Hamas, which is engaged in deadly fighting with Israel, called on Friday for the United Nations Security Council to end the "brutal war" in the Gaza Strip.
"We call on the Security Council, the international community and all countries around the world to end this brutal war and save the Gaza Strip before it is too late," the Hamas government's media office in the Palestinian territory said, as the Security Council prepared to vote on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Also, Hamas urged UNESCO to protect historic buildings in the Gaza Strip, saying Israel's assault had left the Palestinian territory's oldest church, last hammam baths and treasured mosques in ruins.
Footage and images posted on social media on Friday appeared to show the Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest in Gaza City, reduced to rubble. Only the minaret appeared to be intact, with the surroundings -- which have been a Christian or Muslim holy site since at least the fifth century -- shattered.
Hamas's antiquities ministry condemned the "ransacking of historical and archaeological sites" by the Israeli army, which has relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
The Hamas attack, the worst in Israel's history, killed about 1,200 people while Israel's war killed almost 17,500 people in Gaza – mostly women and children.
"The crime of targeting and destroying archaeological sites should spur the world and UNESCO into action to preserve this great civilisational and cultural heritage," said the antiquities ministry, which estimates that 104 mosques have been razed since the start of the war.