Minister of Culture: The landmarks of Gaza’s roads have disappeared and we no longer know them

The Palestinian Minister of Culture, Atef Abu Saif, said: My wife’s sister and her children were martyred when the building completely collapsed on them as a result of an Israeli bombing, so I went with others for 5 days, in continuous attempts to remove the rubble and dig them out to bury their bodies, and I was in Gaza, where we were supposed to launch the day. National Heritage at Al-Qarara Museum, east of Khan Yunis, on October 7.

He continued: The occupation has continued its crimes since the Nakba until today, and launched a fierce and barbaric aggression from the first moment. During the first 47 days, I was in the Jabalia camp, where my refugee family from the city of Jaffa resides, and during the day I go about my work, inspect hospitals, and meet many writers and authors in the house. The press in Gaza City, whose director Bilal Jadallah was martyred in an Israeli bombing.

Israel deliberately erased the landmarks of Gaza City. He said: I used to go to work in my car in the morning, and when I returned in the evening I did not know the road because its landmarks had disappeared as a result of the bombing of the buildings and streets. I was looking for a way to return every day, and I, who lived there for 50 years, found it difficult to know its landmarks. In Al-Hawja and Al-Yafawiyah Streets in Jabalia Camp, entire neighborhoods were demolished and it became possible to see the end of the camp as far as the eye can see, while it was impossible to see ten meters away due to urbanization and crowding.

He said: The situation in Gaza has become extremely difficult, as there is neither sufficient shelter nor tents, and there are those who rent tents for a monthly sum, and there is not enough food, as the aid that enters does not suffice for 5% of the citizens’ needs.

He added: There is an acute shortage and absence of winter clothes and blankets, especially since citizens were displaced during the summer, and thus they were unable to carry the necessary clothes and blankets to protect them from the harsh winter cold.

He pointed out that the sector has been living without electricity since the third day of the aggression, and that citizens have developed ways to meet their needs for electricity needed to charge their cell devices and lamps, by purchasing small batteries for charging.