PARIS, Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (WAFA) –  Palestine’s Ambassador to UNESCO, Munir Anastas, today condemned Israel’s persistent theft of rare artifacts and destruction of heritage sites in the course of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the conclusion of the work of the Subcommittee of the Meeting of States Parties to The 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property in Paris, Anastas stated that the occupying state destroyed hundreds of cultural buildings and archaeological sites in Gaza, and stole thousands of artifacts from Gaza museums, including the Deir al-Balah Museum, the al-Khodari Museum, the Pasha’s Palace (Qasr al-Basha) Museum and the Shahwan Museum.

He referred to the documented theft by the occupation forces of antiquities stores of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem (French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem), which worked for years in the Strip.

He stressed that the theft of antiquities is a war crime under international law, particularly that international agreements prohibit the seizure of antiquities during conflicts and illicit trafficking in cultural property is a crime under The UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

Anastas called on the international community and UNESCO to spare no effort to follow up on the fate of Palestinian cultural property stolen by the Israeli occupation army, stressing that protecting cultural heritage is a collective human duty that Palestine will not hesitate to preserve despite the occupation, out of its belief in its historical and cultural identity.

A.D./ K.F.