UN To Consider 'enhanced Protection' Of Lebanon Cultural Sites

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published November 07, 2024 | 10:44 PM

The UN's cultural body on Thursday said it will meet this month to consider enhanced protection of cultural sites in Lebanon as Israeli presses its bombardment campaign against Hezbollah

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Nov, 2024) The UN's cultural body on Thursday said it will meet this month to consider enhanced protection of cultural sites in Lebanon as Israeli presses its bombardment campaign against Hezbollah.

A special session of a UNESCO committee will be held in the Paris headquarters on November 18 to consider adding Lebanese cultural properties on the list of sites under "enhanced protection" as well as more funding, it said.

It warned the conflict between militant group Hezbollah and Israel presents "serious risks of irreparable damage to Lebanon's world cultural and natural heritage".

The body said the first remote analyses have not yet "identified visible damage" to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Roman temple of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon and the Phoenician port of Tyre in the south.

"However, these preliminary assessments will have to be complemented by more precise field inspections when the situation permits."

UNESCO said cultural property inscribed on the International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection benefits from "high level immunity" from military attacks.

"Criminal prosecutions and sanctions, conducted by the competent authorities, may apply in cases where individuals do not respect the enhanced protection granted to a cultural property," it said.

More than 100 Lebanese lawmakers issued an appeal earlier Thursday to the United Nations, demanding the protection of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel during its war with Hezbollah.

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