Long-neglected Gaza heritage wilts in war
- 9 years ago
The Israeli missile tore through the vaulted ceiling and pulverised age-old sandstone. One direct hit destroyed the Omari mosque in Jabaliya and dealt another blow to Gaza's beleaguered heritage.
The site is believed to have housed a mosque since the seventh century and parts of the Omari were said to date back to the 14th century.
A modern building was added several years ago, but the Omari had been one of Gaza's few remaining historic buildings. Now it stands in ruins.
The muezzin was killed after he had given the call to prayer, residents said.
The narrow sliver of territory tucked into the eastern Mediterranean between Egypt and Israel has been home to settled communities since at least 3,300 BC, historians say, governed by the Caananites, Pharoahs, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines before the arrival of Islam in the seventh century AD.
The site is believed to have housed a mosque since the seventh century and parts of the Omari were said to date back to the 14th century.
A modern building was added several years ago, but the Omari had been one of Gaza's few remaining historic buildings. Now it stands in ruins.
The muezzin was killed after he had given the call to prayer, residents said.
The narrow sliver of territory tucked into the eastern Mediterranean between Egypt and Israel has been home to settled communities since at least 3,300 BC, historians say, governed by the Caananites, Pharoahs, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines before the arrival of Islam in the seventh century AD.