The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, has added six sites to its List of World Heritage in Danger due to escalating threats from armed conflict, climate change, and other crises. This decision was made during the World Heritage Committee meeting held on Sunday, July 27, 2026, in Busan, Republic of Korea.

The Committee granted emergency protection to three newly inscribed World Heritage sites and added three previously recognized sites to the danger list. Among the newly inscribed sites is Mount Amel Castles in southern Lebanon, a collection of five fortresses representing Crusader, Islamic, and Ottoman periods. Despite enhanced protection under international humanitarian law, these castles have suffered extensive damage amid ongoing conflict. The Committee noted that “the ongoing conflict directly jeopardizes the site's conservation and requires urgent intervention.”

Another emergency inscription is Sebastia in the Occupied West Bank, which preserves archaeological remains spanning more than 2,000 years. UNESCO highlighted that the Palestinian site faces mounting pressures from the Middle East conflict, alongside general development and plans for a national park that could divide the property. The site is recognized for reflecting the region's cultural and linguistic diversity, with several ethnic groups having been custodians of the landscape through herding, farming, and fishing for centuries.

UNESCO emphasized that the emergency procedure reflects a world increasingly shaped by armed conflict, climate change, and other crises posing serious threats to irreplaceable cultural and natural heritage.

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