"If the occupation (Israel) believes that by destroying these buildings, it can erase the history of these people, it is mistaken," said Hamuda al-Dahdar, an architect and heritage expert at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, which is based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. He is currently in Gaza, trying to restore the sites destroyed in the conflict.

"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 said.

In an enclave where most residents are refugees or descendants of refugees from cities and villages in what is now Israel — and most districts were hastily built in recent decades to house them — the Great Omari Mosque was Gazans' main link to their own cultural heritage and the rich architectural and historical legacy of the wider Middle East.