Going, Going, Gone: Gaza’s Catastrophic Loss

MOHAMMED SABER / EPA-EFE / SHUTTERSTOCK

Across an area only about half the size of Manhattan, the Gaza Strip features hundreds of archaeological and heritage sites, ranging in date from prehistoric times to the British Mandate. Indeed, as one of the few harbors along the southern Levantine coast, Gaza was a center of commerce and exchange for thousands of years, remembered in the Bible and ancient sources as one of the leading Philistine cities and then, during the Roman period, as a critical commercial hub that connected the Roman East with the wider Mediterranean world.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Gaza’s rich archaeological heritage has been among the many casualties of the Gaza war, which has brought seemingly endless suffering and despair to so many. In the wake of the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and saw hundreds of others taken captive, more than 72,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza, with many more injured, often severely. By some estimates, nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed, leading to massive displacement of its more than 2 million residents into temporary camps.

Official reports place the number of damaged or destroyed religious, historical, and heritage sites at more than 160, though local monitoring groups believe the number to be much higher. Among these are some of the most important and recognizable sites in the territory. Gaza’s Omari Mosque, first built in the early seventh century to honor one of the prophet Muhammad’s successors, was severely damaged by airstrikes early in the war and is now mostly rubble (see photo below). Like so many of the region’s sacred sites, the ancient mosque was built over and incorporated the remains of an earlier Byzantine-period church, an even earlier Roman sanctuary, and, by some accounts, was even the spot where the biblical judge Samson famously toppled the Philistine temple to Dagon (Judges 16:23–30).

Roman and early Christian sites have suffered as well. The ruins of the fifth-century Jabalia church, which features some of Gaza’s most beautiful Byzantine mosaics, was damaged when airstrikes on a nearby building caused its visitor center and shelter to collapse. The fourth-century Monastery of St. Hilarion, one of the region’s oldest monastic complexes, was added to UNESCO’s list of endangered World Heritage sites, while Gaza’s ancient harbor, Anthedon, was severely damaged from shelling and bulldozing. In addition, the storage facility that held thousands of artifacts excavated from both sites had to be hurriedly evacuated before an airstrike destroyed the building late last year.

Another major casualty was Qasr al-Basha, a 13th-century Mamluk fortress that was used by subsequent imperial powers to administer the port city, including the Ottomans and even the French commander Napoleon Bonaparte. Repurposed in recent years as one of Gaza’s principal museums, the building was struck by rockets and then later bulldozed, destroying or burying beneath the rubble nearly 20,000 artifacts and objects.

With a fragile ceasefire in place since October, Palestinians have begun to clear the rubble and assess the damage. But even with the support of international aid groups, who have promised millions in cleanup and restoration efforts, the recovery is just beginning. Many threatened sites remain inaccessible due to military restrictions, hazardous debris fields, and the sprawling camps that have been set up to shelter the displaced. And with some in the international community promising to rebuild Gaza as the “Riviera of the Middle East,” even more threats to Gaza’s heritage may be yet to come.