Gaza blockade stalls manuscript transfers to Armenia, Hetq reports
Hetq reports that the proposed refuge at Yerevan’s Matenadaran remains unused as Palestinian teams recover and document surviving artifacts locally.
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Hetq reports that the proposed refuge at Yerevan’s Matenadaran remains unused as Palestinian teams recover and document surviving artifacts locally.
No endangered Palestinian manuscripts or other artifacts have reached Armenia under its government’s offer of temporary safekeeping, Hetq reported on October 22. The outlet attributes the stalled transfers to Gaza’s military blockade, the war and logistical barriers.
The initiative began in May 2024, when Armenia’s foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, announced the country’s readiness to protect endangered manuscripts from the conflict zone. Armenia proposed housing them at the Matenadaran, Yerevan’s repository of ancient manuscripts, until the region stabilizes.
According to Hetq, Armenia’s deputy foreign minister, Vahan Kostanyan, formalized the offer at a United Nations conference in July 2025. The proposal has not led to a physical transfer.
Hetq reports that Gaza’s military blockade makes legally or physically removing fragile historical items nearly impossible. Shelling has also severely damaged or destroyed much of Gaza’s central archive and major repositories, leaving few surviving institutional collections available for transport, the outlet says.
Hetq also relays UNESCO’s count of more than 160 damaged cultural sites in Gaza. That figure counts cultural sites, not manuscripts lost.
With international evacuation unavailable, Palestinian archaeologists and volunteers, including the Heritage Guardians, are preserving surviving artifacts locally, Hetq reports. Teams search the rubble of destroyed museums and private collections, then clean and photograph recovered objects in makeshift workspaces. They also create digital records, documenting what survives while the proposed Armenian refuge remains out of reach.
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