Paris, Geneva, Beirut. If the first Israeli strikes on Baalbek (Lebanon) had spared the ancient site listed as a world heritage site, the bombings at the beginning of November affected the parking lot located a few meters from the Roman colonnades. UNESCO also announces that “damage was noted to heritage buildings located outside the World Heritage site, including a Roman wall, a building dating from the French Mandate (1920-1943) and a building dating from the Ottoman era”. According to local sources, the famous Palmyra Hotel, close to the site, was also affected: this 1874 hotel is known for having hosted many personalities including Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill.
In Tyre, according to UNESCO, “Damage was noted for the first time on Thursday within the boundaries of the World Heritage site” : the entire ancient city of Tire is listed as a world heritage site but not the modern districts, which suffered the bombings. However, “strikes near the site inscribed on the World Heritage List are likely to cause damage within this site itself, due to the fragility of certain monuments”.
The situation is therefore alarming, and in an appeal launched to UNESCO on November 7, 128 Lebanese deputies request a “site protection” from Baalbek, Tire and Saida. This follows a ceasefire call made on November 1 by the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, who requested “protection of the ancient archaeological sites of Baalbek and Tyre”imploring the UN Security Council to take swift action. These calls were heard, and the spokesperson for UNESCO announced on November 8 that“an extraordinary session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict will be organized on November 18, 2024 at UNESCO headquarters to examine the inscription of 34 Lebanese cultural properties on the International List of Cultural Property Under Enhanced Protection”.
This session must also examine the financing of international aid provided to Lebanese heritage. Lebanon benefits from the support of several UN bodies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which published a press release on November 1 recalling international humanitarian law, in particular the protection enjoyed by “religious buildings and cultural sites”except in the case where they are considered military objectives by Israel. On this point, it is specified that if the sites lose legal protection, “any attack against them must still respect the principles of proportionality and precaution”. This is an allusion to allegations by Israeli military authorities that Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches lie beneath the ancient site of Baalbek.
The press release lists around ten religious buildings destroyed in Lebanon by the Israeli army (bombings or ground explosives) as well as a Melkite church (Greek Catholic rite). The bombings have so far killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon, and, according to an analysis by the American daily The Washington Postthey caused the destruction of 25% of buildings in southern Lebanon.
