Gaza’s archaeological heritage was destroyed in Israel’s genocide. These volunteers are trying to salvage it from the rubble: Israeli forces systematically and deliberately targeted many of Gaza’s archaeological sites, including ancient churches. Before the war, Gaza was home to archaeological sites and artifacts from periods spanning more than 5,000 years of continuous human civilization. Some looted artifacts have quietly resurfaced in a Paris exhibition

contact@ifamericansknew.org  

August 31, 2026  

Archaeology destroyed,  

destruction in gaza,  

israeli apartheid,  

khan younis,  

violation of international law

Tareq S. Hajjaj, reposted from Mondoweiss, August 31, 2026

MEMBERS OF THE HERITAGE GUARDIANS VOLUNTEER TEAM, AFFILIATED WITH THE MAYASEM ASSOCIATION FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS, EXAMINE AND DOCUMENT HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS RECOVERED FROM BENEATH THE RUBBLE IN GAZA, KHAN YOUNIS, JUNE, 2026.(PHOTO: YOUSEF ABADLA)

Salvaged artifacts by the Mayasem Association for Culture and the Arts, Khan Younis, Gaza, June, 2026.(Photo: Yousef Abadla) (Anadolu Ajansi)

In the rubble of a bombed site in Khan Younis, a group of volunteers in yellow high-visibility vests work in near silence.

They have no tools but their hands, relentless determination, and the knowledge that what lies beneath the debris is irreplaceable. Carefully, they lift carved stone fragments and pottery vessels by hand, wrap ceramic pieces in whatever protective material they can find, and admire ancient statues, shattered on the ground, dating back thousands of years.

The volunteers are part of the Heritage Guardians Team, an initiative affiliated with the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts. Although Israeli shelling never stopped rocking Gaza, they’ve been trying — carefully, methodically, and with bare hands — to save what remains of the Strip’s archaeological heritage before it disappears entirely under the rubble. 

According to Hamouda al-Dahdar, director of the Department of Archaeological Sites and Excavations at Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Israeli forces systematically and deliberately targeted many of Gaza’s archaeological sites, most of which had remained closed throughout the war. “They were attacked without any apparent military justification,” he told Mondoweiss.

Before the war, the Gaza Strip was home to archaeological sites and artifacts from periods spanning more than 5,000 years of continuous human civilization. Nearly every part of the territory contained an archaeological site or historical remains, while five major museums preserved the vast majority of artifacts unearthed across Gaza.

But the ongoing genocide has left virtually nothing untouched. Beyond the destruction of homes, civilian infrastructure, and the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, the war has also devastated archaeological sites and artifacts painstakingly excavated and preserved over decades. Many have also been taken out of Gaza, in what the Strip’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities regards as theft....READ MORE  https://israelpalestinenews.org/gazas-archaeological-heritage-was-destroyed-in-israels-genocide-these-volunteers-are-trying-to-salvage-it-from-the-rubble/

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My Sister Najah (AY) By Mike Odetalla of Beit Hanina, Palestine

Mike Hanini Odetalla

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My Sister Najah (AY)

By Mike Odetalla

 

As a small boy growing up in our village of Beit Hanina, Palestine, I was a mischievous child with an insatiable curiosity and an irrepressible desire to roam. The hills that encircled our village were my kingdom, and escaping the watchful eyes of my family became an art form that might well have made Harry Houdini proud.

 

I was the youngest of five children—two brothers and two sisters, all much older than I was. The sibling closest to me in age was my sister Najah, who was six years older. Because of that, and perhaps because she was the most patient, my mother often entrusted her with the daunting task of watching over me whenever she left the house.

 

My mother’s instructions were simple and direct: “Keep an eye on your brother and make sure he does not leave.”

 

Najah did her best, but I was determined.

 

I would wait patiently for the slightest distraction. Then, with my homemade slingshot clutched in one hand, I would slip outside, climb over the patio, leap onto the wall that separated our home from the neighbors’, and within moments I would be scaling the steep hill that rose behind our house.

 

Those hills were my paradise.

