UNESCO has activated emergency heritage protections across the Middle East in response to ongoing conflict damage in Israel, Iran, and Lebanon, placing dozens of sites under the highest level of international legal safeguarding available.
Widespread Damage Reported
Since the outbreak of the Middle East war in late February 2026, UNESCO has received reports of damage to more than 20 cultural sites across the region, according to UN News. Of those, the organization has so far confirmed damage to five cultural properties. The confirmed sites include a synagogue, the Golestan Palace, the Sa'dabad Palace, and the old Senat Palace in Iran, as well as the ancient city of Tyre in Lebanon.
Krista Pikkat, Director of UNESCO's Culture and Emergencies Entity, explained how the organization verifies such reports:
"We verify the reports that we receive from different sources either through satellite images by analyzing the before and after images, or through on-site inspections."
Lebanon's 39 Sites Granted Enhanced Protection
At the request of the Lebanese Government, UNESCO placed all 39 World Heritage sites in Lebanon under enhanced protection — the strongest legal shield available under the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention. Sites granted this status are considered of the greatest importance to humanity and carry the highest level of immunity from military attack. They are marked on the ground with the Blue Shield emblem to signal that protection to all parties in a conflict.
Pikkat described the designation in precise terms:
"Enhanced protection is the highest level of international legal protection that exists. It's granted to sites that are of greatest importance to humanity and it provides them with the highest level of immunity from military attacks."
Any state or armed party that fails to comply with the 1954 Hague Convention risks being found guilty of a war crime under international law.
On-the-Ground Support in Lebanon
In Lebanon, UNESCO is working closely with the Directorate General of Antiquities to deliver practical emergency assistance. That support includes technical advice, training, emergency inventories, safeguarding measures, and evacuation guidelines for at-risk artifacts and collections.
Pikkat stressed that the threat extends beyond physical structures:
"It's the living heritage of the communities that is under threat."
UNESCO is also urging all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint and to protect educational, cultural, media, and scientific institutions. Pikkat framed the broader stakes in terms that go beyond preservation:
"We shouldn't only consider culture as something that is fragile and needs protection. Culture is also a source of resilience. It's also an economic asset for recovery and peacebuilding."
