A new study reveals that nearly half of Jewish sites in Syria and a quarter of those in Iraq have been destroyed.

The study, conducted by the Cultural Heritage Initiative, a London-based organization, revealed an alarming snapshot of Jewish heritage sites in these countries.

In Iraq, at least 68 of the 297 Jewish sites have deteriorated to a state where they can no longer be restored. In Syria, at least 32 out of 71 such sites have reached the point of no return.

These are structures erected from the second half of the first millennium BCE to the present day. Most of them were built in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The research team failed to come to any conclusions about the condition of many of the Jewish sites, due to difficulties in accessing and obtaining information. In Iraq, there is uncertainty about two-thirds of the sites. Only 11% of the 297 Iraqi sites are still standing. Of these, most are in poor or very poor condition.

In Baghdad alone, more than 120,000 Jews lived in the first half of the last century, before a series of pogroms and persecutions led them to leave.

Most of the destruction in Iraq occurred during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of neglect, conversion for various purposes - shops, garages and more - and destruction or redevelopment following the departure of the Jewish community and the seizure of Jewish property, told JTA Michael Mail, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Foundation.

"The Jewish heritage in Mosul was damaged during the battle for liberation of the city by the Islamic State, but was already in a state of disintegration even before ISIS captured the city in 2014," he noted.

Mail said that the Prophet Ezekiel's landmark in al-Kiphel is now used by the Shi'ite al-Noahila Mosque. Hebrew inscriptions and other signs indicating the Jewish character of the score remained in the room where the Ezekiel tomb was located, he said.

In Syria, the decline has accelerated in recent decades, "though violence and seizure of Jewish property have also happened before," Mile added. Among other things, he said, there was severe damage to al-Bandra synagogue in Aleppo during the riots against the Jews in 1947. The fate of 8% of Jewish sites in the country is unclear. Researchers found that 45% were destroyed. The remaining condition is better than the sites in Iraq, and according to the report, most of them are in good condition.

Among the most endangered buildings are Al-Bendra Synagogue in Aleppo, Syria and Elijah the Prophet's Synagogue in Damascus.

The condition of the synagogues in Syria is better than other Jewish heritage sites in the country. However, during the civil war in the country, the Elijah Prophet Synagogue was destroyed in Jubur, a suburb of Damascus.