BUSAN : The resolutions were adopted during the committee’s 48th session, currently being held in Busan, Republic of Korea. The Ministry expressed its appreciation to the countries that supported the resolutions, which were adopted unanimously.

In a statement, the Ministry said the decisions come amid what it described as continued systematic and serious violations by Israel, the occupying power, against World Heritage sites and Palestinian cultural properties. It cited alleged attempts at falsification, distortion and desecration, particularly in occupied Jerusalem.

The Ministry also raised concern over violations of UNESCO’s mandate, including restrictions affecting freedom of worship, freedom of access and the right to education, as well as continued settler incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It stressed the importance of the resolutions’ references to World Heritage sites in the Palestinian territories and highlighted the urgent need to dispatch reactive monitoring missions to the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, as well as the Old City of Hebron.

According to the Ministry, these missions should be carried out in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre and the International Council on Monuments and Sites, known as ICOMOS, to ensure an independent professional assessment and provide necessary recommendations to preserve the outstanding universal value of the sites.

The Ministry affirmed that protecting Palestinian cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is a collective international responsibility. It said the preservation of this heritage is essential to safeguarding an authentic human legacy and protecting it from destruction, distortion and falsification, while preserving the existing historical and legal status in the occupied Palestinian territory.

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