Lebanon Urges UNESCO to Protect 5 Ancient Fortresses Amid Israeli Strikes
A man photographs the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
BEIRUT (Sputnik) — Lebanon has sent an urgent request to UNESCO to include five ancient fortresses in the south of the country in the World Heritage list amid threats to historical sites due to Israeli strikes, Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh told Sputnik. «We have submitted an urgent request to the World Heritage Committee, which is scheduled to meet on July 17 in South Korea, to add five Jabal Amel fortresses,» Salameh said. Several of the sites have already sustained direct and indirect damage, the minister said. According to him, the Shamaa mausoleum suffered direct damage, with three of its domes collapsing and a fourth at risk of collapse. The minister also pointed to concerns raised after the Israeli military claimed there were tunnels beneath the Beaufort Castle, prompting a diplomatic and public information campaign to demonstrate that the tunnels are located more than 700 meters (0.4 miles) from the fortress.
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