SEOUL, South Korea — A United Nations committee voted Friday to inscribe a major archaeological site in the West Bank and a set of castles in southern Lebanon as World Heritage sites, despite objections from Israel, which had urged the committee to reject the bids.
The decision at a U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in South Korea came days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged the committee to reject efforts to designate the small West Bank town of Sebastia and the Lebanese castles, calling the nominations a “weaponization of cultural heritage.”
At their meeting in Busan, members of the UNESCO committee decided to place Sebastia and five castles in Lebanon’s Mount Amel area on both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger after reviewing the nominations on an emergency basis, citing ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Sebastia, a hilltop town about 6 miles northwest of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is identified by scholars as ancient Samaria, capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The area’s archaeological remains span the Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods. Christian and Islamic tradition holds that John the Baptist was buried there, according to a UNESCO website.
Sebastia’s nomination, first submitted by the Palestinian delegation to UNESCO in 2012, argued that World Heritage status was needed to help preserve the site, saying it remains largely undeveloped under Israeli control and requires additional conservation despite attracting tourists.
The designation comes as Israel, which does not recognize a Palestinian state, moves to expropriate large swaths of land around the site, even as it faces pressure to crack down on violence by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territory.
The five castles in the Mount Amel region are recognized for their layered architectural heritage, combining Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk and local influences, reflecting the evolution of fortified architecture over nearly nine centuries, according to a UNESCO description.
Adel Naim Daoud Atieh, a member of the Palestinian delegation to UNESCO, said the World Heritage designation rewards the perseverance of Sebastia’s residents, “who have protected this extraordinary site through generations, despite occupation, restrictions, and repeated attempts to separate them from their own heritage.”
Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019, accusing the organization of being biased against it and of downplaying its historical ties to the Holy Land. A member of the Israeli delegation, who are attending the Busan meetings as observers, said it was a “shame politicization has ruined UNESCO and led to mockery of history.”
In Tuesday’s statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused the Palestinian delegation of waging a “hostile, one-sided campaign” at UNESCO by falsely portraying Sebastia as an area facing an emergency, calling the effort a political attempt to “erase the site’s profound, well-documented Jewish and Christian history.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry also took objection to efforts to list Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon as a World Heritage site. The castle was part of the nomination covering five castles in the Mount Amel area.
The ministry said Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, has turned Beaufort Castle into a military stronghold by building tunnels beneath the site and launching rockets from the area, and accused UNESCO of ignoring those developments.
UNESCO and the Lebanese embassy in South Korea declined to comment on the Israeli claims about Hezbollah. At Friday’s meeting, a Lebanese delegate said the castles have been used “only for cultural and tourism purposes” since Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 and accused Israeli media of circulating images of tourist facilities as military tunnels.
The UNESCO committee on Wednesday placed another Lebanese site, Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city in the southern part of the country, on the list of world heritage sites in danger.
Facts Only
* A United Nations committee voted to inscribe a major archaeological site in the West Bank and castles in southern Lebanon as World Heritage sites.
* Israel objected to the nominations and urged the committee to reject them.
* The decision occurred at a U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in South Korea.
* Sebastia is a hilltop town in the West Bank identified by scholars as ancient Samaria.
* Archaeological remains at Sebastia span the Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods.
* The five castles are in Lebanon’s Mount Amel area and reflect Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and local influences.
* Sebastia's nomination argued for preservation due to its undeveloped status under Israeli control.
* Adel Naim Daoud Atieh stated the designation rewards residents who protected the site through generations despite occupation.
* Israel’s Foreign Ministry objected to listing Beaufort Castle, citing Hezbollah’s use of the area as a military stronghold.
* The UNESCO committee placed Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city, on the list of world heritage sites in danger.
Executive Summary
A United Nations committee voted to list a major archaeological site in the West Bank and several castles in southern Lebanon as World Heritage sites, despite objections from Israel who had requested the committee reject the nominations. This decision was made during a meeting in South Korea. The locations nominated include Sebastia, a hilltop town in the West Bank identified by scholars as ancient Samaria, and five castles in Lebanon’s Mount Amel area. The designation also included Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city. The nominations were reviewed on an emergency basis due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
The nomination for Sebastia argued that World Heritage status was necessary for preservation, citing its largely undeveloped status under Israeli control and the need for conservation despite tourism. The castles in Mount Amel were recognized for their layered architectural heritage reflecting centuries of fortification. Objections were raised by Israel, which urged the rejection of the nominations, calling them a "weaponization of cultural heritage." Furthermore, Israel's Foreign Ministry objected to listing Beaufort Castle, citing concerns about its use as a military stronghold by Hezbollah, and accused the Palestinian delegation of falsely portraying Sebastia’s history.
Full Take
The process reveals a dynamic tension between international cultural recognition and immediate geopolitical conflict. The application of World Heritage status to sites like Sebastia, which have deep historical and religious significance across multiple traditions, immediately engages sovereignty claims regarding land control and historical narrative. The push for designation is framed by the Palestinian delegation as an act of resistance against occupation and erasure, while Israeli objections are rooted in security concerns and competing national narratives regarding heritage ownership.
The conflict centers on whether international recognition can serve a stabilizing or legitimizing function amidst active territorial disputes. When recognized bodies prioritize cultural preservation in contested zones, it forces a confrontation between normative legal frameworks (UNESCO criteria) and de facto military realities. The juxtaposition of the Palestinian assertion of ancestral stewardship against Israeli concerns regarding military use exposes a pattern where symbolic value is immediately politicized, turning heritage into a battleground for legitimacy rather than purely cultural appreciation.
The dynamic also shows how external actors—Israel, Hezbollah, and the broader geopolitical context—insert layers of conflict into institutional decisions. The dispute over historical narrative (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) being used to justify present-day actions demonstrates that claims of "heritage" are rarely objective; they are contested assets leveraged within power structures. The failure of UNESCO to resolve these tensions swiftly suggests that cultural recognition often functions less as an impartial arbiter and more as a reflection of prevailing political alignments at the time of decision-making.
Bridge Questions: If World Heritage status is awarded based on criteria related to historical continuity, what mechanism can be established to evaluate heritage claims when those claims are directly entangled with ongoing security conflicts? How does the role of external actors, such as armed groups or state entities claiming territorial control, influence the validity of site designations? What alternative frameworks could shift the emphasis from contested ownership to shared stewardship in culturally sensitive areas?
Sentinel — Human
The article functions as a factual report detailing a complex geopolitical dispute over UNESCO designations, characterized by direct quotations and conflicting claims from involved parties.