Wary of Israeli appropriation, Palestine lists 14 sites with UNESCO
A view of the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged by Israeli shelling during the Israel-Palestine war, where Palestinians perform Friday prayers, in Gaza City, November 21, 2025
For Palestinians maintaining their land and heritage, which is under Israeli occupation since 1948, became a national priority. The Palestinian Authority has formally moved to register 14 new cultural and natural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage tentative list in a bid to safeguard its cultural and historical sites from Israeli appropriation and attacks.
“Palestine is not just a space of political conflict, but a civilisation rooted in human history,” Marwa Adwan, acting director-general of World Heritage at the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, told Al Jazeera.
“This diversity is the strongest response to attempts to monopolise the historical narrative,” she said, referring to Israeli attempts to appropriate symbols of Palestinian culture and history.
The submission announced by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on January 1, aims to grant international recognition to endangered landmarks across the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by Israel’s genocidal war. More than 200 historical sites were destroyed by Israeli bombing in what experts called a “cultural genocide“.
The new list brings the total number of Palestinian sites on the tentative list to 24, covering a vast timeline from the Canaanite city-states dating back to 3,000 BC to Gaza’s Old City.
The 14 submitted sites
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirmed the full list of sites submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list spans prehistoric caves, religious routes, and modern architecture. The sites are:
- The historic centre of Gaza, including the Great Omari Mosque and the Church of Saint Porphyrius
- The Byzantine Church of Jabalia (Mukheitim)
- Canaanite city-states
- The historic city of Nablus and its environs
- The Holy Miracles of Jesus Christ in Palestine
- Monasteries of the Jerusalem wilderness (El-Bariyah)
- Maqamat (shrines) in Palestine
- Jerusalem water system Qanat es-Sabeel
- Jabal al-Fureidis / Herodium
- The Lower Jordan River Valley
- Archaeological Palaces of Tulul Abu el-‘Alayiq
- Cultural landscape of Wadi Kharitoun prehistoric caves
- Dwelling caves (Al-Maghayir) of Palestine
- Modern architecture in Palestine
Saving Gaza’s history
A crucial component of the bid is the protection of heritage in Gaza, which has faced catastrophic destruction during Israel’s genocidal war. The list includes the Great Omari Mosque, built nearly 1,400 years ago, and the Church of Saint Porphyrius, both targeted during Israeli bombardment. The Greek Orthodox Church was built in 425.
Adwan described the move as a strategic step for the “day after” the war.
“Listing sites like the Great Omari Mosque … is an initial international recognition of their global value and their urgent need for protection,” she explained. “We are counting on UNESCO not just for funding, but to document damages as an international legal source to preserve our cultural rights.”
And of course Israel labels historical preservation as terrorism:
According to Israel’s Channel 14, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, labeling the Palestinian move as “archaeological terrorism”.
