The Palestinian Ministry of Culture has reported the death of 41 artists, writers, and cultural activists in the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, in its latest report on the losses faced by the Palestinian cultural sector due to the war which began on October 7. The ministry stated in its report, "Arab culture in Palestine has lost significant literary and artistic figures during this war," pointing out that these writers and artists played a "significant role in the elevation and promotion of national culture and the presence of Palestine in literary and artistic forums."
Atef Abu Seif, the Minister of Culture, mentioned in the same report that the cultural scene in the sector has "faced multiple and compounded assaults." He added, "The war being waged by the occupation against our people affects humans, stones, trees, places, and time with its past, present, and future in a desperate attempt to erase the national identity and obliterate the collective memory of our people and destroy all evidence of their existence and connection to the land."
The ministry noted that "dozens of institutions, theaters, libraries, publishing houses, museums, historic buildings, sacred sites, and artistic and heritage pieces, especially old traditional dresses," were subjected to destruction during the war. The report states that the Israeli army is targeting historical buildings, heritage sites, museums, mosques, and historical churches.
The report estimates "the preliminary number of homes and historical and archaeological buildings that were partially or completely damaged due to the shelling is 195, distributed between homes, castles, and palaces... in the neighborhoods of Al-Darje, Al-Zeitoun, and Al-Shuja'iyya." It mentioned the damage and loss of historical dresses dating back to before the Nakba, which is the term used by Palestinians to refer to the day the State of Israel was declared.
Video footage shows the extensive destruction that has occurred to various buildings in the Gaza Strip. The report provides photographic evidence of how some of these sites and homes looked before the bombardment and how they appear after, as well as profiles of several scholars, artists, musicians, actors, writers, and poets who were killed during this war.
