Can Lebanon’s ancient cultural heritage be protected from war damage?

Destruction is seen in front of the UNESCO World Heritage site in Baalbek. Israeli military has repeatedly targeted the Lebanese city and the surrounding Bekaa Valley. (Getty Images)
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Updated 26 November 2024
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Can Lebanon’s ancient cultural heritage be protected from war damage?

  • Countless historical landmarks face existential threat amid escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
  • Preserving heritage fosters resilience, identity, and post-conflict recovery, say UNESCO and heritage advocates

LONDON: Towering above the fertile Bekaa Valley, the Temple of Jupiter and Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek stand as monumental symbols of Roman power, while the ruins of Tyre echo the splendor of the Phoenician civilization.

Today, these UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with countless other historical landmarks, face a grave threat as the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters encroaches on Lebanon’s unique and ancient heritage.

After nearly a year of cross-border exchanges that began on Oct. 8, 2023, Israel suddenly escalated its campaign of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.




Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck on November 3, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

In recent weeks, Baalbek’s famed Roman temples, celebrated for their architectural sophistication and cultural fusion of East and West, have come dangerously close to being hit.

Although these structures have so far been spared direct strikes, adjacent areas have suffered, including a nearby Ottoman-era building. The city’s ruins, which have survived the test of time and the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, are now at significant risk.

The ancient city has suffered multiple airstrikes since evacuation orders were issued on Oct. 30 by Israel, which has designated the area a Hezbollah stronghold.

FASTFACTS

• UNESCO World Heritage sites in Baalbek and Tyre are at risk of direct hit or secondary damage under Israeli strikes.

• ALIPH has allocated $100,000 to shelter museum collections and support displaced heritage workers in Lebanon.

• Preserving heritage fosters resilience, identity, and post-conflict recovery, say UNESCO and heritage advocates.

The proximity of these airstrikes has left archaeologists and local authorities fearing that damage, whether intentional or collateral, could be irreversible. Even indirect blasts pose a serious risk, as reverberations shake these ancient stones.

“The threats come from direct bombing and indirect bombing,” Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, a Lebanese archaeologist and founder of the non-governmental organization Biladi, told Arab News. “In both ways, cultural heritage is at huge risk.”

Reports indicate that hundreds of other Lebanese cultural and religious sites have been less fortunate. Several Muslim and Christian heritage buildings have been reduced to rubble in southern towns and villages under shelling and air attacks.




United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (L) and Director of the UNESCO Office in Beirut Costanza Farina (C) visit the Roman citadel of Baalbeck, in the Bekaa valley, on November 21, 2024. (AFP)

“Some of them are known and already registered in the inventory list and some of them unfortunately we know about them when they are destroyed and inhabitants share the photos of them,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.

Many of these sites carry irreplaceable historical value, representing not only Lebanon’s heritage but also that of the broader Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions.

Baalbek’s origins stretch back to a Phoenician settlement dedicated to Baal, the god of fertility. Later known as Heliopolis under Hellenistic influence, the city reached its zenith under the Roman Empire.




The six columns of the Temple of Jupiter at the Roman citadel of Baalbeck, in the Lebanese Bekaa valley, on November 21, 2024. (AFP)

The Temple of Jupiter, once adorned by 54 massive Corinthian columns, and the intricately decorated Temple of Bacchus, have attracted pilgrims and admirers across millennia.

Tyre, equally revered, was a bustling Phoenician port where the rare purple dye from Murex sea snails was once crafted for royalty. The city is home to ancient necropolises and a Roman hippodrome, all of which have helped shape Lebanon’s historical identity.

Israel’s war against Hezbollah, once the most powerful non-state group in the Middle East, has thus far killed more than 3,200 people and displaced about a million more in Lebanon, according to local officials.

Cultural heritage is a key reason people visit Lebanon. The cultural heritage of Lebanon is the cultural heritage of all humanity.

Valery Freland, ALIPH executive director

The Israeli military has pledged to end Hezbollah’s ability to launch rocket and other attacks into northern Israel, which has forced around 60,000 people to flee their homes near the Lebanon border.

On Oct. 23, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders near Tyre’s ancient ruins, and began striking targets in the vicinity.

The cultural devastation in southern Lebanon and Bekaa is not limited to UNESCO sites. Across these regions, many cultural heritage sites of local and national significance have been reduced to rubble.




