The Palestinian Authority (PA) has initiated a new campaign at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aimed at hindering Israeli administrative authority over ancient antiquities and historical sites across Judea and Samaria, a PA envoy announced Saturday, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Adel Attieh, the PA's representative to UNESCO, told Voice of Palestine radio that the effort seeks to pressure the UN body into acting against alleged Israeli measures targeting local cultural heritage. Attieh specifically cited Israel's management of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which UNESCO has registered as a World Heritage Site.
Attieh asserted that international legal frameworks require Israel to refrain from making any structural modifications to the holy site or its immediate environment, while accusing Israel of attempting to alter historical accounts by asserting Jewish historical connections to regional antiquities.
Concurrently, a report released by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned Israeli administration of historic sites in Judea and Samaria, framing it as part of “settlement growth". The report specifically referenced legislation passed by the Knesset in mid-May establishing a dedicated Heritage Authority for the region.
The latest PA move comes as part of a long-standing pattern of diplomatic campaigns using UNESCO to minimize or erase Jewish historical connections to holy sites in the Land of Israel.
Over the years, the Paris-based UN cultural agency has passed numerous politicized resolutions sharply criticized by Israeli officials and international observers:
In 2016, UNESCO approved resolutions ignoring Jewish historic ties to Jerusalem, describing the Temple Mount and the Western Wall Plaza strictly as Muslim holy sites and referring to Israel as "the occupying power."
In 2017, UNESCO voted to register the Old City of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs as an "endangered Palestinian World Heritage site." In 2018, the agency adopted resolutions declaring both the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem to be an "integral part of the Occupied Palestinian territory."
In September 2023, UNESCO listed Ancient Jericho (Tel es-Sultan) as a "Palestinian World Heritage site," drawing fierce condemnation from legal experts and Israeli diplomats for ignoring ancient Jewish ties to the area.
Due to the agency's entrenched anti-Israel posture and structural bias, the first Trump administration withdrew from UNESCO in 2017, citing its anti-Israel bias. Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019.
Although the Biden administration rejoined the agency in July 2023, the second Trump administration announced a second withdrawal from UNESCO in July 2025, again citing pervasive political bias and measures targeting Israel.