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The United Nations cultural agency on Friday added sites including a Lebanese castle recently captured by Israeli forces and an archaeological site in the occupied West Bank to its list of World Heritage in Danger.
Beaufort Castle, a Crusader fortress also known as Qalaat al-Shakif, was captured by Israeli forces during their May incursion into Lebanon as part of Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
It is one of five castles in the Jabal Amel area of southern Lebanon listed together by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The mountainous area has come under repeated Israeli bombardment during the war.
UNESCO said the fortresses had sustained damage and faced ongoing threats from the conflict that were “serious enough to justify resorting to an emergency procedure.”
Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the endangered listing was “a remarkable achievement in the effort to protect these important Lebanese historical landmarks.”
He said only two of the castles were “within the Lebanese government’s reach” and accused Israel of having already destroyed Shamaa Castle and threatening to demolish Beaufort.
UNESCO also added Sebastia, near the West Bank city of Nablus, to the danger list.
The site is thought to be the ancient Israelite and later Roman city of Samaria, whose name Israel still uses to refer to the northern West Bank.
In recent years, Israeli authorities have taken an interest in the site, which sits near the modern Palestinian town of Sebastia but is in an area controlled exclusively by Israel.
In 2025, Israeli authorities expropriated around 200 hectares of Palestinian land near the site, saying the move was for preservation and development purposes.
While Palestinians in Sebastia have developed a tourism industry around the site, the new Israeli plans threaten to bypass it with an Israelis-only road, a fence and entry fees.
“The integrity of the site is currently threatened by an expropriation project aimed at subdividing the property and creating the ‘Samaria’ (Shomron) National Park,” UNESCO said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticized the listing, blaming Palestinians and calling it an attempt at “erasing and denying the Jewish connection to this land.”
The sites were added to the endangered list after votes by all 196 member states of the U.N. agency.
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