old city and 25 religious sites.
  2. ^ a b Saber, Indlieb Farazi. "A 'cultural genocide': Which of Gaza's heritage sites have been destroyed?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2024-01-27. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  3. ^ "At least half of Gaza's buildings damaged or destroyed, new analysis shows". BBC News. 2024-01-30. Archived from the original on 2024-01-30. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  4. ^ Adams, Geraldine Kendall (2024-01-30). "Widescale destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza". Museums Association. Archived from the original on 2024-04-05. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  5. ^ Procter, Caitln (2024-03-13). "Israel Is Systematically Destroying Gaza's Cultural Heritage". Jacobin. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  6. ^ Tastan, Necva (22 April 2024). "'Erasure of history': Israel's 'cultural genocide' decimates Gaza's archaeological treasures". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  7. ^ Bisharat, Ghousoon (2024-02-17). "The obliteration of Gaza's multi-civilizational treasures". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  8. ^ Taha, Hamdan (2024). Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Gaza (Report). Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 7.

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