Valery Freland, ALIPH executive director

“Cultural heritage sites that are located in the south or in the Bekaa and that are scattered all over the place … were razed and wiped out,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.

“When you can see the demolition of the villages in the south of Lebanon … the destruction of the cultural heritage is coming as collateral damage. The historical sites, the shrines or the castles, aren’t being spared at all.”

As a signatory to the 1954 Hague Convention, Lebanon’s heritage should, in theory, be protected from harm during armed conflict. However, as Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada has appealed to UNESCO, these symbolic protections, like the Blue Shield emblem, have shown limited effectiveness.




Children displaced by conflict from south Lebanon play in the courtyard of the Azariyeh building complex where they are sheltering in central Beirut on October 15, 2024. (AFP)

In response to the escalation, the Geneva-based International Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas, known as ALIPH, has provided emergency funding to Lebanon, working alongside Biladi and the Directorate General of Antiquities.

With $100,000 in initial funding, ALIPH is sheltering museum collections across Lebanon and providing safe accommodation for displaced heritage professionals.

“We are ready to stand by our partners in Lebanon, just as we did after the 2020 Beirut explosion,” Valery Freland, ALIPH’s executive director, told Arab News.

“Our mission is to work in crisis areas… If we protect the cultural heritage now, it will be a way (to stop this becoming) another difficulty of the peacebuilding process.”




Tebnin/Toron castle in southern Lebanon (Shutterstock)

Documentation has also become a critical tool for preservation efforts, particularly for sites at risk of destruction. Biladi’s role has been to document what remains and, where possible, secure smaller objects.

“Unfortunately we are not able to do any kind of preventive measures for the monuments for several reasons,” said Farchakh Bajjaly.

“One of the most obvious ones is due to the weapons that are being used. If the hit is a direct hit then there’s no purpose of taking any action. Nothing is surviving a direct hit.

“The only measures that we can do, as preventative measures … (are) to secure the storage of museums and to find ways to save the small items and shelter them from any vibrations and make sure storages are safe and secure.”




Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, a Lebanese archaeologist and founder of the non-governmental organization Biladi.

Farchakh Bajjaly describes a “dilemma of horror” arising from the conflict. When the IDF issued its evacuation order for Baalbek, around 80,000 residents fled, with some seeking refuge within the temples themselves.

“The guards closed the gates and didn’t let anyone get in,” she said, explaining that, under the 1954 Hague Convention, using protected sites as shelters nullifies their protected status. “If people will take refuge in the temples, then it might be used by the Israeli army to target temples. Thereby killing the people and destroying the temples.”

The displacement of Baalbek’s residents has added to Lebanon’s swelling humanitarian crisis. With more than 1.2 million people displaced across the country due to the conflict, the city’s evacuation order has compounded local instability.




A man checks the destruction at a factory targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the town of Chouaifet south of Beirut on September 28, 2024. (AFP)

Despite the harrowing reality, Farchakh Bajjaly insists that preserving cultural heritage is not at odds with humanitarian goals. “Asking to save world heritage is in no way contradictory to saving people’s lives. They are complementary,” she said.

“It’s giving people a place to find their memories, giving them a sense of continuity when in war, usually, nothing remains the same.”

UNESCO has been actively monitoring the conflict’s impact on Lebanon’s heritage sites, using satellite imagery and remote sensing to assess visible damage.




Map of Lebanon showing the number of people who have fled their homes by district as of October 13, according to the International Organization for Migration. (AFP)

“UNESCO liaised with all state parties concerned, reminding (them of their) obligations under the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” Nisrine Kammourieh, a spokesperson for UNESCO, told Arab News.

The organization is preparing for an emergency session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property to potentially place Lebanon’s heritage sites on its International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection.

The importance of cultural preservation extends beyond mere aesthetics or academic interest. “It’s part of the resilience of the population, of the communities and it’s part of a solution afterward,” said ALIPH’s Freland.




Historic ancient Roman Bacchus temple in Baalbek, Lebanon. (Shutterstock)

Elke Selter, ALIPH’s director of programs, believes “protecting heritage is essential for what comes after. You cannot totally erase the traces of the past.”

Indeed, the preservation of Lebanon’s cultural heritage is as much about safeguarding identity and memory as it is about recovery.

“Imagine that your town is fully destroyed and you have to go back to something that was built two weeks ago; that is very unsettling in a way,” Selter told Arab News, noting that studies have shown how preserving familiar landmarks fosters a sense of belonging after displacement.

