On December 16, 2024, Salah Hussein Al-Houdalieh and Hasan Saed Jamal published a new study in Palestine Exploration Quarterly, Volume 156, Issue 4, titled "The Price of Conflict: Devastation of Cultural Heritage in War and Political Strife, the West Bank as a Case Study". The recent wave of armed conflict in and around the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has resulted in an unprecedented scale of looting and destruction of archaeological sites in the West Bank, with the aim of extracting valuable artifacts for personal financial gain. The antiquities looters used both traditional hand tools and heavy machinery in their plundering activities. This armed conflict (still ongoing as of this writing), which has led to the destruction of numerous archaeological sites in the Palestinian Territories, motivates this research. The primary objective of this study is to identify the impact of the recent political crisis on Palestinian archaeological sites, specifically focusing on the case studies of Khirbet Qusātīn, Khirbet Sīmiyā, and Khirbet 'Abda, all located in Hebron governorate. The methodology employs a multidisciplinary approach, including field surveys, photography using cameras and drones, literature review, and analysis of available satellite imagery.
Our visits to the archaeological sites detailed above provide evidence for the serious threats impacting Palestinian archaeological sites generally, especially resulting from the ongoing armed conflict since October 2023 between the Palestinians and Israelis. During the initial seven months of this wave of war, the three sites highlighted were extensively looted, using both heavy machinery and traditional tools. This resulted in the destruction of large areas of well-stratified cultural layers, the demolition of numerous architectural features, and the possible extraction of an unknown quantity of archaeological items. The extensive looting of these sites points to distressing present realities concerning the status of Palestinian cultural assets, which are being abused on an unprecedented scale. Further, however, it demonstrates the serious problem that archaeologists will inevitably confront in the future (whether near or distant) as they are no longer able to gather reliable information from previously plundered and disrupted contexts.
For more information about the study, please contact the main author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or the scientific research office at (the email of our office).
