UN committee votes to list ruins near ancient Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine

One of the world's oldest continuously occupied settlements, Jericho lies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank under the administration of the Palestinian Authority. The listing is for the Tel es-Sultan site nearby, which has prehistoric remains from the ninth millenium B.C. and is not part of the ancient city itself.

On September 17, a UN conference decided to include the Tel es-Sultan site near Jericho in the World Heritage List as part of Palestine. This site, located outside the ancient city of Jericho, has remains of human settlements dating back to the ninth millenium B.C. and is one of the oldest archaeological sites in the world. Jericho itself is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is situated in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel but administered by the Palestinian Authority, which is recognized by most countries as a sovereign state. The decision to list the site as part of Palestine may provoke a negative reaction from Israel, which does not acknowledge Palestinian statehood.

The meeting of the UN World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the guidance of UNESCO, the UN agency for education, science and culture, resulted in a decision that affected Israel. Israel had left UNESCO in 2019, claiming that the agency was unfair to it and undermined its historical ties to the Holy Land. Israel also opposed the admission of Palestine as a member state of UNESCO in 2011. However, Israel still adheres to the World Heritage Convention, and it sent a delegation to the meeting in Riyadh.

In 1967, a war in the Middle East resulted in Israel taking control of three territories that the Palestinians claim as their own: the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The West Bank is especially significant for Israel because it contains many sites that are linked to the Jewish religion and history.

However, there has been no progress in resolving the conflict over these territories for more than 10 years, and the current Israeli government is dominated by parties that oppose giving up any land to the Palestinians or recognizing their right to statehood.

Jericho, a city in the West Bank, is a popular tourist destination for visitors to the Palestinian territories. It has many historical attractions and is close to the Dead Sea. The Palestinian Authority has recently restored one of the biggest mosaics in the Middle East, which is located in a palace from the 8th century in Jericho.