CAIRO, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Hamas said on Friday that Israel had bombed Gaza’s medieval Omari mosque, causing widespread destruction to the building and calling it a “heinous, barbaric crime.”
Photographs by Hamas-run media in Gaza that Reuters could not immediately verify showed massive damage to the mosque, walls and ceilings, and a large crack at the base of the stone minaret.
Reuters reporters in Gaza identified the minaret in the picture as the minaret of the Omari Mosque.
A spokesman for the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the damage to the mosque.
The Omari mosque, named after Islam’s second caliph Omar, is the oldest and largest in the tiny Palestinian enclave and has been under Israeli bombardment since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 17,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run region, and laid waste to entire city districts, including civilian infrastructure.
Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Writing by Angus McDowell, Editing by Angus McSwan
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