ֱ

How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity

Analysis How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity
The ruins of the 12th-century Al-Omari Mosque in the heart of Gaza’s old city, repeatedly damaged by Israeli attacks. (RIWAQ)
Short Url
Updated 11 sec ago

How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity

How heritage defenders are rescuing Gaza’s artifacts, preserving cultural identity
  • Palestinian archaeologists are racing to safeguard ancient objects from bombed museums, private collections, and historical sites
  • International experts warn that Gaza’s cultural memory is at risk of permanent loss if preservation efforts are not supported

LONDON: It is one of the more extraordinary and unexpected images to have emerged from the chaos and destruction in Gaza.

Two men, wearing high-visibility vests and stepping carefully through the rubble-strewn streets of Khan Younis, are carrying a priceless Roman-era pottery jar, supported between them on a folded carpet serving as a makeshift sling.

The incongruous photograph tells a story of hope and determination — hope that Palestine has a future, and determination that, whatever tomorrow might bring, the heritage of an entire people will not be destroyed.

The photograph was taken during the summer last year, when the men, members of the Heritage Guardians Team from the Khan Younis-based Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, were taking part in the evacuation of thousands of artifacts from Al-Qarara Museum, which had been severely damaged in the fighting.




Emergency restoration work at Qasr Al-Basha in Gaza, almost completely destroyed in 2023. (Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation)

Today, thanks to emergency funding supplied by ALIPH, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage, those artefacts are stored in a relatively safe and secret place, in the hope that one day they can be returned to a restored museum.

The rescue of Palestine’s past is just one of 550 projects in 54 countries that have been funded by ALIPH since 2017.

The alliance was founded by France and the UAE at an international conference on heritage in danger, held in Abu Dhabi in December 2016 in the wake of widespread destruction of monuments, museums and heritage sites in conflict areas. ֱ was one of ALIPH’s founding members and remains one of its biggest contributors.

This month ALIPH announced additional funding of $16 million for 28 new projects supporting heritage in Gaza, Africa, Syria and Ukraine, bringing the total amount committed worldwide by the organization since 2017 to $116 million.

Much of that money has been spent on major projects, such as ALIPH’s response to the explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020. Since expanded to cover 37 individual projects — 26 of which have been completed — the commitment to Lebanon has reached $5.4 million.

ALIPH’s funding for Iraq, much of it in response to the destruction of multiple heritage sites by Daesh, has seen more than $31 million invested in 49 initiatives.




Smoke billowing during an Israeli strike on the besieged Palestinian territory. (AFP)

It began in 2018 with the massive project to rehabilitate the Mosul Museum, in which ALIPH invested $15.8 million in collaboration with the Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, and the World Monuments Fund, working with local partners and Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

ALIPH has also spent $3 million on 18 projects in Syria since 2019, working with 11 local operators to protect and restore archaeological sites, monuments, historic neighborhoods, museums and religious buildings.

The new program that ALIPH wants to implement in the coming months includes the rehabilitation of the Palmyra museum and its artifacts, and the stabilization of damaged monuments at the ancient site, where the destruction inflicted there by Daesh in 2015 was one of the key events that led to the alliance’s foundation.

But it is the much smaller sums invested in timely, emergency interventions, such as several funded by ALIPH in Gaza, that often have a disproportionately significant impact.




Muhannad Abu Lehia, left, and Mahmoud Abdul Ghafour, members of the Heritage Guardians Team of Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, carry a Roman pottery jar to safety from the bombed Al-Qarara Museum in Khan Younis, Gaza. (Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts)

“We have quite a large number of small projects,” said Elke Selter, ALIPH’s director of programs. “And a lot of these are acute emergencies, when you actually can’t spend large amounts of money and just need to pay for an evacuation, for boxes to move objects, for tarpaulins to cover a hole in a roof, or for wooden panels to put in front of broken windows.”

The cost of such interventions, which can make all the difference to the future of a heritage site, can be just a few thousand dollars.

Larger, general applications for funding can be made through the regular calls for projects that are advertised on ALIPH’s website — the current call, in partnership with the EU, is for projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and closes on July 31.

But ALIPH is also open year-round to requests for emergency assistance grants, worth up to $75,000 each, for which applicants must submit a brief, precise proposal for interventions designed “to halt or prevent irremediable heritage degradation that cannot wait until the next call for projects.”

“I believe that our emergency response is one of ALIPH’s main strategic advantages,” said Selter.

“We do very important projects also, before and after emergencies, but there are many others doing that too. In terms of being actively present, and being able to provide funding within 48 hours, if needed, we’re alone.”




Israeli troops deploy by Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Part of the consideration of each emergency application is the risk posed to those on the ground.

With only a couple of dozen staff at headquarters in Geneva, ALIPH is “primarily a financial instrument, and so it’s not ALIPH that puts on its boots and its helmets and goes on site,” said Selter.

