War on Gaza: Important archaeological site 'mostly destroyed' by Israeli invasion
One of Gaza's most important archaeological sites has been largely destroyed by Israel's invasion, according to a new report by Forensic Architecture.
The investigative organisation used open source and satellite imagery to show that the site, located near Al-Shati refugee camp, had been hit by bombings and then bulldozed for what appears to be a military camp.
The imagery also reveals the development of Israeli water pump infrastructure in and around the site, nominally for the purpose of flooding tunnels Israel says are being used by Hamas under Gaza.
Forensic Architecture said the site had been excavated between 1995 and 2005 and that among the items discovered were an Iron Age rampart underneath Achaemenid period houses, Roman and Hellenistic-era structures including an emporium, a tiled fountain on the coast, and a Byzantine cemetery in the north.
In a statement, rights group Al-Haq said that the destruction of the site was "a deliberate attempt to deprive resources indispensable for the survival of the Palestinian people in Gaza... [that] serves Israel’s colonial project, reinforcing its apartheid regime by erasing Palestinian identity.
"Targeting cultural heritage is not an empty gesture. Culture constitutes a visible expression of human identity," said the organisation.
"Depriving a people of their culture is tantamount to emptying them of the very substance that forms the backbone of their right to self-determination, especially in a context of cumulative, interconnected and systemic human rights violations."
Over 19,700 Palestinians have been killed, the majority being women and children, since the start of the war on 7 October.
Around 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of Gaza's population, have fled their homes.
Earlier this month, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called on Unesco to step in to help protect the enclave's historic buildings.
The group warned that Israeli bombardment had destroyed churches, mosques, hammams and other important historic architecture.
This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.
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