A well-known archaeological site in northern Gaza Strip has been into a training compound for militant groups, which draws criticism from archaeologists and activists.

The site, better known as Blakhiyeh, was once used by the Canaanites as a commercial seaport to link historic Palestine with the rest of the ancient world. Inhabited from 800 BC to 1100 AD, the site has witnessed a series of different cultures, and is believed to have buried many treasures.

Due to financial shortage, the site was currently closed until further notice.

Five years ago, Hamas movement's armed wing al-Qassam Brigades established a military training compound near the ancient site. When the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had fierce conflicts with Israel in 2009, and again in 2012, the archaeological site was repeatedly struck by air-to-ground missiles and sustained a lot of damage.

Now, watching the Palestinian militants use the Blakhiyeh site for military and paramilitary training, archaeologists and activists are even more worried that the cultural heritage might be destroyed.

"Using the site for military training and bringing bulldozers to pave the site may cause severe damage to the mosaic... Using the place for training can never be justified. We need immediate intervention," Mustafa Ibrahim, a Gaza-based activist, told Xinhua.

Ibrahim said that what has happened at Blakhiyeh site " represents a severe violation of the history and civilization of the Palestinian people."

Faddel el-O'tol, the acting representative of the French delegation for archaeology in Gaza, told Xinhua that the exploration in Blakhiyeh area started in 1994.

"The site contains archaeological pieces that belong to the Greek Age in 330 B.C., including the 120-meter-long Roman Wall that belongs to the year 100 A.D. and several homes and a Mosaic church that were built during the Byzantine Age and belong to the fifth century," he said.

The site has been put on the Tentative Lists of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Ahmed al-Bursh, the director of Hamas-run ministry of tourism and archaeology in Gaza, said that overpopulation in the Gaza Strip had forced militants to temporarily use the site for training.

According to the official, only two hectares of the entire site was used for military training, which is "basically on the ground and will only last a few months."

"It is not expected that the training would damage archaeological treasures buried underground," he said.

Al-Bursh revealed that the ministry had reached an agreement with al-Qassam Brigades, which permits the use of the site for light training without causing damage to underground materials and stipulates that the digging and exploration work would resume within three months.

An UNESCO official, who declined to give his name, told Xinhua that his organization "will soon declare a firm position by calling on Hamas to stop training at the site and condemn what goes on there." Endi

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