SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� 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 meeting in South Korea came days after Israel鈥檚 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 鈥渨eaponization of cultural heritage.鈥�
At their meeting in Busan, members of the UNESCO committee decided to place Sebastia and five castles in Lebanon鈥檚 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.
Sebastia, a hilltop town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Nablus in the , is identified by scholars as ancient Samara, capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The area鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 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.
In Tuesday鈥檚 statement, Israel鈥檚 Foreign Ministry accused the Palestinian delegation of waging a 鈥渉ostile, one-sided campaign鈥� at UNESCO by falsely portraying Sebastia as an area facing an emergency, calling the effort a political attempt to 鈥渆rase the site鈥檚 profound, well-documented Jewish and Christian history.鈥�
Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019, accusing the organization of being biased against it and of downplaying its historical ties to the Holy Land.
Israel鈥檚 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 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.
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.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
