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Walking around the An-Nasr Mosque in the Old City of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Durgham Al-Faris is more eager to discuss its rich cultural heritage—which dates back to the earliest signs of Christianity—than the flames that recently snaked through it in an instant.
Palestinian officials accuse Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of forcibly entering the holy site and setting it on fire on March 7th, just a week into Muslims’ holy Month of Ramadan. Al-Faris, a historian and director at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Nablus, points to a soot-covered wall where a team of workers carefully clears the debris.
“Some remnants of the Crusader church can still be seen in the western façade of the mosque’s ground floor,” he explains. This floor also contains graves of prominent historical figures, including Mohammad bin Farroukh Pasha, a city governor who died during the Ottoman era.
An-Nasr was originally a Byzantine church built in the Roman era of Nablus. Its name derives from the Greek word “Neapolis,” meaning “new city.” In Hebrew, it is called Shjem, a Canaanite town strategically located near the adjacent Mounts Gerizim and Ebal. The Romans destroyed Shjem during the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman emperor Vespasian founded the city in 72 CE, and it became one of the earliest urban centers in the Levant.
After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, the city was given its present-day Arabic name, Nablus. During the Crusades, the Templars used the church before it was converted into a mosque following Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi’s conquest of the city in 1187. In the 14th century, Nablus came under Ottoman control, leading to the construction of a government building adjacent to the mosque.
Today, Nablus serves as Palestine’s main commercial and cultural center and one of the oldest cities in human history. Its Syrian-style architecture has earned it the nickname “Little Damascus.” An-Nasr mosque is one of nine historic mosques in the Old City, dubbed “the symbol of Nablus” by locals. The current complex is an incarnation built in 1935 on the site of the previous mosque, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1927.
Locals argue that the fire at the mosque was part of the wider uptick in violence by Israeli forces and settlers that have, since January, displaced over 40,000 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and ravaged much of its infrastructure and cultural heritage. Inside the mosque, the soot-covered walls extend to a 27-metre-high ceiling, and the fire damaged the Quranic calligraphy adorning the halls’ walls. Also, the charred edges of prayer mats and burned copies of the Quran lying on the floor everywhere stand witness to the damage to the historic West Bank mosque.
Immediately after the fire, members of the Nablus community took to social media to raise funds. They sought local builders, artisans, and restorers to help recover and restore the remaining parts of the monument, aiming to protect its structure from further damage and return it to its former glory. Young activist Hassan Qanhieh used Facebook to mobilize volunteers to remove debris, keep the mosque open, and hold prayers inside since the mosque, as he puts it, “is significant for people of all ages in Nablus.”
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On the first day, they gathered roughly 250,000 shekels (about $67,000), with nearly 20 volunteers coming together to carry out the work despite fasting during Ramadan. A mosque reconstruction committee was formed and pledged to cover the restoration costs by artisanal experts to ensure meticulous work.
“We are handling this project with extreme care to restore the mosque exactly as it was before the fire,” says Samir al-Shakhshir, a committee member. “Nothing will really change, but we will add some Islamic calligraphy and inscriptions to the inner walls of the dome.” One of the renovation’s most costly and historically significant elements is an ancient stone wall that survived the 1927 earthquake. “The fire caused significant damage to this wall, but restoration specialists are working to repair and reinforce it,” reassures al-Shakhshir.
Workers spent days erecting scaffolding as high as the ceiling before any restoration work could start. Ibrahim Nasser, one of the 20 team members working on the site daily, comments, “We have been installing scaffolding to facilitate the restoration work for the seventh consecutive day,” showing signs of fatigue on his face.
For Mashhour Faraytakh, overseeing the mosque’s repainting, An-Nasr Mosque’s history intertwines with his own. “My family repainted this mosque several times,” he smiles, “once in 1985, then in 2006, and now again in 2025.” The painting has never been an easy feat. An-Nasr Mosque stands out for its three-nave structure that spans over 1500m over two floors, plus a high dome in bright green on the outside. But this time, the repainting is significantly more timely and costly.
“Since the mosque was burned, the walls were covered in soot, which meant we had to apply a base coat first before even beginning the final paintwork,” explains Faraytakh. “We are making sure to use traditional Islamic colors that reflect the mosque’s historical and spiritual significance. The dome alone requires specialized techniques and expert hands to ensure its aesthetic beauty.”
Despite the generally upbeat mood among those working on the mosque, the specter of what—and who—caused the fire still casts a long shadow. An-Nasr Mosque’s Imam Ahmad Zanadah walks around the burned rooms and points sadly at some of the damage: “They vandalized the mosque and set fire to the Imam’s chamber and the Qur’ans.” He is in no doubt that the fire was a deliberate act of arson by the IDF, targeting cultural heritage in the West Bank.
Zanadah explains he reviewed CCTV footage from March 7th, and apparently, the fire started in the heart of the mosque, in the Imam’s private room, before growing increasingly uncontrollable. When firefighters from local Palestinian authorities arrived, he adds, the IDF prevented them from entering the holy building, which gave the flames time to spread.
Unfortunately, An-Nasr Mosque is just one example of the ongoing issue of losing historic monuments in Palestine. Archaeologist Salah Al-Houdalieh has extensively written about cultural heritage destruction in the West Bank, where he lives. He is chairman of the Dept. of Archaeology and the Institute of Archaeology of Al-Quds University. Over 34 years, he has also conducted several research projects and interviewed hundreds of Palestinians involved in illegal looting, trading, and trafficking of ancient objects. He is pressingly working to assess archaeological sites in the West Bank devastated by destruction and looting amid Israel’s ongoing war in the region. In an op-ed article, he argues international organizations charged with protecting cultural heritage have not intervened in the West Bank, as Israeli forces destroy sites and monuments in Gaza and beyond.
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Strikingly, this current stance by the international community remarkably contrasts with other historical precedents. For instance, The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (MFAA) program was established by the Allies in 1943 to help protect cultural heritage in war areas during and after World War II. One notable example involves Monuments officer Deane Keller, who played an instrumental role in preserving the Campo Santo in Pisa after a mortar shell ignited a fire that caused the lead roof to melt and damaged the renowned 14th-century fresco-adorned walls. Keller headed a team of American and Italian soldiers and restorers to salvage the remaining pieces of the frescoes and construct a temporary roof to shield the structure from additional harm.
“Political conflicts and wars ravage societies. While most attention focuses on lost human lives—and rightly so—the destruction of cultural assets is also disastrous,” wrote Al-Houdalieh once.
Humanity’s cultural heritage in the occupied West Bank relies on grassroots efforts from communities like Nablus and individual archaeologists like Al-Houdalieh. According to statements from city officials, the restoration of An-Nasr Mosque will take another month due to the challenging height of its dome. Nonetheless, it will gradually regain its former beauty. The Arabic name An-Nasr means “Victory Mosque,” which may explain the Nablus community’s determination.
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
