Gaza’s Heritage In Ashes: Israel’s Bombing Claims Its Oldest Mosque, Al Omari
What used to be one of the oldest mosques in Gaza has now been reduced to rubble. Israel had bombed Gaza’s medieval Omari Mosque causing widespread destruction to the building including fallen walls as well as a huge crack at the bottom of the stone minaret. With only its minaret still intact, Gaza lost another piece of its rich history.
Built all the way back in 1344 in the center of Old Gaza near the old market, Omari Mosque holds a lot of history within its walls. It was originally a church established by the Byzantine Queen Eudocia but then when Gaza was liberated during the days of Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab, it became a mosque. Even its name mirrors its historical significance as it is named Omari Mosque after the second caliph Omar and the Great Mosque as it is considered the largest mosque in Gaza.
Along with its history, the mosque is a great example of the majesty of Gaza’s architecture as Its interiors boast 38 columns of solid marble, the beautiful anchors that have been holding the entire mosque intact for years. That is why it is disheartening to many Palestinians seeing yet another symbol of their history taken away by the ongoing violence and destruction.
This is not the first time that a holy place of worship got attacked as since October 7, according to estimates by Gaza’s antiquities ministry, almost 104 mosques have been razed to this day. Along with that, several churches have been destroyed including the 1,000-year-old Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius. Even cultural and social hubs where destroyed like the Hammam al-Samara, the last Turkish-style bath in the territory, where Gazans bathed for more than a thousand years.
Today, Gazans remain outraged for not just the killings of more than 20,000 civilians but also for the erasure of the remaining traces of the architecture and history of Palestine.
