Palestinian institutions laud UNESCO decisions protecting Jerusalem, historic World Heritage sites

RAMALLAH — Palestinian official institutions have hailed the unanimous adoption by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee of four decisions concerning the State of Palestine, describing them as a legal and diplomatic milestone for the protection of Jerusalem and other historic sites.

The decisions were adopted by consensus during the Committee's 48th session, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from July 19 to 29. They cover the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls, the Old Town of Hebron/Al Khalil, the Saint Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer in the Gaza Strip, and Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines, Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir.

The Committee reaffirmed the exceptional religious and cultural significance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions, kept the four Palestinian properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and affirmed the invalidity of legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel with the aim of altering the character and legal status of the sites. It also underscored the importance of dispatching Reactive Monitoring missions to the Old City of Jerusalem and the Old Town of Hebron to provide an independent professional assessment and recommendations to safeguard their Outstanding Universal Value.

The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities welcomed the outcome, saying it renewed the international community's commitment to protecting Palestinian cultural heritage. The ministry said the missions should be carried out with the World Heritage Centre and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and described the protection of Palestinian tangible and intangible heritage as a collective international responsibility, essential to shielding it from destruction, distortion and falsification while preserving the existing historical and legal status in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs described the four decisions as a new legal and diplomatic milestone for the Palestinian cause, particularly in keeping the Old City of Jerusalem and the Old Town of Hebron on the danger list. Ministry undersecretary Issam Abdul Halim said the decisions reaffirmed the invalidity of measures the Israeli occupation seeks to impose in an attempt to alter the historical and demographic reality of the holy sites.

Palestine's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Adel Atieh, said Israeli violations formed part of a systematic policy, citing recent works at the Ibrahimi Mosque carried out, he said, without Palestinian consent or coordination with UNESCO. He called on UNESCO and member states to uphold their political and legal responsibilities and to hold Israel accountable for breaches of international agreements.

Israel, which withdrew from UNESCO in 2019 after years of disputes over the organisation's treatment of Jerusalem-related issues, has consistently rejected such decisions as politicised, maintaining that its measures in the city are lawful.