Challenging destruction: Palestinians pray amid ruins of Gaza’s oldest mosques

By Hosni Nadim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The imam of the Great Omari Mosque insists on reciting the adhan, or call to prayer, and performing congregational prayers amid the rubble of the mosque that was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the old town of Gaza City.

In one corner of the mosque, Sheikh Fadi ArEf calls the adhan, while a limited number of the faithful and children wait for the congregational prayer.

Sheikh Aref leads worshippers in a covered courtyard inside the mosque, which features characteristics from the Mamluk and Ottoman eras.

The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in Gaza announced that the Israeli army destroyed 1,000 of 1,200 mosques in the enclave, including historic mosques, since the beginning of its offensive on Oct. 7. It noted the destruction of dozens of cemeteries and the assassination of more than 100 preachers.

The Omari Mosque, founded more than 1,400 years ago, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in Gaza, and the third-largest in Palestine after Al-Aqsa and Ahmad Pasha Al-Jazzar in Acre, rivaling in size the Mahmoudiya Mosque in Jaffa.

Mohammed Iskafi, 30, who regularly prays in congregation with youngsters at the mosque, said they pray at the mosque whenever the opportunity arises.

“Whenever the opportunity arises amidst the Israeli war and intense shelling, we try to reach the Omari Mosque, gather ourselves, and pray in congregation,” Iskafi told Anadolu.

He notes how he used to go with his friends and neighbors to pray at the historical mosque, especially for Eid prayers and Taraweeh during the month of Ramadan.

“We are on the doorstep of Ramadan, and if the war ends, we will strive to keep prayer present in its courtyards and rebuild it with faithful,” he said.

Nael Al-Far expressed deep sadness at the fate of the mosque. “I never expected the mosque to turn into rubble one day,” he said.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv said has killed less than 1,200 people.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala