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Gaza man says he was tricked into selling Banksy work for £120

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A work by British graffiti artist Banksy was sold for less than £120 after a family from Gaza underestimated its worth.

The mural of a Greek goddess Niobe was painted on a door by Banksy during a visit to Gaza City in February. The image was made to highlight the destruction of buildings and homes in Gaza after Operation Protective Edge last summer.

Gazan Rabie Darduna, whose door it was, told the BBC he was “tricked” into selling it for less than £120 (700 shekels).

The father-of-six said: "It was a two-storey building but only the door was left standing.

“Then a young, foreign man came and painted on it."

Mr Darduna said he was approached by a group of local “who said they wanted to put it in a museum in Gaza where everyone could see it.

"One man told me: 'We're from the group that did it.' They made me sign a paper. It said I agreed on 700 shekels. They pressured me and I accepted because I need the money.

"This door is rightfully ours. They cheated us. It's a matter of fraud. And we're asking for the door to be
returned."

A Banksy work can sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A spokesperson for Banksy told the BBC that the artist would like the door to be restored to its original position.

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