PEN America, a prominent defender of free speech, has released a devastating report outlining extensive damage to cultural sites in Gaza caused by Israel’s bombardment of the territory. Titled “All That Is Lost,” it notes the destruction of museums, important heritage centers, individual works of art, and prominent archaeological sites, as well as the death of more than 150 cultural figures.
“Today, the survival of Palestinian culture in Gaza is under existential threat, as writers, artists, and cultural workers are killed or forced into exile and cultural heritage is demolished by Israeli military attacks,” reads the report’s opening line, adding, “Gaza’s cultural landscape lies in ruins, almost entirely erased.”
The report highlights the war’s effects on 36 cultural, historical, religious, and educational institutions and sites, including book burnings and looting of archaeological artifacts, from among 226 damaged heritage sites and historical buildings. (For that figure, PEN cites a study by the Endangered Archeology in the Middle East and North Africa, or EAMENA, project, based at Oxford University, which the organization said has conducted the most comprehensive assessment.)
The remains of the Hammam al-Samra bathhouse, September 19, 2024. Photo: Omar Al-Qataa / AFP via Getty Images.
It also notes a February report that estimated that emergency preservation efforts alone would cost about $36.4 million and that the costs of full reconstruction, estimated to take up to eight years, will run to about $304 million, adding that the cost will likely be significantly higher six months later.
Alleged Violations of the Hague Convention
The destruction is not only material. PEN America has documented the deaths of at least 151 cultural figures in the war, though it notes that number is almost certainly not comprehensive. As of September 10, 2025, nearly 65,000 Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed, and more than 163,000 wounded, notes the report.
In response to PEN America’s request for information about the targeting of the specific cultural heritage sites, institutions, and universities included in this report, the Israeli military provided no information on any specific damages cited in the report. But, in a message to the organization, cited the “unprecedented intermingling of Hamas within the civilian infrastructure” and stated that it “does not aim to cause excessive damage to civilian infrastructure and strikes only out of military necessity.”
The recovery of Ottoman-era stones and archaeological artifacts from the ruins of the Pasha Palace Museum in Gaza City, March 3, 2025. Photo: Dawoud Abo Alkas / Anadolu via Getty Images.
PEN America concluded that the Israeli attacks have either targeted cultural sites or been indiscriminate, thus breaching laws including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity. “And while destruction of cultural heritage is not itself one of the underlying crimes required to prove genocide,” notes the report, “it has in some cases been cited as evidence of genocidal intent.”
Israel’s military action in Gaza began in response to Hamas’s terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, in which over 1,100 civilians and military personnel were killed and 251 individuals taken hostage. PEN’s report acknowledges that Hamas’s attack also constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Israel is not the only threat, says the report. U.S. president Donald Trump’s plan to take over the Gaza Strip and Israel’s campaign to evict all Palestinians from Gaza City, further “reflect a ruthless disregard for Gaza’s cultural heritage” and underscore a dangerous narrative that Gaza has no culture worth preserving.
PEN calls for a halt to attacks on Palestinian cultural heritage and for an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and evidence of genocidal intent.
Voices of Gaza’s Artists
The report quotes three visual artists.
Mai El-Shaer, who managed to flee Gaza in 2024, described the challenges in making art in Gaza before the war: “The art scene in Gaza is not very open… The tools, materials, and resources are somewhat limited. You work with what’s available to you in Gaza. Many materials, of course, are blocked by Israel under the pretext that they could be used for non-artistic purposes, and so not everything is accessible. On top of that, traveling outside of Gaza was very difficult. Not everyone could easily travel or leave Gaza… There were challenges you can’t overcome as an artist.”
When she fled Gaza, she said, “I tried my best to bring as many pieces as possible—those that were closest to my heart, the ones I couldn’t bear to leave behind.”
Shareef Sarhan, an artist and co-founder of an artists’ collective and gallery that was partially damaged in a November 2023 Israeli airstrike and then completely destroyed in April 2024, explained what art and culture mean in the war. “People are losing their connection with the outside world, but art is able to play a role that the artist cannot… People can see their message and feel your situation,” he said, describing art as being “like an official spokesperson for them.”
Artist Maisara Baroud has been posting black-and-white drawings on social media to let his friends know he is still alive. His project, titled “Still Alive,” now encompasses hundreds of works, reflecting life under siege, which includes repeated displacement and dire hardship. He told PEN America, “We can rebuild everything that was destroyed by the war, whether official or private cultural institutions, mosques, churches, hospitals, universities, [and] schools, but who will restore the soul if it has left the body?”
Lost Sites and Artifacts
Many sites of religious, archaeological, architectural, and artistic significance are among the damaged and destroyed.
The Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest in the Gaza Strip, was built in the 7th century C.E. by converting and expanding a 5th-century Byzantine church. The report describes it as one of the most important heritage landmarks in the territory. Its library, operating since the 13th century, contained significant holdings of rare books. It was largely destroyed by a strike on December 4, 2023. An anonymous Israeli official claimed Hamas used tunnels under the mosque but provided no evidence to support the claim.
The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius is the oldest active church in Gaza, dating back to the 12th century. On October 19, 2023, with about 450 Christians sheltering there, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 18 people and caused extensive destruction.
Palestinian worshippers from the Greek Orthodox community pray during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Porphyrios Church in Gaza City, January 7, 2022. Photo: Shutterstock.
The Hammam al-Samra dates to the Ottoman era, more than 750 years ago. This important heritage site was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on December 26, 2023. Many surrounding buildings remain standing, says the report, suggesting that it was deliberately targeted. Israel claimed it was targeting a Hamas squad and a network of tunnels.
Qasr al-Pashra, a mid-13th-century fort also known as Pasha Palace because it was used by Ottoman rulers in the 17th century, was turned into a museum in 2010 by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. A December 11, 2023, airstrike destroyed its three buildings, the walls, courtyard, and gardens. Hundreds of ancient artifacts and several unique sarcophagi were housed there; their fate is unknown.
“Our best finds were displayed in the Basha,” said Jean-Baptiste Humbert of the French Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem in the report. A manuscripts center adjacent to the palace, dedicated to the preservation and digitization of materials from the Omari Mosque library and supported by donors including the British Library, appears to have been destroyed, as was the 450-year-old Sabil al-Refa’eyya fountain, which stood across the street.
Al-Qarara Cultural Museum, opened in 2016 north of Khan Yunis, contained 3,500 archaeological, historical, and folklore artifacts, some dating back as far as 4,000 B.C.E, according to the report, which notes that it was damaged in October 2023 due to shelling next to the museum. Israeli officials had given advance warning, but it is unclear how much of the collection was preserved. Most of the holdings were destroyed in an August 2024 Israeli Defense Force operation.
The ancient Hammam Al-Samra bathhouse in Gaza City, 2021. Photo: Mahmud Hams / AFP via Getty Images.
The Rashad al-Shawwa Cultural Center in Gaza City was one of Gaza’s central cultural institutions, says the report. Designed by Syrian architect Saad Mahfouz, it was a contemporary architectural landmark, completed in 1988. Its destruction, including its 20,000-volume library, was reported during a 2023 ceasefire.
Al-Mathaf hotel and museum hosted a private collection of important cultural heritage and archaeological artifacts collected over three decades by Palestinian construction magnate Jawdat al-Khoudary. The report notes that Al-Khoudary told AFP in an interview that his hotel and museum had been under Israeli control for months, and that “as soon as they left, I asked some people to go there to see what state the place was in. I was shocked. Several items were missing and the hall had been set on fire.” He noted that Israeli forces “flattened the garden with bulldozers,” adding, “I don’t know whether objects were buried (by the bulldozers) or whether the marble columns were broken or looted. I can’t find words.”
The archaeological site of Anthedon Harbor in Gaza City, 2013. Photo: Mohammed Abed / AFP via Getty Images.
Archaeological sites have also suffered.
Described as one of the region’s most important archaeological sites, Anthedon Harbor is on Palestine’s tentative list for nomination as a World Heritage Site, according to the report, which notes its Iron Age defensive wall, Roman and Hellenistic-era structures, and Byzantine cemetery. The research agency Forensic Architecture, after analyzing open-source investigations and documentation, concluded that the site has been “mostly destroyed,” with dozens of large craters resulting from airstrikes. The site was apparently used as a military outpost.
Described by experts as one of Gaza’s greatest archaeological treasures is a 1,500-year-old Byzantine mosaic discovered in 2022 underneath an olive grove near Bureij. It was “highly damaged” according to an assessment by EAMENA and the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, says the report, possibly because it lies just over a half a mile from the border with Israel, which wished to expand its “buffer zone.” As René Elter, one archaeologist involved with the preservation effort, told the AP, “these are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the graphic representation and the complexity of the geometry.”
Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin cleans a mosaic floor he discovered at his farm and which dates back to the Byzantine era, according to officials, in central Gaza Strip, on September 18, 2022. Photo: Anas-Mohammed / Shutterstock.
In its conclusion, the report notes: “The destruction of Gaza’s cultural heritage is not merely collateral damage but an assault on the collective identity and historical presence of the Palestinian people.”
“The loss of cultural producers—artists, writers, intellectuals, and scholars—and of archives, places of worship, libraries, and cultural landmarks,” it goes on, “severs ties to centuries of memory, knowledge, and community life, while the widespread devastation of homes, schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure deepens a humanitarian and human rights crisis of immense scale.”