Starving Palestinians queue for food aid in central Gaza
Palestinian ministry welcomes inclusion of Gaza monastery on UN World Heritage list
Palestine’s Foreign Ministry said the urgent inclusion of the fourth-century Monastery of Saint Hilarion in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah on UNESCO’s world heritage and endangered heritage lists was important to protect the site from “deliberate destruction attempts” by Israeli forces.
In making its decision on Friday, UNESCO referred to “the need to protect” the monastery “from danger”.
The Foreign Ministry said the monastery was once a key stop at the crossroads between Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia, and was an “important exchange site for universal human and religious values and an origin for Christianity in Palestine”.
“Palestinian cultural and heritage properties, world heritage sites, and sacred and historical sites” are endangered by the “Israeli war, which directly targets the memories, history, and identity of the Palestinian people,” the ministry added.
🚨 UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided to inscribe The Monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer in #Gaza, one of the oldest sites in the Middle East, simultaneously on the World Heritage List & on the List of World Heritage in 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫. ⤵️https://t.co/UXBuBobvNY pic.twitter.com/lnggrlDavI
— UN Palestinian Rights Committee (@UNISPAL) July 26, 2024
UN says Israel destabilises humanitarian operations in Gaza
The United Nations says continuing attacks on aid convoys and Israeli evacuation orders in southern Gaza, are destabilising humanitarian operations.
On Friday, the Security Council discussed the worsening impact the war is having on civilians.
