A Lebanese culture ministry official told the French news agency AFP on Monday that Israeli bombardment had damaged a UNESCO World Heritage site in the southern city of Tyre, as correspondents there reported damage at the site.
One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre, in antiquity, was at various times Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine.
The city is around 12 miles from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, and its UNESCO World Heritage-listed ruins include the remains of Roman baths and a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome.
Israel’s military has been heavily striking Tyre, and the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Sunday reported further Israeli bombardment after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning covering districts including one of the archaeological areas, known as the city site.
Ali Badawi, the culture ministry’s regional director of archaeological sites for south Lebanon, said Sunday’s bombardment had had “the worst impact” on Tyre’s ancient areas since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began.
“The amount of debris and damage at the site is high,” Badawi said, noting both the direct impact, with the site’s administrative office struck, and the indirect impact of debris strewn from nearby bombardment.
“This is a civilian site, a World Heritage site,” said Badawi. “It’s not a military site at all, and there are no military activities there.”
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