The Israeli military’s widespread destruction of Gaza’s cultural sites, libraries, museums, and universities has inflicted a catastrophic blow to Gaza’s cultural life and heritage and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and offers evidence of genocidal intent, PEN America said in a new report, All That Is Lost, released today.
The report examines the destruction or partial destruction of 36 cultural, historical, religious, and educational sites, and also three instances of deliberate book burnings and two cases of reported looting of archaeological artifacts. In at least six of the 36 cases examined by PEN America, there was evidence that the Israeli military had deliberately targeted the sites in question, and in the majority of other cases, the destruction appeared to be the result of indiscriminate attacks. Both deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure—including cultural heritage sites and educational institutions—and indiscriminate assaults on civilian infrastructure are war crimes.
“Cultural heritage is not just about buildings or artifacts; it is the embodiment of a people’s identity, history, and future,” said Summer Lopez, interim co-CEO and chief program officer, Free Expression. “For the writers and artists PEN America spoke to, cultural heritage was also a way for Palestinians in Gaza to say ‘we are here, we lived, this is what we created.’ As the lives and voices of Palestinian writers, and all civilians in Gaza, hang in the balance, the devastation of that heritage is not only the erasure of their history, but their hope for the future.”
PEN America agrees with the consensus in the human rights community that the policies and actions of the government of Israel in Gaza amount to genocide under international law, based on the direct fact-finding work and expertise of a wide range of international, Palestinian, and Israeli human rights organizations, UN bodies, and genocide scholars.
PEN America calls on the Israeli government to immediately end its attacks on Palestinian cultural heritage and to observe its international law obligations to protect cultural property. PEN America also called for the widespread cultural destruction to be investigated as war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli military and as evidence of genocidal intent by the government of Israel, and for investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity by Hamas. It urged the U.S. government to immediately halt all transfers of offensive weapons to Israel until it could ensure they will not be used to commit war crimes or gross human rights violations, in line with U.S. law.
Hundreds of heritage sites and historical buildings in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli military attacks, and experts estimate emergency preservation costs will exceed €31.2 million (approximately $36.4 million).
The cases featured in the report include the total or partial destruction of several libraries in Gaza, including the total destruction of the Gaza Public Library, which housed 10,000 books in Arabic, English, and French. At least eight publishing houses and printing presses have been destroyed as well as several bookshops, including the three-story Samir Mansour bookstore which was severely damaged during an airstrike on October 10, 2023 and which contained thousands of books.
Other cultural sites damaged or destroyed include the 7th century Great Omari Mosque, with a library dating back to the 13th century, the historic Hammam al-Samra, 1,500-year-old Byzantine mosaics, and Al-Qarara Cultural Museum.
Israel’s military forces have also partly or completely destroyed every university and college in Gaza, leaving at least 90,000 students unable to complete their education. At least 105 academics have been killed and PEN America documented the deaths of 151 Palestinian cultural figures since October 7, 2023. As of September 10, 2025, nearly 65,000 Palestinians—men, women, and children—have been killed, and more than 163,000 wounded.
“Cultural heritage is protected under international law because it carries the memory, dignity, and resilience of communities,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, managing director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center at PEN America. “The international community must not only condemn the conduct of the Israeli military that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but act decisively to hold perpetrators accountable, enforce protections, and ensure that the culture and history under attack are safeguarded and rebuilt.”
Mahmoud Jouda, a writer interviewed for the report, described how his home in Al-Rima in Gaza City was completely destroyed, along with his personal library and the nearly completed draft of his novel, which he described as “so very dear.”
“Our homes in the refugee camps were like small museums. Each of us had something passed down from our grandparents, something from their displacement in 1948, a process that’s now been going on for 76 years … And now, it’s all gone,” he said.
“We must speak out unequivocally in defense of Palestinians’ dignity, humanity, and survival. The destruction of Gaza’s libraries and bookshops—repositories of knowledge and memory where academics and scholars do their work—is an assault not only on buildings and books, but on the lifeblood of a people’s cultural identity,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, interim co-CEO and chief program officer of Literary Programming. “When 10,000 books are reduced to ashes and every university lies in ruins, it is not only students who lose their future, but an entire society that is robbed of its history, its voice, and its right to learn.”
The current Israeli military campaign began in response to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,100 people and resulted in 251 people being taken hostage. Human rights groups have found the attacks of October 7 constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Gaza, Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure, including cultural sites such as mosques, and its construction and use of tunnels frequently built under or in close proximity to civilian objects has endangered Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure, including cultural heritage, and also constitutes war crimes. PEN America calls for the investigation of violations of international law committed by Hamas.
In response to PEN America’s request for information about the targeting of the specific cultural heritage sites, institutions and universities in the report, the Israeli Defense Forces cited the “unprecedented intermingling of Hamas within the civilian infrastructure.” Their response failed to provide any information with respect to the specific instances of cultural destruction detailed in the report. Hamas’ unlawful conduct does not release the government of Israel from its own international law obligations.
International law, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property, obliges states to protect cultural property in their own territory, as well as in occupied territories. It bans the use of cultural property for military purposes and states it must be protected from damage or destruction.
PEN America also called for an immediate ceasefire and end to the war so that support for the recovery of Gaza’s cultural sector could commence. PEN America called for support for those writers, artists and cultural producers who wish to return to Gaza through programs that provide livelihood support, participation in restoration and social initiatives, and other opportunities, with a focus on local leadership and participation and protection of cultural rights. In addition, PEN America calls for research, scholarships, and exchange programs for cultural workers and scholars affected by the war, including assistance with visas, housing, stipends, networking, event participation, and psychosocial support; and providing direct funding to Palestinian cultural organizations and those supporting creative production in Gaza.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.