“But we work with local operators and provide funding to people on the ground who ask for it, and who are, at that moment, doing whatever they can to save heritage that is clearly important to them.

“These people are going to do it either way, so we can either help them, or not. And if you know that you’re one of the only ones that can help, I think there’s a duty to do so.”

ALIPH takes steps to ensure projects are as safe as possible.

“We try to do whatever we can in our power to make sure that the teams are as safe as they can possibly be, given the situations in which they work,” Selter added.




A truck bound for a secret destination is loaded with rescued artefacts from the ethnographic collection at Al-Qarara Museum. (Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts)

“In Gaza, for instance, we’ve put them in touch with UNMAS, the UN demining service, so that sites could first be checked.

“We stay in touch throughout a project, and in the particular case of Gaza we also make sure they understand that, for us, things like reporting deadlines are not essential.

“Of course, it’s important that the administration at some point is in order, but we don’t need them to risk their lives in order to send us a report within a deadline.”

In Gaza last year, ALIPH partnered with the Khan Younis-based Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts and teams from Al-Qarara Museum and The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit in the West Bank to inventory and evacuate Al-Qarara’s collection of more than 3,000 artefacts.

INNUMBERS

• 550 Projects that have been funded by ALIPH since 2017.

• $16m Additional funding for new projects unveiled by ALIPH this month.

• 28 New projects to support heritage in Gaza, Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

In April 2024, ALIPH also supported the urgent rescue from the rubble of surviving artifacts from the Rafah Museum, which, before it was almost completely destroyed by Israeli bombing, housed hundreds of objects related to Palestinian heritage, including a unique collection of traditional thobes.

ALIPH is currently supporting emergency protection and stabilization measures for the historic Qasr Al-Basha in Gaza, being undertaken by the Palestinian Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation.




Hamas fighters secure an area before handing over three Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Deir El-Balah. (AFP/File)

Once the seat of Mamluk and Ottoman power, the palace became a museum in 2010, housing collections of the Palestinian Antiquities Department, before it was almost completely destroyed in 2023.

Equally devastated was Al-Omari Mosque in the heart of Gaza’s old city, which was built in 1149 and has been repeatedly damaged, most recently in December 2023. Almost all that remains intact is the building’s minaret.

ALIPH is supporting the Ramallah-based Palestinian NGO Riwaq, the Center for Architectural Conservation, which is carrying out emergency stabilization and documenting the destruction to support any future work.

In February this year, ALIPH funded a damage assessment and stabilizing built heritage workshop in Cairo.

Run by the Egyptian Foundation for Heritage Rescue and the Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Bethlehem, it has prepared 20 Palestinian heritage professionals to form teams and intervene in Gaza as soon as the situation allows.




ALIPH has also spent $3 million on 18 projects in Syria since 2019. (Iconem)

More than 60 heritage professionals from Gaza, the West Bank and Cairo also attended an ALIPH-funded online course on risk management and undertaking emergency cultural heritage protection measures.

“We were really surprised that we had more than 60 participants,” said project manager Gala-Alexa Amagat.

“Something we see in every conflict we work in is that people attach such importance to preserving the heritage that they have.

“A lot of the people in Gaza who attended actually walked very far every morning to get to a place where they could get a connection and connect to that training, which was completely beyond what we expected.”

ALIPH relies on the generosity of donors, including nine member countries, public donors such as the EU, and private individuals and philanthropic foundations. Its next donor conference will be held in Abu Dhabi at the end of next year.

“Of course, the funding landscape is under serious pressure,” said Selter.

“But on the other hand, after eight years, ALIPH is becoming better known, which makes funding a bit easier. People know us now, and those who were hesitant at the beginning can see that we have delivered.




Working amid the chaos of the badly damaged Al-Qarara Museum, members of the Aliph-funded Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts carefully document artefacts prior to their evacuation. (Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts)

“We hope that our donors will remain committed and that they’re happy with the results that we’ve delivered.”

Ultimately, those results stand as a testament to the dedication of thousands of individuals around the world, from South America in the west to Indonesia in the east, many of whom are working in dangerous circumstances.

“The past belongs to all of us, and it is vital to protect our heritage to build a shared future,” said Valery Freland, ALIPH’s executive director.

“We are much more than just a funder. But the real heroes are our partners on the ground, who often face great challenges, but are committed to protecting the world’s heritage.”


