RAMALLAH, July 22, 2026 (WAFA) – The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs welcomed the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s adoption, by consensus, of four decisions concerning the State of Palestine.
The ministry underscored the significance of these decisions in safeguarding the cities of Jerusalem and Hebron, particularly their Old Cities, from continued Israeli occupation violations and attempts to alter their historical and cultural character.
It said that, under the adopted decisions, the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls, as well as the Old City of Hebron, will remain inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The committee reaffirmed Jerusalem’s exceptional religious and cultural significance for the three monotheistic religions, stressing that all Israeli measures and actions aimed at changing the character or legal and historical status of these sites are null and void and carry no legal effect.
The committee also called for the deployment of urgent reactive monitoring missions to Jerusalem and Hebron, in cooperation with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), to assess the state of conservation of the sites.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments Issam Abdul Halim said that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s adoption of decisions related to the State of Palestine, along with the continued inclusion of Jerusalem and Hebron on the List of World Heritage in Danger, constitutes a new legal and diplomatic achievement in support of Palestinian rights.
He stressed that the decisions reaffirm the complete invalidity of all Judaization measures and actions that the Israeli occupation seeks to impose on the ground in an attempt to alter the historical and demographic reality of the holy sites.
Abdul Halim emphasized that protecting the Islamic and Christian identity of Jerusalem and Hebron is an international responsibility that requires urgent practical measures to transform these decisions into effective protection on the ground and to curb ongoing Israeli occupation violations.
T.R.
