Founded around 340 CE by Saint Hilarion, the monastery is part of Tell Umm Amer, an archaeological site located in the Nuseirat refugee camp of Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah governorate. Submitted for inscription by the Permanent Delegation of Palestine to UNESCO in 2012, its nomination was processed on an emergency basis during the World Heritage Committee’s ongoing annual session. “It constitutes a message of hope to our people in Gaza who are fleeing bombing, who have no shelter, no water, no food. “Once the site is enshrined on the World Heritage in Danger list, this means that all state parties to the convention are responsible for the protection and promotion of the site,” Mounir said. The case argues that the mass-scale killing and destruction of cultural heritage in Gaza demonstrates the Israeli leadership’s intent to destroy the Palestinian people and their cultural identity.

Source: Ethiopian News July 26, 2024 15:25 UTC