As part of preparations for expanding the maneuver against Hamas strongholds in Gaza City, and in light of the sensitivity regarding the local Palestinian Christian community, the Israeli army in recent days worked with international experts to evacuate a warehouse containing rare archaeological findings — mosaics and pottery belonging to the Christian community — that had been stored in Gaza City.

The artifacts were transferred to a safe location in coordination with the Coordination and Liaison Administration to Gaza (COGAT), in cooperation with an international organization, in order to ensure both the preservation of the findings and the IDF’s freedom of action in the area.

According to a security official: An initiative was taken to approach an international organization to carry out the transfer of the archaeological findings from the warehouse in Gaza City to another location in the Gaza Strip, to ensure that during the maneuver these valuable artifacts belonging to the Christian community would not be damaged or destroyed. By doing so, we prevented an incident that could have caused a legitimacy crisis with the Christian community.

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