The ancient heritage site of Saint Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer in Palestine was granted the UNESCO tag and simultaneously added to the List of World Heritage in Danger after an "emergency nomination" amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The announcement was made at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Delhi, which India is hosting for the first time.
During the plenary meeting of the session, it was announced that Saint Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer in Palestine has been inscribed on the World Heritage List and List of World Heritage in Danger.
Following unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas militants on October 7, Israel has been conducting a massive military offensive in Gaza.
In November, India urged both parties to avoid violence, reduce tensions, and establish conditions for the prompt restarting of direct peace talks aimed at a two-state solution to the Palestine problem.
The recent inscription on Friday has sparked optimism regarding the preservation of such cultural sites.
UNESCO later said in a statement that "this decision recognises both the site's value and the need to protect it from danger."
The monastery of Saint Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer, one of the oldest sites in the Middle East, was founded by Saint Hilarion and was home to the first monastic community in the Holy Land.
The statement said that situated at the crossroads of the main trade and exchange routes between Asia and Africa, it was a centre for religious, cultural and economic exchanges, illustrating the prosperity of desert monastic sites in the Byzantine period.
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