 

There, I flew homemade kites that danced against the blue Palestinian sky. I explored ancient caves that seemed filled with mystery and adventure. I stalked birds with my slingshot, imagining myself a great hunter. To a little boy, those hills were not merely part of the landscape—they were a vast and wondrous playground where I experienced some of the happiest moments of my childhood.

 

Eventually, my mother would return home and ask Najah the inevitable question.

“Did your brother give you any trouble?”

 

Unaware that I had vanished, Najah would answer confidently, “No, he is inside playing.”

 

But when my mother stepped into the house and found it empty, she knew immediately where I had gone.

 

Turning to my sister, she would scold her and issue a command she had repeated many times before:

 

“Go find your brother. And don’t hit him.”

 

Both Najah and I understood that the first part of the order would be obeyed. The second part was open to interpretation.

 

As Najah climbed the steep hill, her anger grew with every step. Not because she hated me, but because she knew she was the one who had gotten into trouble for my latest escape. Along the way, she would inevitably break off a thin switch from a nearby tree, preparing to administer justice.

 

At the top of the hill, she always knew exactly where to find me.

 

She would seize me by the ear, scold me fiercely, and swat me on the backside with the switch, paying little heed to our mother’s instructions.

 

The truth is, her punishment never hurt very much.

 

But I had learned a strategy of my own.

 

The moment she struck me, I would let out dramatic wails and sobs as though I were suffering unbearable agony. My exaggerated cries had the desired effect. Panic would spread across Najah’s face as she imagined what our mother would do if she believed that real harm had come to me.

 

In desperation, she would quickly begin negotiations.

 

“Please stop crying,” she would plead. “I will buy you a piece of Silvana chocolate if you promise not to tell Mother.”

 

Silvana chocolate was among the finest bribes a child could receive.

 

The tears would dry almost instantly.

 

We would then descend the hill together, our secret safely preserved between us, both of us knowing that the same adventure would likely be repeated again before long.

 

As the years passed, childhood gave way to adulthood. Life carried us to different places and eventually to different states. Yet distance did nothing to diminish the bond between us. In many ways, it strengthened it.

 

Whenever we were together, our conversations inevitably drifted back to those magical days in Palestine—to the hills of Beit Hanina, my daring escapes, and the cherished Silvana chocolates that sealed our conspiracies.

 

We laughed until tears filled our eyes.

 

What I did not fully appreciate as a child was that behind Najah’s scolding, her switch, and even her exasperation, there was a love as steadfast as the hills themselves. She protected me, worried about me, and carried the burden of responsibility placed upon her by our mother.

 

She was not merely my older sister.

 

She was my guardian, my accomplice, my confidante, and eventually my closest friend.

 

Ten years ago, my beloved sister Najah returned to her Creator.

 

With her passing, I lost far more than a sister.

 

I lost a treasured part of my childhood, the keeper of our shared memories, and one of the people who loved me most deeply in this world.

 

Yet whenever I close my eyes, I can still see her climbing that hill, a switch in one hand and determination in her stride, pretending to be angry while her heart overflowed with love.

 

And somewhere in that memory, I am once again a little boy in Beit Hanina—running free beneath the Palestinian sky, with my sister always finding her way to me.

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10165969600031977&set=pcb.10165969600286977

Mike Hanini Odetalla with his beloved sister

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A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic: As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 – 13 religious sites, 77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 3 depositories of movable cultural property, 9 monuments, 1 museum and 7 archeological sites.

Photos from 2022 : Byzantine mosaics discovered under Gaza farm

The mosaics, latest in a series of Byzantine archaeological finds in Gaza, are [were]“in a perfect state of conservation”

https://aje.io/poip3g

The son of Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin uses a sponge to uncover Byzantine mosaics that were discovered by his father while ploughing his land in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

The patch of land holding the mosaic is about 500 square meters (5,400 square feet) and three dug-out spots reveal glimpses of the mosaic. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

 

This mosaic was discovered by chance by a Palestinian farmer while working in his olive orchard in the Bureij refugee camp  https://aje.io/poip3g

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A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

Found in an area less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the often tense border with Israel, the mosaics are "in a perfect state of conservation", said French archaeologist Rene Elter, a researcher associated with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem whose team examined the finds. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

So far the damage we know of to historical and cultural sites in Gaza noted by UNESCO

 https://www.unesco.org/en/gaza/assessment

As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 –  

13 religious sites,  

77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 

3 depositories of movable cultural property, 

9 monuments,  

1 museum and 

7 archeological sites.

