Professor of Archaeology at the Higher Institute of Archaeology at Al-Quds University, Prof. Salah Al-Hudaliyya, published a joint research with his colleagues from An-Najah National University, Dr. Louay Abu Al-Saud, and from Al-Istiqlal University, Mr. Ayman Warasneh, entitled “Heritage and Conflict in Gaza,” in the “Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict,” published by the international publishing house Springer.

Through it, the researchers called on the international community and all international institutions concerned with cultural heritage to assume their responsibility to protect the sources of Palestinian cultural heritage, which is an integral part of human heritage.

The principal researcher, Prof. Salah Al-Houdaliyya, explained that there are 354 archaeological sites and historical landmarks in the Gaza Strip, and it has been shown that more than 60% of them have been partially or completely destroyed during the current aggression, such as: Tell Al-Sakn, Tell Al-Ajul, Tell Umm Amer, Anthedon, the historic Jabalia cemetery, the Byzantine Church in Jabalia, the Church of Porphyrius, the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City, the Katib State Mosque, the Kamaliya School, the Pasha Palace, Dar Al-Saqa, the Ottoman Archives, Barquq Castle, and others. The machine of destruction has gone so far as to kill a number of workers in the field of antiquities and cultural heritage, which poses a real challenge to the future of the antiquities of the Gaza Strip.

Prof. Al-Houdaliyya explained that the Gaza Strip has a special character in the melting pot of the motherland. In terms of its total area, it was approximately 1,200 square kilometers until 1931. This area shrank in 1945 to 1,111 square kilometers due to the “administrative reform” during the British Mandate period. It shrank dramatically for the second time in the year of the Nakba (1948) to approximately 555 square kilometers. It then shrank again to 365 square kilometers in 1950 as a result of the “Auja/Coexistence Agreement” between Egypt and Israel signed on February 26, 1950. Thus, the area of the Gaza Strip before the current Israeli aggression constituted 1.33% of the area of Mandatory Palestine (during the British Mandate period).

He pointed out that the geographical location of the Gaza Strip played a role in attracting people with their different cultures and civilizations to settle there since the late Stone Age until now without interruption. Cities, ports, villages, commercial inns, castles, and architectural monuments were established there; a number of them are distinguished by exceptional global values that qualified them to be registered on the World Heritage List. Gaza is always vibrant.

Prof. Al-Houdaliyya recalled an incident that is more than 2,300 years old, when all the cities of the Levant surrendered to Alexander the Great, and Gaza remained resistant, refusing to surrender until he was able to control it and punish its ruler and its residents.

Prof. Al-Houdaliyya explained that the idea of writing the research came after he received a letter in the early days of the war on the Gaza Strip from the first editor of the encyclopedia asking him to shed light on the cultural heritage in the Gaza Strip and the horrors of destruction and obliteration it is being subjected to. Believing in the necessity of strengthening the Palestinian heritage and its existence, researcher Al-Houdaliyya began working on it in partnership with his colleagues from other universities to strengthen the research partnership locally and globally.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict is a prestigious academic encyclopedia that documents and analyzes the relationship between cultural heritage and conflict. It explores the impact of conflicts (whether military, political, social or cultural) on cultural heritage, and how wars and crises affect heritage sites, historical monuments and cultural patterns.