Middle East Monitor / July 15, 2023
The Palestinian Authority (PA) warned on Friday of the Israeli plan to take over Palestinian archaeological sites, calling on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to assume its responsibilities in this regard.
In a statement, the PA’s Foreign Ministry, in the strongest terms, condemned the Thursday night Israeli raid on the archaeological village of Sebastia.
It accused the Israeli military and settler militias of planning to take control of the Roman-era archaeological site.
“This is an attack that falls within a plan to take over Palestinian archaeological sites throughout the West Bank and to impose Israeli control over them and annex them,” the Foreign Ministry shared, citing statements reported by Hebrew media.
According to these statements, the Foreign Ministry said: “The statements reported by Hebrew media confirmed that the Israeli government is about to allocate hundreds of millions of shekels for the purpose of taking over Palestinian archaeological sites.”
The Foreign Ministry pointed out that the implementation of this plan is part of Israel’s gradual annexation of the occupied West Bank.
It called on the international community, particularly UNESCO, to assume their responsibility to protect Palestinian archaeological and heritage sites.
