UN heritage body Unesco is reportedly expected to declare Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, captured by IDF soldiers in May, as an “endangered cultural site” in order to “protect it from conflict”.
The possibility prompted outrage in the Israeli foreign ministry, which accused Unesco of “silence” over terror group Hezbollah’s longstanding military use of the 900-year-old Crusader fort.
Hezbollah built an extensive underground tunnel network under the castle, which is located at a strategically sensitive location just a few miles from the Israeli border.
Representatives of Unesco’s 196 member states will begin voting on additions to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger at the organisation’s conference in Busan, South Korea, on Friday.
Writing on X the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: “For years, Hezbollah has systematically weaponised and desecrated this historic Crusader fortress, converting it into a military stronghold.
“Unesco’s silence on Hezbollah’s systematic desecration at Beaufort, while targeting Israel’s defensive operations, is a moral abdication.”
Jerusalem formally withdrew from Unesco – which is supposed to promote peace and international cooperation – in 2018, citing systemic anti-Israel bias capped by a resolution downplaying Jewish ties to the Temple Mount.
However Israel maintains working relations on specific heritage conventions and remains a signatory to several protocols.
Announcing its latest withdrawal from Unesco, set to take effect at the end of the year, the US labelled the organisation as “woke” for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and harbouring anti-Israel and pro-China biases.
The Trump administration pulled out of the UN cultural group in 2018, only to have the move reversed by the Biden administration.
The United States first quit the body in 1984 under the Reagan administration.
The Israeli capture of the castle during the latest war with Hezbollah, which began when the terrorist group fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the United States and Israel attacked its main backer, Iran, marked the IDF’s deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century.
Unesco was approach for comment.
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