AFP appeals for evacuation of freelance staff from Gaza amid starvation

AFP appeals for evacuation of freelance staff from Gaza amid starvation
Updated 4 sec ago

AFP appeals for evacuation of freelance staff from Gaza amid starvation

AFP appeals for evacuation of freelance staff from Gaza amid starvation
  • The French news agency said its freelancers face an “appalling situation”

JERUSALEM: Agence France-Presse called on Israel on Tuesday to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the Gaza Strip, citing worsening living conditions and escalating risks to their safety.
In a statement, the French news agency said its freelancers faced an “appalling situation” in Gaza. A 21-month war with Israel has devastated the territory, a conflict triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.
“For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions,” AFP said, adding that the situation had become untenable despite the “exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience” of its local team.
The management statement came after AFP’s journalists’ association issued its own statement saying colleagues in Gaza risked dying of hunger.
AFP said it had succeeded in evacuating eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024, after months of effort. It is now seeking to secure safe passage for its freelance Palestinian reporters, despite “the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory under strict blockade.”
The Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the AFP statement.
Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza since October 7, 2023. AFP said the work of its Palestinian freelancers remained crucial to informing the world, but said they now had to leave because of the risk to their lives.
Reuters also works with freelance journalists in Gaza.
“Reuters is deeply concerned about the health and safety of its freelancers in Gaza, with whom we are in daily contact. The extreme difficulty sourcing food is leading to their and all Gaza residents experiencing greater levels of hunger and illness,” a Reuters spokesperson said. “We are providing our contributors with additional financial support to help them and, should they wish to leave the territory, we will provide any assistance possible to help them get out.”


Turkiye, Britain sign accord allowing Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter jets

Turkiye, Britain sign accord allowing Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter jets
Updated 23 July 2025

Turkiye, Britain sign accord allowing Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter jets

Turkiye, Britain sign accord allowing Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter jets
  • Turkiye has been in talks to purchase 40 of the jet

ISTANBUL: Turkiye and Britain have signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, in a big step toward securing the procurement of the jets over which Turkiye has been negotiating for years.
Turkiye has been in talks to purchase 40 of the jets, which are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Earlier, the Spiegel magazine reported that Germany had also cleared the way for the delivery of 40 jets to Turkiye, following a positive decision by the federal security council.


Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say
Updated 23 July 2025

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say
  • Health authorities say Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people. More than half of those killed late Tuesday and early Wednesday reportedly were women and children

GAZA: Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people late Tuesday and early Wednesday. More than half of those killed were women and children, health authorities said.
Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office said Tuesday.
More than 100 human rights groups and charities signed a letter published Wednesday demanding more aid for Gaza and warning of grim conditions causing starvation.
More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Here is the latest:
Overnight strikes kill at least 21
One Israeli strike hit a house Tuesday in the northwestern side of Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties.
The dead included six children and two women, according to the Health Ministry’s casualty list.
Another strike hit an apartment in the Tal Al-Hawa area in northern Gaza, killing at least six people. Among the dead were three children and two women, including one who was pregnant. Eight others were wounded, the ministry said.
A third strike hit a tent in the Naser neighborhood in Gaza City late Tuesday and killed three children, Shifa Hospital said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants operate from populated areas.
Human rights groups and charities demand more Gaza aid
In the letter issued Wednesday by 109 human rights and charity groups, they warned of a dire situation pushing more people toward starvation. They said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, “waste away.”
The letter slammed Israel for what it said were restrictions on aid into the war-ravaged territory. It lamented “massacres” at food distribution points, which have seen chaos and violence in recent weeks as desperation has risen.
“The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,” the letter said.
The letter called for aid to be scaled up as well as for a ceasefire. `
Israel says that it has allowed the entry of thousands of trucks since May and blames aid groups for not consistently delivering goods.


Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege
Updated 23 July 2025

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege

Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege
  • Anas Habib accuses Cairo of Rafah crossing closure that prevents aid reaching starving Palestinians

AMSTERDAM: An Egyptian activist on Tuesday locked the outer gates of his country’s embassy in The Hague to protest Cairo’s alleged closure of the Rafah crossing which has prevented aid from entering Gaza for besieged Palestinians.

Livestreaming his actions, content creator and social media personality Anas Habib locked two sets of gates at the embassy with what appears to be bike locks.

Habib said his actions were symbolic and he wanted to draw attention to the ongoing siege of Gaza that was resulting in the starvation of Palestinians.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“It’s been two years of us hearing this same excuse, it’s closed from their side and not ours, they couldn’t handle a lie and a siege for one second, imagine how everyone in Gaza is feeling hearing your lies every day for the past two years,” he said.

“I’ll stay standing here until the police arrive, because I won’t open it until Gaza is opened. Let them break the lock themselves,” Habib said.

There has been no response yet from the Egyptian government to Habib’s actions and the video which has gone viral on social media.

Egypt has reportedly in the past pointed out that the Rafah crossing has been closed on the Gaza side by the Israeli military.


UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
Updated 23 July 2025

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
  • In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to “the horror show in Gaza” and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.
The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council.
In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter.
It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where “starvation is knocking on every door” as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said.
Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in.
In conflicts worldwide, “hunger and displacement are at record levels” and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said.
“Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,” Guterres said. “But it still holds the power to stop them.”
The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited “the ongoing tragedies” in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully.
“At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,” he said.
The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring “equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations’ founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully.
Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, she said, the US has delivered “deescalation” between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda.
The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China’s “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.
The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country.
“We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,” Shea said.