Thousands of historical documents and books were destroyed and vandalized by direct Israeli strikes targeting the ancient municipal library (Anatolia)

The main library in the Gaza Strip has not been spared from the Israeli war machine that bombed it during raids targeting Gaza City since the outbreak of war on the seventh of last October, and the features of this tragedy were revealed during the days of the humanitarian truce that has been going on since last Friday.

The largest library in the Gaza Strip, known as the Gaza City Municipality's public office building, contains historical documents and books that residents consider the country's memory and present.

Targeting heritage and culture

According to eyewitnesses, during the war, Israel deliberately "destroyed the public office building on Al-Wahda Street in the center of the city, and destroyed historical documents and books in various sciences."

Gaza City municipality spokesman Hosni Muhanna said the targeting "carries serious effects on culture, heritage and history, and requires intervention from cultural institutions and international condemnation of the preservation of the cultural and historical heritage of the Gaza Strip."

He added that "the goal of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip is to spread ignorance in society, and this is clearly shown by targeting major libraries."

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Muhanna explained that "the humanitarian truce revealed the occupation's execution of historical documents and books in various humanitarian and natural fields."

"The occupation targeted the library building, which was reduced to rubble by the bombing, causing the burning and execution of thousands of books, titles and documents documenting the city's history and development," he said.

He continued, "The occupation has executed thousands of historical documents and books by directing direct blows to the library of the municipality of Gaza City," noting that "the occupation practices the most heinous crimes against Palestinian culture."

Muhanna stressed that Israel "seeks to execute every part of Palestinian history."

He also revealed that "the occupation also destroyed the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center, which is one of the oldest cultural buildings in Palestine."

The Palestinian official called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to intervene and protect cultural centers.

The municipal headquarters – which dates back to about 200 years ago – represents a high symbolism in Gaza City, the largest city in the Strip and inhabited by more than 800 thousand people, according to the talk of the mayor, Dr. Yahya al-Sarraj, to a previous report of Al Jazeera Net.

Israel threatens to bomb and destroy the historic building of the Gaza municipality (official municipality Facebook page)

The municipality headquarters overlooks "Palestine Square", and is located in what is known as "Old Gaza", which includes dozens of buildings and archaeological and historical monuments, most notably the "Great Omari Mosque" and "St. Porphyrius Church" adjacent to the "Kateb Wilayat" mosque, dating back to the seventh century AD, and "Hammam al-Samra", the last and most prominent landmark of the Ottoman era, and the "Qaisaria Market" in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city and characterized by houses dating back hundreds of years.

Those familiar with the value of historic buildings in the besieged Gaza Strip view the Israeli targeting as an attempt to "uproot history" and undermine the heritage of the ancient city, which surpasses by decades the history of the occupation state built on the ruins of historic Palestine during the Nakba in 1948.

Targeting institutions and intellectuals

Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 103, the continuous bombardment has destroyed 266 government headquarters in the Strip, including 67 schools, <> of which were out of service, according to an official census, released last Monday evening.

Several international organizations have expressed concern about the targeting of schools and the transformation of some of them into displacement centers, and the repercussions of this on the educational future of the children of the Gaza Strip after the war.

The number of Gazan children enrolled in schools is estimated at more than one million and 338 thousand, according to a census published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for the academic year 2020-2021.

As of November 15, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture announced that <> creative intellectuals had been killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, while dozens of cultural centers were destroyed.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Gaza has 76 cultural centers, 3 theaters, 5 museums, 15 publishing houses and bookstores, and 80 public libraries.

The number of Gaza landmarks is 145, according to the archaeological guide issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities last year, distributed in different cities in the Gaza Strip.

Source : Al Jazeera + Anatolia