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

A U.N. conference voted Sunday to list the ancient city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, a decision likely to anger Israel, which controls the territory and does not recognise a Palestinian state.

Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the U.N. World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

Watch: Wide celebrations in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho following the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declaration of ancient Jericho, also known as Tell es-Sultan, as a World Heritage site, today 🇵🇸📍 pic.twitter.com/uTJKoSNqRY

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 17, 2023

Israel quit UNESCO in 2019, accusing it of being biased against it and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. Israel also objected to UNESCO's acceptance of Palestine as a member state in 2011. But Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention, and it sent a delegation to the meeting in Riyadh.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Six-Day Middle East War. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.

There have been no serious or substantive peace negotiations in over a decade, and Israel is currently led by the most nationalist and religious government in its history, making any move toward Palestinian statehood nearly unimaginable.

The modern city of Jericho is a major draw for tourism to the Palestinian territories, both because of its historical sites and proximity to the Dead Sea. In 2021, the Palestinian Authority unveiled major renovations to one of the largest mosaics in the Middle East, in a Jericho palace dating back to the 8th century.