A UN commission has concluded that Israel’s systematic targeting of schools, mosques, churches, and cultural institutions in Gaza amounts to genocide, warning that these acts are not incidental but deliberate attempts to erase the identity and future of the Palestinian people.
In a damning report, the commission accuses Israeli forces of dismantling Gaza’s educational system and wiping out irreplaceable cultural and religious landmarks. More than half of Gaza’s cultural heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed; from historic mosques to centuries-old libraries. The report describes these attacks as part of a wider campaign to extinguish Palestinian life and memory.
Judge Navi Pillay, chair of the commission, warned of clear patterns indicating a calculated effort to dismantle the foundations of Palestinian existence. The destruction, she said, reaches far beyond the battlefield, it is aimed at generations to come, stripping children of schools, families of places of worship, and a nation of its collective past.
Gaza, one of the world’s oldest cities, now sees its historical soul under siege. Once home to layers of civilisation, Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic, its heritage is being levelled alongside its homes and hospitals. For many in Gaza, this is not just a war on lives, but on identity itself. And yet, as the rubble piles up, so too does the silence of those who could act.
