Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon: archaeological sites "in serious danger"warns the Lebanese Minister of Culture

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon highlight “serious danger” important archaeological sites, including the thousand-year-old ruins of Tire and the medieval fortress of Beaufort, alerted the Lebanese Minister of Culture, Ghassan Salamé, on Friday May 29.

“Bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre, a site which is part of the heritage of humanity”the minister told AFP. At the same time, “Beaufort Castle was hit directly (..) we know that several bombs fell on this fortress” dating from the Crusades, he said. “The intensification of this fighting means that these sites are in serious danger”ajouté Ghassan Salamé.

Israel has in recent days ordered the evacuation of the ancient city of Tire and has intensively bombarded the city, which is home to important archaeological remains, mainly from Roman times. On Thursday, AFP images showed a fireball followed by a plume of smoke rising from a neighborhood adjoining the archaeological zone.

As for the region of Beaufort Castle, “it is the epicenter of the battle being waged for control of localities” who are close to him, in the Nabatiyé region, said Ghassan Salamé. On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw smoke rising near Beaufort Castle, after what appeared to be artillery fire. Israeli forces used Beaufort Castle as a base during their occupation of southern Lebanon, which lasted two decades and ended in 2000.

Furthermore, “the multi-religious and extremely precious site of Chamaa, 10 kilometers from Tyre, was seriously bombed, and lost at least three of its four domes”indicated the minister. He specified that his ministry’s teams do not have access to most of the targeted sites due to the fighting.

Ghassan Salamé requested UNESCO “appoint a special commissioner” to assess the effects of violence on the sites and indicated that he would ask a “UNESCO inquiry commission to come to the place” once a truce comes into effect.

He recalled that Lebanon had placed blue signs on all sites classified by UNESCO, “but apparently the Israeli air force does not really respect this identification”. According to the minister, Lebanon has “réussi à placer 79 sites à travers le pays sous protection renforcée de l’Unesco”including Tire and Beaufort Castle, since the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2023-2024.