UPDATE 1-Gazans race to preserve cultural heritage damaged in war

But at a handful of sites where the enclave's most valuable historical monuments have been severely damaged, workers are already busy with shovels, trying to dig out the few surviving remnants of the past. Those include Gaza's most important cultural site, the great Omari Mosque in Gaza's Old City, which Israeli forces struck during the war to destroy what they said was a tunnel under its grounds used by fighters.

With 70,000 dead, countless injured, hundreds of thousands of people homeless and whole districts laid to waste, the task of rebuilding Gaza is almost beyond comprehension. But at a handful of sites where the enclave's most valuable historical monuments have been severely damaged, workers are already busy with shovels, trying to dig out the few surviving remnants of the past.

Those include Gaza's most important cultural site, the great Omari Mosque in Gaza's Old City, which Israeli forces struck during the war to destroy what they said was a tunnel under its grounds used by fighters. Palestinians say there is no sign of such a tunnel there, and blame Israel for blasting apart the enclave's religious and cultural heritage. "If the occupation (Israel) believes that by destroying these buildings it can erase the history of this people, it is mistaken," said Hamuda al-Dahdar, an architect and heritage expert at the Centre for Cultural Preservation, which is based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and is now working inside Gaza to try to rescue sites destroyed in the war.

"These buildings represent the collective memory of an ancient nation, one that must be preserved, and we must unite in our efforts to protect it," he told Reuters in Gaza. The Israeli military said that any strike against Hamas targets that risks damaging such sites undergoes a rigorous approval process.

"Sites of cultural heritage and locations of historical and cultural significance are treated with the utmost sensitivity by the IDF and constitute a central consideration in the planning of strikes, with the aim of minimising harm to these sites and to the civilian population," the Israel Defense Forces said. TIMELESS TALES

In an enclave where most residents are refugees or descendents of refugees from cities and villages in what is now Israel - and most districts were hastily built in recent decades to house them - the Omari Mosque was Gazans' main link to their own cultural heritage and the rich architectural historical legacy of the wider Middle East. The site, said by local tradition to be where the biblical Samson brought down a temple on his Philistine captors, housed a Byzantine church before the seventh century Caliph Omar brought Islam to the Mediterranean and reconsecrated it as a mosque.

In the centuries since, it was embellished and restored countless times by Mamluks, Crusaders and Ottomans, renowned throughout the Middle Ages as the area's architectural marvel. Its minaret was the main landmark of the Gaza skyline. Worshippers would pack its basilica, with vaulted ceilings and cool glazed tile floors, spilling out after prayers through the stately facade, the arched stone courtyard and the compound's gates into the surrounding market streets of the Old City.

The nearby Al Qaisariyya gold market was packed with shops whose owners and neighbours were known for recounting timeless legends of the wedding jewellery of doomed lovers and jealous mothers-in-law. Little is left. Also lying in ruins is the Pasha's Palace, a landmark partly dating back to the 13th century, which housed a museum whose treasures are now gone.

"When we talk about heritage and culture, we are not merely talking about an old building or ancient stones. Every stone tells a story," said Dahdar. Palestinian officials and UNESCO are preparing a three-phase recovery plan with initial costs of $133 million for historical sites, said Jehad Yasin, assistant deputy minister at the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, based in the West Bank.

The first priority will be quickly intervening to support structures that could collapse without support. But there is a shortage of white cement and gypsum. Resources in Gaza are limited and the prices of excavation and restoration materials have skyrocketed, he said. In Gaza, the loss of cultural landmarks still causes a particular ache, even among families who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods.

Munzir Abu Assi said he had to comfort his daughter Kenzy after she heard the Great Omari Mosque was damaged. "She's really sad. When we heard that the mosque has been hit, we were surprised, why?" said Abu Assi.

"And when they also hit Pasha's Palace, we were certain that this occupation (Israel) wants to wipe out the Palestinian identity and to wipe out any Palestinian monument." (Additional reporting by Tamar Uriel-Beeri in Jerusalem; Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by Peter Graff)

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