Just a quick glimpse of Gaza Before & After Israel's War

2025 "Al Zaytoun, the largest neighbourhood of Gaza City, was eliminated during the past three days.. Israeli occupation forces are heading westward —Al Sabra and Tal al Islam or Tal al Hawwa.. Then, 1.5 million displaced persons would have nowhere to go except the sea!!! " 

Motasem A Dalloul

@AbujomaaGaza

Gaza City only a few years ago (AFP/File)

Beaches in Gaza's seaside before Oct. 7. (AFP/File)

During the warmer months, people in Gaza used to flock to Al-Bahr Boulevard, which is lined with beaches, to cool off and enjoy the sun. In winter, the locals would visit the area to enjoy the scenery from one of the seaside cafes.  https://www.arabnews.com/node/2433256/middle-east

 Gaza Before & After Israel's War

St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox church in the Old City of Gaza in 1920. (Photo by Father Savignac, Ecole Biblique, Jerusalem.)

Gaza old city, around 1910, from the roof of the Latin Parish school. The Old Mosque is on the left. (Photo by Father Savignac, Ecole Biblique, Jerusalem)

 

How Israel's bombing campaign endangers Gaza's archaeological treasures

The Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City was sheltering 400 people of all faiths in its complex when Israel bombed the compound on 19 October (AFP)

 

The magnitude of destruction [by Israel] since 7 October is unparalleled in comparison with any previous Israeli assault on the Palestinian territory

Al-Hasayna Mosque, near Gaza City’s seaport, seen in January 2021 and January 2024 after it was hit by Israeli bombs (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Arts & Culture Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience... The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today.

 

Arts & Culture

Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience

Date: 

May 02 2025

Author: 

Sélim Abi Kheir

The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today. 

A Dive Into 5,000 Years of History 

Since antiquity, Gaza has been an intersection of civilizations. Situated on a strategic commercial route between Asia, Africa, and Europe, it was influenced by a number of cultures – Egyptian, Philistine, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman. This rich history is reflected in the objects presented by the IMA, which for the most part come from excavations performed in 1990 and 2000 in the Gaza Strip. 

The exhibit includes around 130 objects selected from a larger collection of 529 pieces belonging to the Palestinian National Authority, which have been kept at the Museum of Art History of Geneva (MAH) since 2007. The objects, ranging from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire, include amphorae, oil lamps, funerary steles, votive figurines, jewels, and an exceptional mosaic from the Byzantine Empire found in Abu Baraqeh. Their diversity testifies to the cultural and religious importance of Gaza through the ages. 

The Treasures “Saved” and Sheltered  

What makes this exhibit particularly poignant is its context. The objects presented have never been able to return to Gaza because of the blockade and successive conflicts. They are kept in Switzerland, at the MAH, which has allowed them to avoid destruction. A large number of archaeological sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in recent years. UNESCO has reported that since 2023, there have been attacks on over 69 cultural sites in Gaza, including a museum, religious sites, and historical buildings. 

 

Marble Statue of Aphrodite on display at the IMA

In this sense, the exhibit does more than simply display ancient artifacts: it is an act of cultural resistance, a reminder of the value of heritage in times of war. The exhibition also features a dedicated space for this issue, with a map of the bombings that have affected heritage sites, as well as rare historical photographs of Gaza in the early 20th century from the collection of the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem. 

 

 Hellenistic and Roman artifacts from Gaza on display at the IMA

A Tribute to Memory and Resilience 

For Jack Lang, president of IMA, this exhibit is a tribute not only to the memory and the resilience of the people of Gaza. It serves as a reminder that Gaza, long before becoming a symbol of conflict, was a place of life, exchange, art, and spirituality. By restoring visibility to this glorious past, the exhibit also seeks to revive a collective awareness of the importance of safeguarding world heritage, wherever it may be found. 

A Cultural and Educational Experience... READ MORE https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1657291

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