‘A shared civilizational responsibility’: The Committee for the Safeguarding of Sour urges UNESCO to protect the city from Israeli destruction

The Lebanese Committee for the Safeguarding of Sour has urged the international community to intervene "without delay" to protect the ancient city and its archaeological heritage, as the city has been targeted for several days by heavy bombardment from the Israeli army and as its ground invasion of southern Lebanon continues to expand.

In a statement signed by its president, Maha al-Khalil Chalabi, the group expressed its "deep concern and strong condemnation" of the repeated Israeli attacks on Sour and its region, emphasizing that the archaeological and historical sites of the ancient city, which date back to antiquity and have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1984, constitute "not only an essential part of Lebanon's memory, but also belong to the shared heritage of humanity."

"The protection of cultural heritage is not a circumstantial or strictly Lebanese issue; it represents a shared civilizational responsibility. Remaining silent in the face of such offenses directly endangers humanity's memory and the cultural values that unite peoples beyond borders," the statement declared.

‘The existence of our city is threatened’

These intense Israeli bombardments in southern Lebanon put important archaeological sites at "serious risk," "including the millennia-old ruins of Sour and the Crusader fortress of Beaufort," warned Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh on Friday, as several strikes hit near Sour’s Roman ruins, and as Beaufort Castle, located south of Nabatieh, was directly hit.

The committee thus urged UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to undertake "all necessary measures" to ensure the protection of the city's historic sites, as well as those of the entire coastal region "stretching from Naqoura in the south to Sarafand in the north," which is also subject to significant destruction. "The risks to monuments and cultural sites constitute a flagrant violation of international law and conventions regarding the protection of heritage in times of armed conflict," it recalled.

The committee also called on the United Nations, the European Union and "states committed to the principles of human rights, culture and peace" to act "without delay" to put an end to the Israeli attacks targeting buildings, infrastructure and civilians in the city, where several dozen dead and injured have been reported in recent days under Israeli army bombardment, which has repeatedly called since Wednesday for the complete evacuation of Sour and its suburbs.

This statement follows the "solemn appeal" launched Friday by the people of Sour to "save [their] city from the cycle of destruction that has struck it for many months." "The Israeli attacks have already cost the lives of dozens of our fellow citizens and continue to threaten the very existence of our city, its heritage, its social fabric and its history. They target civilians as well as infrastructure, and aim to gradually empty the region of its inhabitants," they declared.

A similar appeal was made at the same time by residents of Nabatieh, another southern city under Israeli fire and also ordered by Israel to be completely emptied of its population. As with Sour, its inhabitants called for the city to be declared an "open city," excluded from any armed presence, to allow the Lebanese Army to deploy there to ensure the protection of its residents and displaced people, by establishing humanitarian corridors.