Lebanon Calls on Unesco to ‘Protect and Preserve’ Heritage Sites as War Intensifies

Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture has called on Unesco to offer additional protections for the country’s cultural heritage as conflict intensifies across the Middle East.

On Wednesday the government department confirmed that culture minister Ghassan Salamé had conducted a phone call with Unesco director general Khaled El-Enany, in which he demanded that the United Nations organisation intervene on Lebanon’s behalf.

A statement from the minister, taken from the call, read: “In light of the current security situation in Lebanon and in the region, [we ask you] to intervene with neighbouring states or belligerent parties to remind them of the need to take all preventive measures, during this armed conflict with Lebanon, to protect and preserve Lebanese cultural heritage and refrain from targeting it.”

Salamé made specific reference to the National Museum of Beirut, and to Lebanese archaeological and historical sites, including those listed on the Unesco World Heritage List. These include the eighth-century city of Anjar, the Phoenician city of Baalbek and Oadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley), which Unesco recognises as one of the most important early Christian monastic settlements in the world.

The statement, which also thanked El-Enany for his work to date, continued: “These cultural properties, as well as their immediate environment and adjacent urban fabric, must not be exposed to any risk or damage, in accordance with Unesco conventions.”

In response, a Unesco spokesperson told Ocula: “Unesco is already supporting Lebanon, as the organisation has communicated to all parties concerned the geographical coordinates of sites on the World Heritage List as well as those of national significance, to avoid any potential damage.”

The culture minister’s concerns follow several days of Israeli strikes in Lebanon which began following the outbreak of war between the US, Israel and Iran last Saturday. 

On Thursday, the Guardian reported that hundreds of thousands of people in southern Lebanon had been told to flee by the Israeli military. In the hours that followed, renewed strikes hit the country’s capital city of Beirut.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that at least 72 people have been killed, 437 injured, and more than 83,000 displaced in recent days.

Since the conflict began, several cultural institutions across Beirut, including the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, the Sursock Museum, Dar El-Nimer for Arts & Culture, and Beirut Art Center have closed, ArtAsiaPacific reports.

In Iran’s capital city of Tehran, Golestan Palace, the country’s only Unesco World Heritage Site, was damaged by US-Israeli strikes on Sunday. In a statement, Unesco expressed concern about escalating violence in the region.

The statement read: “Unesco continues to closely monitor the situation of cultural heritage in the country and across the region, with a view to ensuring its protection.”

The previous day, two Bauhaus buildings in the Unesco World Heritage site of The White City in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv were hit by Iranian missiles. A post shared by the Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv Instagram account read: “These houses were more than concrete and balconies.

“They were symbols of survival, modernity, and the rebuilding of life in Tel Aviv—the White City. Their clean lines and simple forms carried a powerful story: architecture as refuge, architecture as hope. We mourn the loss of this cultural heritage and stand committed to preserving the memory and values these buildings embodied.”