Gaza Herald – Inside a large tent in southern Gaza, volunteers wearing surgical gloves carefully clean ancient mosaics, pottery, maps, and historic documents in a race to preserve the enclave’s cultural heritage as ongoing Israeli genocide continues to devastate historical sites.
According to the United Nations, more than 160 historical and cultural landmarks across the occupied Palestinian territory have been damaged during the war, while over 90% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, placing thousands of archaeological and historical artifacts at risk of permanent loss.
Led by the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts in Khan Younis, volunteers are restoring artifacts dating back thousands of years, including stone tools, mosaics, pottery, and archival records from the Ottoman era, the British Mandate, the Egyptian administration, and the Palestinian Authority. Lacking professional conservation equipment because of ongoing restrictions, they rely on ordinary paintbrushes, improvised scanning stations, and basic tools to clean, document, and digitally preserve fragile items.
“We lost many mosaics entirely or partially,” said Palestinian artist Mohammed Abu Lahia, who is participating in the restoration efforts. “Preserving this heritage is a way of reminding future generations of our history and telling the world that we remain committed to our identity and our Palestinian cause.”
Many valuable artifacts remain trapped inside areas under Israeli military control, making recovery efforts nearly impossible. Volunteers say they continue documenting whatever they can access, including historical newspapers, maps, and oral testimonies collected from elderly residents to safeguard Gaza’s collective memory.
As centuries-old relics face destruction alongside modern archives, preservation teams say their work has become more than an archaeological mission; it is an effort to ensure that Gaza’s history survives even as much of its physical landscape disappears.
