Unesco grants enhanced protection to 39 cultural sites in Lebanon as war rages

Hermel Pyramid, Beit Beirut Museum, Omari Grand Mosque and Saint Nicholas Church among those added

Beit Beirut, a renovated mansion used as a snipers' nest during the Lebanese Civil War, is now a Unesco-protected museum. Photo: Taim Karesly

Unesco has granted provisional enhanced protection to 39 cultural sites in Lebanon, expanding emergency measures for heritage locations across the country after Beirut requested international support amid the conflict.

The decision was taken during an extraordinary session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Unesco said the designation gives properties the highest level of legal protection against attack and against use for military purposes under the 1954 Hague Convention and its 1999 Second Protocol. It also approved more than $100,000 in international financial assistance for emergency operations on the ground.

Hermel Pyramid is thought to date back to the first or second century BC, and was possibly erected by Syrian Royalty. AFP

The protected properties include the Hermel pyramid, Beit Beirut Museum and Cultural Centre, the Lebanese National Library, Niha Archaeological Site and Hasbaya Shehabi Serail. The list also includes a large group of historic properties in Saida, including Audi Soap Museum, Al Omari Grand Mosque and Saint Nicholas Church, as well as 10 properties in Tripoli, among them Al Burtasi Mosque, Souq Haraj and Taynal Mosque.

The properties will receive technical and financial assistance to strengthen legal protection, improve risk anticipation and management, and train cultural professionals and military personnel. Enhanced protection is also intended to send a signal to the international community of the urgent need to safeguard these places.

“Cultural heritage must be protected. It is the backbone of people’s identity, trust and hope, and it carries the promise of peace and recovery,” said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Unesco's assistant director-general for culture ad interim.

The ruins of the Upper Roman Temples of Niha, in the Bekaa Valley and Mount Lebanon slopes, have been added to the protection list. Getty Images

The initiative builds on work already under way in Lebanon since the outbreak of hostilities, according to Unesco, including support for the secure storage of archaeological collections and museum holdings. It is also monitoring historical and heritage sites through satellite imagery in partnership with Unitar/Unosat, and has confirmed damage to the World Heritage-listed city of Tyre.

The 39 additions follow a round of enhanced protection granted in 2024 to 34 Lebanese cultural properties, including Byblos, Baalbek, Beiteddine Palace, Tyre archaeological sites, the National Museum of Beirut and the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum.