ISTANBUL 

Israel’s devastating war on Gaza is destroying both its present and past.

Relentless attacks over the past 140 days have killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians and laid waste to almost all of the besieged enclave.

Caught up in that destruction – or rather deliberately targeted, according to experts – have been Gaza’s archaeological sites, and their thousands of years of history.

“What has been done in Gaza is an erasure of history, and the vestiges of the past 5,000 years of history and archaeology,” Hamdan Taha, former deputy minister for tourism and antiquities in Palestine, told Anadolu.

“It is going to a level of cultural genocide, equally with the human genocide going on.”

Over thousands of years, Gaza has been a bridge between empires and civilizations, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman.

That has left it with a trove of archaeological wonders, from ancient sites to historical structures and invaluable archives – none of which have been spared from the ravages of the Israeli offensive.

In a report toward the end of last year, Gazan authorities said more than 200 archaeological and ancient sites had been destroyed since Oct. 7, out of a total of 325 registered across the strip.

Among these was Anthedon Harbor, or Blakhiyah, Gaza’s first known seaport and a UNESCO heritage site dating back to 800 BC, which has been “completely or massively destroyed,” according to Simon Brelaud, a French archaeologist who has worked in Gaza.

“It was the core of the ancient city of Gaza, the Greek city of Anthedon. It was a huge site with different layers, some dating back to the Bronze Age. Most of the wall was from the Iron Age, you have a huge layer from the Hellenistic, then Roman period,” he told Anadolu.

“It has been massively destroyed, notably by Israeli soldiers, probably to see there is no tunnel underneath this area.”

Widespread damage and destruction

The destruction of Anthedon was also confirmed by Georgia Andreou, director of the Gazamap project, who added that another site – Maiuma, dating back to the Roman and Byzantine era – has also been “completely destroyed.”

“Other sites, such as Tell al-Sakan (about 3300-2300 BCE), which is the earliest Egyptian colony in the Levant, and Tell al-Ajjul (about 2000-1500 BCE), which is one of the most important early cities in the Southern Levant, have been partly damaged,” she told Anadolu in a written response.

Other sites damaged or destroyed include Qasr al-Basha, also known as Radwan Castle, and Napoleon’s Castle, a historical public museum dating back to the Mamluk period, located on Wehda Street in Gaza’s Old City.

Brelaud, the French archaeologist, also spoke about Tell Umm Amer, one of the largest archaeological sites in Gaza, located near the Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, saying that it now houses displaced Palestinians.

The site includes the St. Hilarion Monastery, one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries, that has also reportedly sustained damage.

Before the war started, this was one of the few sites where excavations were being carried out, said Brelaud.

At the Omari Mosque, or the Great Mosque of Gaza, “we have massive destruction, with roof collapsed and part of the tower collapsing,” he said.

Taha, the former minister, explained the significance of the mosque, saying it has been “a witness to almost all historical periods from the 7th century until now.”

Prior to the mosque, the site had a church and, before that, a Roman temple, he said.

The Byzantine Church, also known as Jabaliya Church and dating back to the 5th century, has been completely destroyed.

Among the other sites across Gaza partially or fully damaged are the Al-Saqa Archaeological House, Tel al-Mansatar, Rafah Archaeological Tell, Deir al-Balah Museum, according to a report by the non-profit Heritage for Peace.

‘Existential threat’ and ‘destruction of human identity’

As Israel’s military offensive shows no signs of stopping, Andreou warned that all of Gaza’s historical sites “are facing an existential threat, particularly those located in densely populated areas.”

“Much of the built archaeology, like mosques, churches etc. have been substantially damaged,” she reiterated.

“The lack of resources, and most importantly the killing of heritage professionals and the destruction of universities that offered relevant training, exacerbate this existential threat.”

She stressed that the decimation of all this heritage is also “the destruction of this community,” as well as the ability to ensure “the preservation of tangible local heritage and the future production of new heritage.”

Andreou also pointed out that the “erasure of the cultural landscape aims to create an empty map for the development of a new reality.”

“An empty space makes difficult for people to claim their house, their property. It also makes their displacement easier,” she said.

Brelaud stressed that the damage and destruction of Gaza’s archaeology and heritage is “another layer of this tragedy,” in addition to the human toll.

“All the destruction means information that will disappear, and we will not be aware of this part of history,” he said.

“So, it’s something that has implications in the future, for Gaza and also for all the scientific community and the world heritage.”

Taha was firm in the belief that Israel’s actions are part of a plan for the “intentional, systematic destruction and erasure of cultural identity of (Palestinian) people.”

“This is a tragedy what has been done to this heritage … It is not just destruction of Palestinian cultural identity, but it is at the same time, the destruction of human identity,” he asserted.

“Palestinian heritage is an integral part of the human heritage, and that was part of the contribution of Gaza, in particular, and Palestine as a whole, in the human history.”