The Israeli invasion of Gaza, which began as a result of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, has resulted in significant destruction and damage to numerous religious sites including mosques and churches. [1] [2] [3]
On 19 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike hit the Church of Saint Porphyrius, where 500 people were sheltering. [4] On 8 November 2023, Israel bombed and destroyed the Khalid bin al-Walid Mosque. [5] By 13 November 2023, at least sixty mosques had been destroyed by Israeli bombs. [6] In December 2023, an Israeli bombing destroyed the Great Mosque of Gaza. [7] At least seven people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Rafah mosque full of displaced people on 23 February 2024. [8] Five people were killed in a mosque in northern Gaza that was bombed without warning. [9] The al-Riad mosque in Khan Younis was heavily damaged by an Israeli bombing on 9 March 2024. [10] On 24 August 2024, Israeli forces attacked and destroyed a 96-year-old historic Bani Saleh Mosque in Khan Yunis, where they also insulted the Quran and then set it on fire. [11] [12]
By 10 March 2024, more than 1,000 mosques had been destroyed by Israeli attacks. [13] In May 2024, an Israeli bombing on a mosque in Gaza City reportedly killed at least 10 people. [14]
The Israeli invasion of Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, was triggered by an unusual attack by Hamas. The conflict caused widespread destruction in Gaza, with significant damage to religious sites. According to international humanitarian law, the deliberate targeting of religious buildings during conflict is considered a war crime, unless such sites are used for military purposes. [15]
According to the Gaza local authorities, 1,000 mosques have been destroyed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, with reconstruction costs estimated at $500 million. [16] [17] [18] Other reports indicate that 378 mosques were targeted during the conflict, although this number has not been independently verified. The BBC has confirmed 72 incidents of mosques being damaged or destroyed between 7 October and 31 December 2023. [15] [19]
Reports also stated that three churches were damaged during the conflict. The BBC has confirmed two incidents of churches being damaged or destroyed between 7 October and 31 December 2023. [15] [19]
The destruction of religious places has had a profound impact on the local community. As many of these sites served as shelters for displaced Palestinians, their destruction resulted in countless casualties. [35] The loss of these cultural and religious landmarks has been described as a form of cultural genocide. The damage to these sites has also affected the religious and cultural practices of the local population, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. [15]
Hundreds of imams and religious scholars have also been killed as a result of the campaign in Gaza. The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs has said that about 300 Islamic scholars, including Quran teachers, Islamic preachers and imams, have been killed in military strikes. [36] [37] [38] [39]
Khan Yunis, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a Palestinian city serving as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate in the southern Gaza Strip. It has been largely destroyed on account of the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
Nuseirat is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, five kilometers north-east of Deir al-Balah. The refugee camp is in the Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the refugee camp had a population of 31,747 and the surrounding Nuseirat municipality had a population of 54,851 in 2017. The camp was established after the 1948 Palestinian expulsion during the 1948 Palestine war.
Katib al-Wilaya Mosque or Welayat Mosque was a small historic mosque located along Omar Mukhtar Street in Gaza City in the Zaytun Quarter of the Old City. The mosque was built by the Burji Mamluks in 1432, however, the structure could date further back to 1344. Additions to the western part of the mosque were commissioned in 1584 by Ahmed Bey, the Ottoman clerk of the Damascus Vilayet. Damascus Vilayet's Arabic transliteration was Wilayat Dimashq, hence the name of the mosque Katib al-Wilaya.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Events in the year 2023 in Palestine.
From 9 October 2023, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, claiming it was a stronghold for Hamas and other militant groups.
On 19 October 2023, part of the Church of Saint Porphyrius, a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, was damaged during an Israeli aistrike, killing at least 18 Palestinian civilians during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Over 450 Christian and Muslim Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip had been sheltering there.
In the Gaza war, as part of the bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip. The IDF states such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. By July 2024, all 19 Gaza universities had suffered severe damage with 80% of university buildings destroyed, 103 academics killed, and 90,000 students enrolled in higher education no longer able to pursue their studies. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76 percent of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation", and in August 2024, UNICEF stated 564, or 85 percent, of all schools in Gaza had been hit by Israeli attacks.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the events of the Israel–Hamas war.
Israeli forces damaged or destroyed at least 16 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war (2023–present) in various places in Gaza within Palestine, as determined by evidence gathered by CNN, the New York Times and Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
The bombing of the Gaza Strip is an ongoing aerial bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Air Force during the Israel–Hamas war. During the bombing, Israeli airstrikes killed thousands of civilians and militants, and damaged or destroyed Palestinian schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, and other civilian infrastructure including refugee camps.
The destruction of cultural heritage during the ongoing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip has included the damage and destruction by Israel of hundreds of culturally or historically significant buildings, libraries, museums and other repositories of knowledge in Gaza, alongside the destruction of intangible cultural heritage. By late January 2024, more than half of the buildings in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed and 1.7 million people displaced.
Hamad City or Hamad Town is an apartment complex and neighbourhood in northwestern Khan Yunis, a city in the Gaza Strip. Named after its benefactor, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, the complex was envisioned as a housing solution for middle to lower-income Palestinian families.
Attacks on protected zones and civilians in Gaza during the Israel–Hamas war have led to the killing of over 30,000 Palestinians and the displacement of over 2 million people, as well as the collapse of the education system and the destruction of most homes and hospitals in Gaza. Israel has faced accusations of war crimes from South Africa, the UN Human Rights Council, and Amnesty International, among others, due to the number of civilian casualties and the percentage of civilian infrastructure destroyed, including Palestinian refugee camps, schools, mosques, churches, and more. Analysis of satellite data shows that 80% of buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or ruined. As of January 2024, researchers from Oregon State University and the City University of New York estimated that 50 to 62 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed.