In Lebanon, Israel strikes Hezbollah near the Roman temples of Baalbeck, classified by Unesco

INTERNATIONAL – After the South, the North, now the East of Lebanon targeted. An Israeli strike targeted, this Sunday, October 6, a Hezbollah position located near the Roman temples of Baalbeck, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1984.

The Baalbeck region, where Hezbollah is strongly established, has been regularly targeted by violent air raids since Israel intensified its bombings against targets of the pro-Iranian movement across the country.

A “blue shield”

“The strike took place approximately 500 to 700 m from the citadel, and did not target the citadel or its enclosure”said the governor of Baalbeck, Bachir Khodr.

This local official, however, warned that such strikes had a “negative impact” on the archaeological site, “whether because of the black smoke affecting the stones, or the force of the explosion”whose tremors could affect the remains.

As explained The Orient-The Daythe citadel is equipped with a « Blue shield »blue shield, which indicates that it is a protected archaeological site, in accordance with the 1954 Hague Convention on “the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict”.

One of the most imposing remains of imperial Roman architecture

Baalbeck, the ancient Heliopolis of the Romans, includes one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. “This Phoenician city, where the cult of a divine triad was celebrated, was named Heliopolis in the Hellenistic period”we can read on the UNESCO website. “ With its colossal constructions, Baalbeck remains one of the most imposing vestiges of imperial Roman architecture at its peak.adds the organization.

Escalating violence in Lebanon comes nearly a year after Hezbollah opened a front against Israel “in support” to Hamas in Gaza, October 8, 2023. According to the authorities, this violence has left more than 2,000 dead in Lebanon in one year, including more than a thousand since September 23.

More than a million people have been displaced by Israeli military operations in Lebanon, according to official figures, and many of them find themselves forced to sleep on the streets in several neighborhoods of Beirut.

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