RAMALLAH, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Palestine has launched an initiative at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to protect archaeological sites in the West Bank from Israeli control, a Palestinian diplomat said Saturday.
Adel Attieh, Palestine's permanent delegate to UNESCO, told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the initiative aims to urge UNESCO to take action against what he called Israeli violations targeting Palestinian cultural heritage, particularly at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
He said international law obliges Israel to refrain from actions that alter the site's structure or surroundings.
Attieh accused Israel of attempting to alter the historical narrative by claiming rights to Palestinian archaeological sites.
Meanwhile, a Palestine Liberation Organization report said Israeli authorities' control over Palestinian archaeological sites has become part of settlement expansion and land confiscation policies, citing a Knesset bill passed in mid-May establishing a Heritage Authority in the West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, about 7,000 archaeological sites exist in the West Bank, around 60 percent of which are located in Area C, under full Israeli control under the 1993 Oslo Accords. ■
