Israel’s complaint to UNESCO is an “absurd comedy”, according to Minister Mortada

The destruction of heritage sites in Lebanon by daily Israeli raids, as well as the risks incurred by major historical sites such as the temples of Baalbeck or the ruins of Tyre, have prompted the Lebanese authorities to file complaints with UNESCO and its general secretary, Audrey Azoulay.

Meetings should be held on this subject at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on November 18, to decide on the means of protecting these sites, which seems to have provoked a reaction from Israel, which decided to file a complaint with the “international organization of culture by claiming that missiles launched from Lebanon “target archaeological sites” on its territory, reports the National Information Agency (ANI, official).

In response to this complaint, the outgoing Lebanese Minister of Culture, Mohammad Mortada, sent a new letter to the Secretary General of UNESCO, in which he treats the Israeli complaint as an “absurd comedy”, and considers that it is This is an “attempt to circumvent possible measures taken to safeguard Lebanese historical sites”.

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In Baalbeck, concern is growing for heritage

While there are no reports of attacks on heritage sites in Israel, Lebanese heritage is subject to daily destruction or damage caused by Israeli bombings. In Baalbeck, certain sites were razed or affected, like a building dating from the French mandate which simply disappeared in a strike which also damaged the legendary Palmyra hotel and several churches and public infrastructures near the listed Roman site. world heritage, and the subject of all concerns.

Another world heritage site in Tire also suffered damage. Other less known but equally emblematic sites, such as the centuries-old souks of Nabatiyé, in South Lebanon, have been razed. Many heritage mosques, as well as old churches, were affected in South Lebanon.

Commenting on the Israeli complaint, Mr. Mortada insisted in his letter that Israel “is the aggressor who destroyed all this heritage in Lebanon and Gaza”, recalling the multiple times where the Jewish state has neglected the directives of the agencies of the UN whose intervention he is now seeking. “The sites mentioned by the enemy in its complaint to UNESCO, and which according to it are in danger, are part of Palestinian and Lebanese history, and as true masters of this land, they are more concerned about their preservation than him,” continues the minister. Finally, he asks UNESCO and the international community “to ignore this request from those who want to look away from their own actions, and preserve their impunity”.

Lebanon has been the scene of a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah since the opening of a front in support of the Shiite party with Gaza on October 8, 2023. The clashes have seen a clear escalation since September 23 with a violent offensive Israeli, air and land, which does not spare the thousand-year-old sites of Lebanon and causes thousands of victims.