West Bank and a group of historic castles in southern Lebanon to its World Heritage List, defying Israeli objections

UNESCO added a major archaeological site in the West Bank and a group of historic castles in southern Lebanon to its World Heritage List, defying Israeli objections and reigniting a long-running dispute over the intersection of cultural heritage and politics in the region. A United Nations committee on Friday inscribed a major archaeological site in the West Bank and a group of castles in southern Lebanon on the World Heritage List, despite objections from Israel, which had urged the committee to reject the bids.

The decision at a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in South Korea came days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged the committee to reject efforts to designate the small West Bank town of Sebastia and the Lebanese castles, calling the nominations a “weaponisation of cultural heritage”. n both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger after reviewing the nominations on an emergency basis, citing ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable tracking and audience measurement.

To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Sebastia, a hilltop town about 10 kilometres (6 miles) northwest of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is identified by scholars as ancient Samaria, capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The area’s archaeological remains span the Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods.

Christian and Islamic tradition holds that John the Baptist was buried there, according to a UNESCO website. Sebastia’s nomination, first submitted by the Palestinian delegation to UNESCO in 2012, argued that World Heritage status was needed to help preserve the site, saying it remains largely undeveloped under Israeli control and requires additional conservation despite attracting tourists. The designation comes as Israel, which does not recognise a Palestinian state, moves to expropriate large swaths of land around the site, even as it faces pressure to crack down on violence by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territory.

The five castles in the Mount Amel region are recognised for their layered architectural heritage, combining Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk and local influences, reflecting the evolution of fortified architecture over nearly nine centuries, according to UNESCO. The designated sites include the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle, also known as Al-Shaqif, which Israeli forces seized in May during their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century. Adel Naim Daoud Atieh, a member of the Palestinian delegation to UNESCO, said the World Heritage designation rewards the perseverance of Sebastia’s residents, “who have protected this extraordinary site through generations, despite occupation, restrictions, and repeated attempts to separate them from their own heritage.” Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019, accusing the organisation of being biased against it and of downplaying its historical ties to the Holy Land.