Prime Minister Shtayyeh Calls on UNESCO to Protect Palestinian Archaeological Sites

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged UNESCO to "take its international responsibilities in protecting the archaeological and heritage sites in Palestine from attempts to impose control and Judaization." In his address at the beginning of the cabinet session in Ramallah, he stated that "the Israeli assault and settler terrorism are escalating against Palestinian archaeological sites, particularly in Sebastia, as part of ongoing attempts to control and Judaize the archaeological area of the town, as well as the threats faced by the Ain al-Hawiya archaeological area west of Husan village in Bethlehem Governorate, which is rich in springs and pools, where the occupation and its settlers seek to turn it into a religious and tourist destination for settlers." Shtayyeh also warned about the serious measures taken by the Israeli water company "Mekorot," which has sharply reduced the water allocations for the Hebron and Bethlehem governorates, emphasizing that "this is a dangerous discriminatory measure that deprives our people in these two governorates of their most basic rights to water, while the occupying state doubles the amount of water for the benefit of settler colonizers."