Central Archives of Gaza City

Municipal archive in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine

31°30′25″N 34°27′36″E / 31.50694°N 34.46000°E / 31.50694; 34.46000LocationGaza City, State of PalestineTypeNational archivesDissolution2023 (destroyed)

The Central Archives of Gaza City (Arabic: أرشيف غزة المركزي, arshif ghaza almarkazi) was an archive and study centre in Gaza, Palestine. Containing 150 years of archival material relating to Palestinian life and culture, the centre was destroyed in late November 2023 during the Israel–Hamas war.

The Central Archives were kept within the administrative buildings of Gaza City.^[1] The archive contained materials that documented the lives of Palestinians going back 150 years, as well as material relating to urban development.^[1]^[2] Both the Palestinian Information Center and Al Jazeera reported that it had been a potential Israeli target since 7 October 2023.^[1]^[3] The New Arab reported that heavy shelling in late November led to its destruction,^[2] including, according to Middle East Eye, a bombing on 29 November.^[4] A preliminary damage report from the International Council on Monuments and Sites found that the archives had been completely destroyed.^[5] Images were released by Birzeit University and local press on social media.^[4] Khalil Sayegh drew a direct comparison with the 1982 theft of material relating to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation from the Palestinian Research Centre in Beirut.^[2]

In response to the deliberate destruction the International Council on Archives put out a statement condemning "all actors in the region" drawing on The Universal Declaration on Archives.^[6] A further public statement was made by the Oral History Society, stating it would "do its best to support the recording and remembering of that history when the rebuilding of Gaza can begin".^[7] Other statements were shared by the Association of Canadian Archivists,^[8] amongst others. Efforts to record and archive remaining digitised archives involve the online repository Palestinian Nexus.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "الجزيرة ترصد آثار تدمير الاحتلال مبنى الأرشيف المركزي في غزة". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bajec, Alessandra (18 December 2023). "How Israel's war is erasing Gaza's history and culture". The New Arab. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "Gaza Municipality: Israel's bombing of Central Archive destroys thousands of historical documents". The Palestinian Information Center. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Israel-Palestine war: Israeli forces destroy central archive of Gaza city". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "Gaza City archives among heritage sites destroyed in Israel-Hamas war". The Art Newspaper – International art news and events. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "Statement of the International Council on Archives on the Destruction of the Central Archives of the Municipality of Gaza | International Council on Archives". www.ica.org. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "Oral History Society (UK) statement on the destruction of libraries and archives in Gaza during the current conflict – Oral History Society". 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "Association of Canadian Archivists Statement on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Announcements". connect.archivists.org. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
^ "How digital archives are preserving Palestinian history amid Israel's bombardment of Gaza". Arab News. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.

External links

Middle East Eye: Gaza's Central Archive building lies in ruins after Israeli air strike (YouTube)

Israel–Hamas war

Engage-
ments

Hamas-led
attack on Israel

Attacks on civilians	Netiv HaAsara Alumim Be'eri Elchanan Team Holit Kfar Aza Kissufim Nir Oz Nir Yitzhak Nahal Oz Nirim Nova music festival Psyduck music festival
Battles	Re'im Sderot Sufa Zikim Israeli female tank crew fight
General topics	Allegations of genocide Allegations of involvement of UNRWA employees Denial Sexual and gender-based violence

Israeli invasion
of Gaza

Attacks on refugee camps	Jabalia 31 October Al-Shati Al-Maghazi
Attacks on schools	Al-Maghazi Al-Fakhoora Al-Falah Shadia Abu Ghazala School
Attacks on health facilities	Killing of health workers Gaza Strip mass graves Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion Al-Shifa Hospital siege alleged military use ambulance airstrike Kamal Adwan Hospital siege Nasser Hospital siege Nasser Hospital mass graves Gaza Strip mass graves
Other attacks	Airstrikes on municipal services in Gaza Church of Saint Porphyrius Engineer's Building strike and massacre Flour massacre Palestinians evacuating Gaza City Sabra mosque World Central Kitchen drone strikes
General topics	Gaza genocide allegations Bombing of the Gaza Strip Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israel–Hamas war Environmental damage in the Gaza Strip caused by the Israel–Hamas war Torture AI-assisted targeting

