b'STATISTICS & FACTS(Librarians and Archivists with Palestine, 2024)Since October 7th 2023, at least 12 major public and university librarieshave been completely destroyed by Israeli forces in Gaza. The 7th century Omari Mosque in Gaza City was bombed andcompletely destroyed, including its library which housed rare books and manuscripts dating back to the 14th century.The Diana Tamari Sabbagh Library in Gaza City was reduced to rubble,destroying tens of thousands of books.The Gaza Municipal Library in Gaza City caught fire after an Israeliairstrike, burning thousands of books beyond recovery.The Samir Mansour Bookshop and Library in Gaza City, home to over100,000 books, was destroyed twice, first in 2021 and again in 2023.The Lubbud, Al-Nahda, and Al-Shorouq Al-Daem Libraries, as well asthe Islamic University of Gaza, Al-Israa University, and Al-Quds OpenUniversity libraries in Gaza City were all destroyed.During the Nakba in 1948, Zionist forces looted 30,000 books andmanuscripts from Palestinian homes and libraries.The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is classified as a war crimeand has been prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. The UnitedNations Human Rights Council (UNHCR, 2016) recognizes thatdestroying cultural heritage threatens stability, cultural identity, andpeace.Countless librarians, archivists, and scholars have been displaced, injured or killed by Israeli forces, in addition to tens of thousands of civilians, mostly women and children.'