UNESCO Approves West Bank Archaeological Site and Lebanese Castles as World Heritage Sites Amid Israeli Objections

SEOUL – A United Nations committee voted Friday to designate the ancient town of Sebastia in the West Bank and a cluster of castles in southern Lebanon as World Heritage sites, despite objections from Israel, which had urged the committee to reject the nominations.

The decision was reached during a meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, after Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the nominations “a weaponization of cultural heritage” and urged the committee to refuse them.

At work‑shifting sessions, the committee agreed to place Sebastia and five Lebanese castles in the Mount Amel region on both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, following emergency reviews of the nominations.

Sebastia is a hilltop settlement located roughly ten kilometres (six miles) northwest of Nablus. Archaeologists identify it with ancient Samaria, the capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel. Its layers of occupation include the Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods, and Christian and Islamic traditions associate the burial of John the Baptist with the site.

The Palestinian delegation first submitted Sebastia’s nomination in 2012, arguing that UNESCO status is essential for its conservation. Under Israeli administration the site remains largely undeveloped, yet it attracts visitors, and the delegation contended that World Heritage protection would help preserve its cultural significance.

Israel, which does not recognise a Palestinian state, has moved to expropriate large tracts of land around Sebastia, even as it faces criticism for the violence of Israeli settlers in the occupied territories.

The five castles in Mount Amel are celebrated for their layered architectural heritage, reflecting Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk and local influences across nearly nine centuries of fortified architecture.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused the Palestinian delegation of launching a “hostile, one‑sided campaign” at UNESCO, alleging they falsely portrayed Sebastia as an emergency situation and claimed the effort aimed to “erase the site’s profound, well‑documented Jewish and Christian history.”

Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019, accusing the organisation of bias against it and of downplaying its historical ties to the Holy Land.

The ministry also objected to the inclusion of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon as part of the Mount Amel nominations, arguing that Hezbollah has turned the site into a military stronghold by constructing tunnels beneath it and launching rockets from the area. UNESCO and the Lebanese embassy in South Korea declined to comment on those allegations.

The committee also placed Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city in southern Lebanon, on the List of World Heritage in Danger, signalling further concern for the preservation of the region’s heritage sites.

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