Other theaters

Israel–Lebanon border clashes
- Attacks on journalists
Israeli incursions in the West Bank
- Killing of Benjamin Achimeir
- April 2024 Israeli settler rampages
Givat Shaul shooting
Tower 22 drone attack

Iran–Israel conflict	Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus Iranian strikes in Israel Israeli strikes on Iran
Red Sea crisis	Operation Prosperity Guardian Attacks on the MV Maersk Hangzhou 2024 missile strikes in Yemen Marlin Luanda missile strike

Hostage
crisis

Hostages	Noa Argamani Bibas family Alex Dancyg Oded Lifshitz Hersh Goldberg-Polin Naama Levy
Rescued hostages	Operation Golden Hand Ori Megidish
Released hostages	Rachel Edry Yarden Roman-Gat Mia Schem
Deceased hostages	Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka

General
topics

Historical context	Arab–Israeli conflict Blockade of the Gaza Strip Palestinian freedom of movement Israel and apartheid Children Gaza–Israel conflict Casualties of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip Human shields Israeli settlement Israeli outpost Israeli settler violence Israeli disengagement from Gaza Palestinian rocket attacks Palestinian tunnel warfare anti-tunnel barrier Women

Effects

Reactions

Discrimination	Antisemitism Riots in the North Caucasus Anti-Palestinianism Islamophobia Violent incidents Killing of Wadea al-Fayoume Death of Paul Kessler Vermont student shooting Zürich stabbing attack
Protests	France March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism Pro-Palestinian protests at Sciences Po Indonesia 2023 Bitung clashes Israel United Kingdom United States National March on Washington: Free Palestine March for Israel DNC protests March on Washington for Gaza Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell Israel–Hamas war protest vote movements Artists4Ceasefire Columbia University protests
UN resolutions	A/RES/ES-10/21 S/RES/2712 A/RES/ES-10/22 S/RES/2720 S/RES/2728
UN inquiry	Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
World Court	South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention) Legal Consequences of Israeli Policies and Practices
Courts	Defense for Children International-Palestine v. Biden

Casualties

Israel

Security forces	Alim Abdallah Yitzhak Ben-Bashat Jayar Davidov Eli Ginsberg Salman Habaka Asaf Hamami Yitzhar Hofman Roi Levy Izhar Peled Yonatan Steinberg
Civilians	Lior Asulin Yuval Castleman Hayim Katsman Ofir Libstein Shani Louk Aner Shapira Vivian Silver Yahav Winner

Palestine

Hamas	Saleh al-Arouri Abdul Fatah Dukhan Mohammed Dababish Wissam Farhat Ahmed Ghandour Marwan Issa Fursan Khalifa Osama Mazini Ayman Nofal Jamila al-Shanti Ali Al Qadi
Other militants	Fouad Abu Butihan Jihad Shehadeh
Civilians	Tawfic Abdel Jabbar Refaat Alareer Hammam Alloh Naheda and Samr Anton Yazan al-Kafarneh Ibrahim al-Astal Ahmad Bahar Mohammed Barakat Rashid Dabour [ar] Mohamed al-Dalou Awni El-Dous Omar Ferwana Hiba Abu Nada Ibrahim Qusaya Hind Rajab Mohammed Shabir Omar Abu Shawish Sufian Tayeh Wael Al Zard

Spillover

Journalists

General topics

Friendly fire

Related
people

Israelis	Nimrod Aloni Rachel Goldberg-Pollin Eitan Okun [he] Yagel Oshri Inbal Rabin-Lieberman Amir Tibon
Palestinians	Wael Al-Dahdouh Plestia Alaqad Motaz Azaiza Bisan Owda Mustafa Moien Ayyash