PARIS (AFP) The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the Middle East’s oldest monasteries, has been added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites at danger owing to the conflict in Gaza, the organization announced on Friday.
UNESCO stated that the site, which goes back to the fourth century, was placed on the endangered list at the request of Palestinian authorities, citing the “imminent threats” it faced.
“It’s the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context,” Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas’ October 7 strike on Israel.
