Almost half of the Jewish historic sites in Syria and a quarter of Jewish sites in Iraq have been destroyed, research published this week finds.
In Iraq, at least 68 of 297 Jewish heritage sites have been irreparably damaged, and only 11% of the extant sites remain fully intact, according to the London-based Jewish Cultural Heritage Initiative (JCHI).
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In Syria, 32 of 71 sites have been destroyed, the JCHI found.
Almost all the structures date from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Structures in danger include the Bandara Synagogue in Aleppo and the Prophet Elijah Synagogue in Damascus.
In Iraq, most of the damage occurred during the second half of the 20th century and is the result of a combination of neglect, the buildings being repurposed to function as shops and garages, and development that followed the persecution and violent attacks that forced the country's Jewish community – which dated from Babylonian times – out in 1947.
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Jewish heritage sites in Mosul were also damaged in the battles to liberate the city from the Islamic State group, but the majority were "already deteriorating well before the group's takeover of the city in 2014," Jewish Heritage Foundation Executive Director Michael Mail told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Mail said that while recent decades have seen damage to and destruction of Jewish sites in Syria occurring at an accelerated rate, "violence and the seizure of Jewish property took place earlier."
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
