The remains of one of the oldest Christian monasteries in Gaza have been added to the List of World Heritage in Danger at a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) here on Friday.

Palestine’s ambassador to Unesco, Mounir Anastas, termed the development “a message of hope to our people in Gaza” and called up the international community to bear upon Israel to end the war in the occupied territory that has claimed almost 40,000 lives since October last year.

The heritage tag for St. Hilarion’s monastery at the archaeological site of Tell Umm Amer in northern Gaza came after an amendment by Belgium to the draft decision. The draft based on an evaluation by The International Council on Monuments and Sites was inconclusive on granting Palestine’s request on “emergency basis” as a proper examination of the site for “Outstanding Universal Value” could not be conducted because of the ongoing conflict.

Ambassador Mounir told the gathering: “I am honoured to have this inscription taking place in the greatest democracy in the world. Thank you, India.”

He added: “This inscription is very important for us because it is a message of hope to our people in Gaza, who are fleeing bombs with no shelter, no food or water. Through this inscription, we tell them we have not forgotten you, and Unesco has not forgotten you either…. I will not talk about the massive destruction of schools, hospitals, universities, media centres, churches and mosques. I will not discuss the killing of innocent civilians, including children, women, elders, students, teachers, medical doctors, and journalists, nor the starvation and lack of food and water.

“Instead, I will focus on the spirit and purpose of our convention. A State party must recognise that once its property is inscribed on the World Heritage list of humanity, not Unesco, it becomes a property of all humanity…. I urge members of the committee and all state parties to call upon Israel, the occupying power, to refrain from targeting any cultural property in the Gaza Strip and to immediately and permanently end the ongoing destructive war in Gaza.”

The ruins of St. Hilarion's Monastery at the archaeological site of Tell Umm Amer in Gaza Strip of Palestine. Courtesy: The Embassy of the State of Palestine in New Delhi

Mounir later told The Telegraph: “The decision that was prepared by ICOMOS did not contain a recommendation. The decision was neither referred (to any other body) nor deferred…. Belgium requested for the inscription to be made to the World Heritage List
in Danger.”

India was one of the 18 co-sponsors of the amendment.

French architect and archaeologist René Elter, who has led excavations at the site since 2001, told this paper: “Fortunately, the site has not been damaged during the ongoing war. The grass has overgrown during the conflict but a few families who live nearby are protecting the site…. None of the 40 staff I have trained — which is my greatest achievement — have been harmed in the war. That is why we need the inscription (on the list of World Heritage in Danger) to protect them and the site.”

Unesco’s website says: “The List of World Heritage in Danger is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.”