Open letter from heritage experts on destruction in the Holy Land

Source: Emek Shaveh

The following open letter was written after the bombing of a warehouse used to store archaeological finds belonging to the French Biblical and Archaeological Research Institute (École Biblique) in Gaza.

Since then, a ceasefire has come into effect in Gaza, and the 20 surviving Israeli hostages have returned home. We welcome this development and hope it marks a true end to the war and the beginning of a new era in which political agreements replace violence and military force.

At the same time, as long as a lasting agreement between the sides has not been reached, our call to stop the destruction in Gaza and to halt the large-scale appropriation, neglect, and destruction in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (the West Bank and East Jerusalem) remains in place. Dozens of professionals from Israel and around the world have joined this call. We are therefore republishing the letter, together with the names of the signatories.

Our principled position is that the cultural heritage of Palestine/the Land of Israel is shared by all those native to the land, as well as by all who have made their home here and see their future in it. Muslims, Christians, and Jews have lived in this land for thousands of years, and it is our duty to protect its heritage in all its diversity-for the benefit of all and for generations to come.

Emek Shaveh is an Israeli NGO working to prevent the politicization of archaeology in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The full text follows:

Open letter from archaeologists, conservation experts, museum curators and other heritage professionals against cultural destruction in Gaza and the West Bank

October 16, 2025

In recent days we have learnt of the total destruction of a building housing the archaeological store-rooms of the École Biblique in Gaza, an act that necessitated the urgent and apparently partial relocation of tens of thousands of items, causing damage whose extent is still unknown. This is a continuation of the policy of destruction and annihilation in the Gaza Strip that has also targeted heritage sites (according to the latest reports, about 110 historical buildings, archaeological sites, and other cultural properties have been severely damaged or completely destroyed), mostly with no known connection to military needs.

Such actions, which contravene the rules of warfare as set forth in international conventions, add to the ongoing Israeli violation of international law in the Occupied Territories (Judea and Samaria), and to the constraint on the activities of Palestinian archaeological authorities in areas under the Palestinian Authority's control (Areas A and B). These circumstances have resulted in the neglect of many cultural properties, their appropriation by nationalist elements, and their partial or complete destruction.

In view of the imminent planned destruction of Gaza city and the damage to heritage sites of local and global significance throughout the Gaza Strip, which continues decades of destruction and neglect of Palestinian cultural heritage within the State of Israel and the West Bank, we, professionals in the fields of heritage, call upon the Government of Israel and the military to:

- Immediately stop the demolition of the Gaza Strip, the destruction of its cultural treasures, and the attempt to cleanse it of any presence other than Jewish.

- Resume adherence to international law, particularly those conventions that dictate the proper treatment of cultural heritage during armed conflicts and occupation -treaties that have been ratified by the State of Israel.

- End the rule of settler gangs and the ongoing annexation of heritage sites in the West Bank and enable Palestinian archaeological enforcement in areas under the Palestinian Authority's control.

The heritage of Palestine/the Land of Israel belongs to all the natives of the land, as well as to all who have made it their home and have a stake in its future. Muslims, Christians, and Jews have lived in this land and sustained it for centuries and millennia: It is our duty to maintain the heritage of the land in all its diversity, for the sake of our future and that of our descendants.

Signed

Prof Rafi Greenberg
Dr Tawfiq Da'adli
Dr Dotan Halevy
Dr Chemi Shiff
Alon Arad
Dr. Yifat Thareani

Prof Amnon Baror
Prof Yuval Yekutieli
Prof Reuven Amitai
Prof Haim Goldfus
Prof Reinhard Bernbeck
Prof Ronald Zweig
Prof Deborah Sweeney
Prof Andrés Zarankin
Prof Tallay Ornan
Prof Eszter Banffy
Prof Sally Foster
Prof Katarina Predovnik
Dr Ianir Milevski
Dr Shira Wilkof
Dr Gad Barnea
Gideon Sulimani
Dr Maria Bianca D'Anna
Sarah Janesko
Evelyne Amar
Dr Katharina Galor
Yonit Crystal
Hedva Adiri
Dr Tal Frenkel Alroy
Dr Liora Kolska Horwitz
Dor Heimberg
Dr. Uri Davidovich
Dr. Hagit Keysar
Dr Mark Iserlis
Dr Rudy Kisler
Amal Hibner
Ariel Bernstein
Yonatan Mizrachi
Dr Mirjam S. Brusius
Dr Shmuel Groag
Prof Tovi Fenster
Prof Yfat Gutman
Dr Ariel Handel
Dr Irit Carmon Popper
Dr Avi Ofer
Talya Ezrahi
Uri Erlich
Muhannad Munderr
Tamar Leitner
Dr Yael Rotem
Stephan Doempke
Noam Levy
Dr Maria Taloni
Shadi Canaan
Dor Heimberg
Omri Alon
Yam Shemesh
Maya Avni
Ori Hadad
Dr Nadia Knudsen
Dr Elon Heijmans
Dr Niamh Mcullagh
Dr Jesus Garcia Sanchez
Dr Fedir Androshchuk
Dr Bisserka Gaydarska
Dr John Carman
Dr Peter Toth