UNESCO Adds 12 Palestinian Sites to Tentative World Heritage List

Solomon's Pool. (Wikimedia Commons/Hamza Rashid)

JAKARTA - The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Thursday announced that 12 new sites had been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Tentative List.

This step increases the total number of Palestinian sites on the Temporary List to 23, the ministry said in a statement.

It is said that the registration was carried out in cooperation with the Permanent Delegation of Palestine to UNESCO to strengthen the international presence of Palestinian heritage and highlight its cultural and natural diversity.

"Inclusion in the Tentative List precedes the preparation of nomination files for the World Heritage List and helps strengthen efforts to protect and preserve these sites while expanding international cooperation in conservation and heritage management," the ministry said.

"This step was taken amid an Israeli escalation campaign targeting Palestinian heritage sites," the ministry said, quoted by Anadolu (17/7)

The ministry reiterated its commitment to documenting, protecting, and preserving Palestinian cultural heritage for future generations.

It is known that the Palestinian Authority said that archaeological sites and cultural heritage in the occupied West Bank face a continued escalation of Israel, including field actions and expansion of administrative control over historic sites.

The ministry said several newly registered sites, including Sebastia in the northern occupied West Bank, Solomon's Pool south of Bethlehem, and Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

It said the sites have been subjected to Israeli measures in recent months aimed at isolating them from the Palestinian environment and strengthening control over them.

In June, the right-wing Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the transfer of planning and development authority around the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Hebron Municipality to the Israeli administration.

The Palestinian Authority said the move violated the 1997 Hebron Agreement, while Smotrich described it as part of strengthening Israel's sovereignty in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Knesset is also discussing a bill that would give the Israeli authorities broader authority to manage archaeological sites in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians say Israel is not only stepping up measures targeting archaeological sites, but also attacks on Palestinians, including killings, arrests, evictions, destruction of homes and facilities, and destruction of farmland.

They warned that Israel was using the attack to pave the way for a formal annexation of the West Bank, which would undermine the possibility of a Palestinian state as outlined in relevant UN resolutions.