UN rights office warns of threat to UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon’s Baalbek

The UN Human Rights Office expresses alarm over “the continuing grave impact” of Israeli military operations on civilians and civilian targets in Lebanon, including the destruction of places of worship and risks posed to invaluable archaeological sites.

The office says that since Israel’s air force ordered the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek evacuated, airstrikes that followed have “come perilously close” to the ancient Roman-era temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The destruction of cultural heritage “depletes the historical and cultural identity of the communities it represents,” it says.

The sites destroyed or severely damaged so far include mosques in the southern villages of Yaroun, Maroun el-Ras, Blida, and Kfar Tibnit, the agency said, adding that a Melkite Greek Catholic church in the port city of Tyre was also damaged in early October.

Civilian objects, buildings dedicated to religion and other sites of cultural significance are protected from attack under international humanitarian law unless they become military objectives, the office says.

It stresses that should the sites lose their protection, any attacks upon them must still comply with the principles of proportionality and precaution, and that all parties to the conflict should take special care to avoid damage to buildings dedicated to religion or other sites of cultural or historical significance.