بلدية غزة تطالب بتدخل العاجل لحماية التراث الثقافي والتاريخي من خطر الإبادة

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Gaza Municipality Urges Immediate Intervention to Protect Cultural and Historical Heritage from Erasure

The Gaza Municipality is calling on international organizations, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to urgently intervene to safeguard the city’s cultural and historical heritage from the ongoing campaign of erasure by the Israeli occupation.

The Municipality reported that, over the course of the aggression—now entering its 18th consecutive month—the occupation has deliberately targeted heritage buildings and the municipality’s central archive, which holds tens of thousands of documents chronicling the city's history, cultural legacy, and urban development.

According to the Municipality, around 165 historical buildings in Gaza have sustained varying degrees of damage—partial and total—since the beginning of the aggression. Notably, the central archive building, which contains invaluable historical records, was also directly targeted.

Destruction of Files and Records

The Municipality stated that the central archive—one of its most important administrative facilities—was struck, causing severe material losses. A resulting fire completely destroyed the ground floor, consuming critical administrative files and irreplaceable archival documents of significant historical value.

Approximately 75,000 administrative and historical files were completely destroyed. These included building permits, engineering blueprints, commercial licenses, water service records, and other essential documents—amounting to nearly 60% of the archive’s contents. The Municipality also warned that an additional 70,000 files remain at risk inside the severely damaged structure, which is at imminent risk of collapse, with no secure or suitable alternative location for storage.

An Urban and National Treasure

The archive is considered a national and urban treasure, preserving the administrative and architectural legacy of Gaza City. Spanning more than a century, its contents serve as a living testimony to the city’s historical and urban transformations.

The Municipality emphasized the urgent need for support in launching digital archiving and scanning initiatives to rescue the remaining records. It called for emergency interventions, including immediate preservation efforts to protect the remaining files from environmental degradation.

Moreover, Gaza Municipality reiterated its call to implement a “3D digital modeling” project to document and preserve the city's historical and architectural heritage, particularly in the Old City, which continues to face attempts to erase its identity and destroy its landmarks.

The Municipality affirmed that saving the central archive is a vital step toward preserving the identity of Gaza City and protecting its cultural and historical heritage. It urged swift international action to safeguard the Palestinian collective memory and halt the systematic destruction of the national heritage.