In the broader context of Lebanon’s recovery, cultural heritage can play a key role in economic revitalization, particularly through tourism.




Arch of Hadrian at the Al-Bass Tyre necropolis. UNESCO world heritage in Lebanon. (Shutterstock)

“For Lebanon’s economy, that’s an important element and I think an important one for the recovery of the country afterwards,” said Selter. “Cultural heritage in Lebanon was one of the key reasons why people would visit Lebanon.”

The tragedy facing Lebanon’s heritage is also a global concern. “The cultural heritage of Lebanon is the cultural heritage of all humanity,” said Freland.

For Biladi and other heritage organizations, Lebanon’s current crisis offers a test of international conventions that aim to protect heritage in times of conflict.

“If the conventions are being applied, then cultural heritage will be saved,” said Farchakh Bajjaly. “Lebanon has become in this war a sort of a field where it’s possible to test if these conventions work.”

 


Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank

Updated 5 sec ago
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Iran-Israel war fears spark fuel shortages in West Bank

“Fearing potential supply disruptions or further escalation, citizens across the West Bank have begun stockpiling fuel,” said Abu Al-Rob
In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of drivers waited in line for fuel

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Fears over the war between Israel and Iran have led to fuel shortages in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority told AFP Wednesday, as drivers queued in long lines to buy fuel.

“Fearing potential supply disruptions or further escalation, citizens across the West Bank have begun stockpiling fuel, putting additional pressure on an already strained market,” said Mohammad Abu Al-Rob, director of the PA’s communications center.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.

The PA official said there has also been “a noticeable decline in the number of fuel tankers arriving from Israel, some of which have been redirected for use by the Israeli occupation army.”

In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of drivers waited in line for fuel.

Mohammad Ayoub, a resident of Nablus who had been waiting in line for two hours, said he hoped to finally purchase fuel after several failed attempts.

“I came yesterday at about 11:00 p.m. and found the gas stations closed. I also came early in the morning and the situation was the same.”

Ahmad Samaana, a truck driver from Nablus, complained of limits placed on fuel purchases.

“Large trucks, like the one I have, need about 500 liters, but when we enter the station, the worker at the station tells me that he allows filling up with a value of 500 shekels, which is less than 100 liters of diesel,” he told AFP.

“This is not enough for a truck.”

Abu Al-Rob noted that “the (fuel) supply chain remains entirely subject to Israel’s will and control,” as the country controls all entry points into the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.

He relayed the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s call “to safeguard the flow of essential supplies — particularly fuel for hospitals, bakeries, and other critical sectors” should the situation worsen.

Israel to resume natural gas exports when military deems it’s safe, energy minister says

Updated 18 June 2025
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Israel to resume natural gas exports when military deems it’s safe, energy minister says

  • Cohen said he has been in contact with Egypt and Jordan about the cut in supplies.
  • “I don’t want to use our strategic storage, so therefore, I needed to cut exports”

TEL AVIV: Israel will resume its natural gas exports when the country’s military believes it would be safe to do so, Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday, as an air battle between Israel and Iran entered its sixth day.

Two of Israel’s three gas fields — Chevron-operated Leviathan and Energean’s Karish — off its Mediterranean coast that provide the bulk of exports to Egypt and Jordan, have been shut since June 13 amid the conflict between Israel and Iran.

That leaves in operation only the older Tamar field, used mainly for domestic supplies.

Cohen said he has been in contact with Egypt and Jordan about the cut in supplies.

“They can see that we are in a war. I don’t want to use our strategic storage, so therefore, I needed to cut exports,” Cohen told Reuters after a news briefing.

“I hope I will be able to use another rig as soon as possible and use it for the supply of gas (exports). For me, the most important thing is (supplying) Israel,” he said, alluding to fueling needs during the conflict with Iran.

It wasn’t clear when another gas field will be reopened, Cohen said, noting: “We are working with them [the military], the Navy, and right now their recommendation is that one (field) will continue to work and two will be shut down.”

Israeli gas accounts for about 15-20 percent of Egypt’s consumption, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) shows. The disruption to Israel’s gas supply led Egyptian fertilizer producers to halt operations on Friday.

Israel launched the air war on Iran on Friday after concluding the latter was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.

