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Lebanon says Israeli airstrike lands close to Roman ruins at Baalbek

By AP 6 November 2024, 9:42 pm 25 Edit
The Roman ruins of Baalbek, one of the best preserved in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site, is seen completely empty of visitors, in the Bekaa Valley's Baalbek, Lebanon, April 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The Roman ruins of Baalbek, one of the best preserved in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site, is seen completely empty of visitors, in the Bekaa Valley's Baalbek, Lebanon, April 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli airstrike landed dangerously close to Baalbek’s UNESCO-listed Roman ruins, a revered heritage site with some of the largest and best-preserved Roman temples outside of Rome, a Lebanese local official says.

“This is the closest raid on Baalbek Temple since the beginning of the aggression, as a missile fell inside the castle’s parking lot,” the governor of Baalbek-Hermel province, Bachir Khodr, says in a post on X. “The temple has not yet been inspected to determine if there is any damage inside it.”

Footage captured by a resident in Baalbek showed thick smoke rising from the impact site, with panic gripping the scene as she repeatedly says, “[it hit] right at the temple.”

Since early last week, the Israeli army has been striking Hezbollah targets in various areas in Baalbek-Hermel after having issued several evacuation warnings for the entire city of Baalbek and its surroundings. The maps attached with the evacuation warning included the Roman ruins.

Concerns have been mounting that further strikes may impact the ancient temples, which have survived nearly two millennia.

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