French archaeologists rescue Gaza artifacts before Israeli strike

A team of French archaeologists successfully completed an emergency evacuation of nearly three decades of archaeological artifacts from Gaza City on Thursday, just hours before an expected Israeli military strike on the building housing the collection.

The French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF) conducted what its director Olivier Poquillon called “a high-risk operation, carried out in an extremely dangerous context for everyone involved — a real last-minute rescue,” according to reports from AFP. Israeli authorities had warned the institution on Wednesday morning to evacuate its storehouse located on the ground floor of a residential tower in Gaza City that was slated for targeting.aawsat

International Diplomatic Intervention Secures Brief Reprieve

The evacuation became possible after France, UNESCO, and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem played key roles in securing a brief reprieve that allowed the artifacts to be removed. The Israeli army did not confirm the warning when contacted by AFP, but multiple sources verified the intervention.aawsat

“With almost no international actors left on the ground, no infrastructure, nothing functioning, we had to improvise transport, labor and logistics,” Poquillon told AFP. The operation was conducted in strict secrecy with “the overriding concern, as a religious organization, of not endangering human lives”.arabnews

Artifacts From Gaza’s Archaeological Heritage Saved

The EBAF storehouse contained approximately 180 cubic meters of finds from Gaza’s five main archaeological sites. The collection included artifacts from the fourth-century Saint Hilarion Monastery, which UNESCO added to its World Heritage List and List of World Heritage in Danger in July 2024.timesofisrael

According to archaeologist René Elter, who serves as scientific coordinator for the French NGO Premiere Urgence Internationale, “We saved a large part, but in a rescue you always lose things, and you always face painful choices”. The depot was particularly valuable because collections had been systematically classified over decades of work.arabnews

Gaza’s Archaeological Sites Face Widespread Destruction

The evacuation highlights the broader threat to Gaza’s cultural heritage during the ongoing conflict. UNESCO has verified damage to 94 heritage sites in Gaza using satellite imagery, including the 13th-century Pasha’s Palace. The Palestinian Ministry of Culture reported in February that 226 archaeological sites have been damaged, with 138 sustaining major damage.unesco

Researchers told AFP that apart from scattered ruins vulnerable to bombardment, the EBAF storehouse was the only repository of artifacts remaining in the Palestinian territory. One of Gaza’s two museums has been destroyed and the other heavily damaged since the conflict began nearly two years ago.arabnews

Elter warned that preserved documentation may be all that remains of Gaza’s archaeological legacy: “Perhaps that will be the only trace that remains of Gaza’s archaeology — in books, publications, libraries”.arabnews