An Israeli strike on Baalbeck today was few hundred meters away from the Baalbek Temple, a designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. There are 22 similar sites in Lebanon including Baalbek and they all carry a “blue shield”, an emblem designating cultural property to be protected in times of armed conflict.

Back in November 2023, our so-called Minister of culture decided to remove the “blue shield” from Baalbek, claiming that Lebanon’s resistance is our “hardened shield” and that the resistance and our army only can protect Lebanon. The minister was clearly pulling another one of his useless publicity stunts but this move is a reckless one and equals asking the press or ambulances to remove their emblems because Israel has no respect for international laws.

Following today’s airstrike, the least he can do is place back the “blue shield” and show to the world how Israel is threatening our protected heritage sites.