Targeting heritage, targeting identity: Israel’s assault on Gaza’s cultural roots

The extensive military aggression by Israel against Gaza poses a serious threat to the complete destruction of the city’s ancient remains and both tangible and intangible heritage.

According to a statement by Euro-Med Monitor (European-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor), the Israeli occupiers deliberately target Gaza’s historical, archaeological, religious, and cultural sites as part of a developed colonial settlement strategy.

Israel’s ongoing military escalation, which has continued for over a month to occupy Gaza and displace its population, represents another step toward the comprehensive destruction of the city’s historic buildings and the permanent erasure of any hope for the restoration of damaged sites and structures.

The neighborhoods of Gaza’s Old City, full of historic homes and ancient structures such as historic markets, are at risk of complete destruction.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that they have documented Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks targeting historical sites, which constitute the most prominent parts of Gaza Strip’s cultural heritage.

Israel is relentlessly targeting Gaza’s cultural heritage, which carries fundamental values and symbols for preserving collective identity and memory, as part of a genocidal campaign.

The destruction and targeting of historical and archaeological sites is, in itself, considered a war crime and forms a central dimension of the genocide against Palestinians.

Euro-Med Monitor called on the United Nations and UNESCO to take effective measures to protect cultural property in Gaza and to work toward including endangered historical sites on international emergency protection lists.

The human rights organization also urged the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider these crimes in its ongoing investigations regarding the situation in Palestine.