It is not only UNESCO which has claimed that the Cave of the Patriarch but in a certain way the government of Israel. For more than two decades the government has been promising to build a roof over the Jewish side of the cave but the prime minister has vetoed the project in conjunction with the Palestinian Hebron leadership.
Another opinion, rendered by the Attorney General, claims that the rights to the roof belong to the Civil Administration.
The roof has been donated and built but is sitting rusting in Beit Shemesh, while the cave remains open to the elements to this day.