The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that 12 new sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
In a written statement, the ministry said the addition brings the total number of Palestinian heritage sites on UNESCO's Tentative List to 23.
The statement noted that the new sites were registered in cooperation with Palestine's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, with the aim of strengthening the international presence of Palestinian heritage and highlighting its cultural and natural diversity.
It also said that Israel has been targeting Palestinian heritage sites and exerting continuous pressure, while stressing that efforts to protect Palestinian cultural heritage and pass it on to future generations will continue.
The Palestinian authorities say that historical and cultural sites in the occupied West Bank are being subjected to Israeli practices on the ground, as well as attempts to expand administrative control over locations of historical value.
They are increasing the occupation
In recent months, Israel has launched initiatives in Sebastia in the northern occupied West Bank, the Pools of Solomon south of Bethlehem, and the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which Palestinians say are aimed at isolating these areas from Palestinians and reinforcing the occupation.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced in June that planning and construction authority around the Ibrahimi Mosque had been transferred from the Hebron Municipality to the Israeli administration.
