In War-Torn Khan Yunis, Gazans Are Committed To Preserving Palestinian Heritage

Khan Yunis, Palestinian Territories: More than a year into the Israel-Hamas war, Gazans in the southern city of Khan Yunis are set on preserving their Palestinian heritage. While Mohamed Sha'at has been clearing the historic Mamluk-era Barquq castle from the rubble, Ramadan Ahmed, a researcher and artist, has spent decades collecting antiquities from destroyed museums and carving rocks to document the reality of Gazans under Israeli siege and bombardment. 

Hamas militants' surprise cross-border attack last year killed about 1,200 people. Another 250 were taken hostage; around 100 remain in captivity, with many of them feared dead. Israel responded to the attack by waging a war against Hamas in Gaza, where the fighting has killed over 41,000 people and displaced around 1.9 million. City streets have been churned into dirt canyons and, in many places, the air is filled with the stench of unrecovered corpses. 

Rebuilding Gaza would also require the import of massive amounts of construction supplies and heavy equipment, which Israel is unlikely to allow as long as there’s a potential for Hamas to rebuild its militant infrastructure. In any case, Gaza has only a small number of crossings with limited capacity.