OTHER ENERGY SOURCES
Israel’s energy sector, Cohen said, was operating normally, with no shortages expected since the country also maintains reserves in coal, diesel and renewable energy.

Israel’s Oil Refineries in Haifa was hit by an Iranian missile this week, which killed three people and halted operations.

Cohen said he hoped the facility would resume operations within a month, though a second refinery in the south remains open.

Since Friday, the percentage of renewable, or solar, energy used in electricity production has more than doubled to some 40 percent, Cohen said.

There was also some damage to wastewater treatment facilities and pipelines from Iranian air strikes.

Cohen acknowledged that victory against Iran could take weeks but Israel’s energy demands could be met.

“Although the Iranians struck some of our plants, we have very strong energy facilities that can supply all the energy demands for Israeli citizens and the army, in fuel, gas, electricity and water.”


Iranian Ambassador in Tokyo hails Saudi and Arab support

Updated 18 June 2025
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Iranian Ambassador in Tokyo hails Saudi and Arab support

  • Ambassador Seadat recognized the substantial support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
  • “We will always remember the kindness shown to us by our brothers in Saudi Arabia,” he told Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Iranian Ambassador to Japan, Peiman Seadat, expressed his gratitude for the unified support of Saudi Arabia and other Arab and Muslim countries in their collective effort against the aggression of the Israeli war machine.

He stated that this unity among Arab and Muslim nations is a testament to the strength of regional cooperation.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News Japan on Wednesday, the Ambassador highlighted that Arab and Muslim countries recognize the seriousness of the aggression by the Israeli regime and the threat it poses to the entire region.

Ambassador Seadat recognized the substantial support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Prince Farhan.

“We are deeply grateful for the compassionate assistance provided by the Crown Prince to approximately 80,000 Iranian pilgrims who have been stranded in Saudi Arabia. His Highness personally assured us that these pilgrims are being welcomed as guests of the Kingdom. We will always remember the kindness shown to us by our brothers in Saudi Arabia.”

The Iranian Ambassador, Seadat, also highlighted the support to Iran by Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, among others. He also expressed gratitude to the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, for his clear condemnation of Israel’s aggressive actions against Iran.


Gaza Humanitarian Foundation initiative ‘outrageous’: UN probe chief

Updated 18 June 2025
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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation initiative ‘outrageous’: UN probe chief

  • GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine
  • UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives

GENEVA: The use of the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to distribute food in the Palestinian territory is “outrageous,” the head of a UN inquiry said Wednesday.
Navi Pillay, who chairs the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Palestinian territories, joined a growing chorus of criticism of the GHF’s operations, and cited its US links.
“In every war, the siege and starvation surely leads to death,” the former UN rights chief told journalists.
“But this initiative of what’s called a foundation, a private foundation, to supply food, is what I see as outrageous, because it involves the United States itself, the government, and it turns out, as we watch daily, that people who go to those centers are being killed as they seek food.”
An officially private effort with opaque funding, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points.
Pillay said the commission would “have to look into... the policy purpose and how it’s being effected.
“We have to spell out what is the motive of, right now, the killing of people who are coming for humanitarian aid from this so-called foundation — and that lives are being lost just in trying to secure food for their children.”
Unprecedented in its open-ended scope, the three-person Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
South African former High Court judge Pillay, 83, served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
On Tuesday she presented the commission’s latest report to the Human Rights Council.
It said Israel had attacked Gaza’s schools, religious and cultural sites as part of a “widespread and systematic” assault on the civilian population, in which Israeli forces have committed “war crimes” and “the crime against humanity of extermination.”
Israel does not cooperate with the investigation and has long accused it of “systematic anti-Israel discrimination.”


UAE president, Russia’s Putin discuss Iran-Israel conflict

Updated 18 June 2025
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UAE president, Russia’s Putin discuss Iran-Israel conflict

  • Emirati, Russian leaders proposed ways to contain the military escalation

LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to discuss the latest developments in the Iran-Israel conflict, which entered its sixth day as of Wednesday.

The leaders addressed the grave implications of the conflict — which began on Friday — on regional and global security, according to the Emirates News Agency.

They discussed efforts to contain the war and halt the spiraling escalation, and highlighted the importance of exercising restraint and pursuing dialogue to avoid further threats to security.

Putin and Sheikh Mohamed voiced their support for all efforts aimed at achieving a solution through diplomatic means, WAM reported.