NNA - Minister of Culture, Dr. Ghassan Salameh, held a phone call with the Director-General of UNESCO, Dr. Khaled El-Enany, and asked him, "on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and the Lebanese government, and in light of the current security situation in Lebanon and the region, to intervene with neighboring or belligerent states to remind them of the need to take all preventive measures, during this armed conflict with Lebanon, aimed at protecting and safeguarding Lebanese cultural heritage and refraining from targeting it — particularly the National Museum in Beirut and Lebanese archaeological and historical sites, especially those inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, as well as those included on the International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection, in implementation of the decision of the Committee of the Hague Convention dated November 19, 2024 (Decision 4 Ext.com5)."

Salameh stressed that "these cultural properties, as well as their immediate surroundings and adjacent urban fabric, must not be exposed to any risk or damage, in accordance with UNESCO conventions, in particular: the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Regulations for the Execution thereof (The Hague, May 14, 1954) and its two Protocols (1954 and 1999), and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage."

The Minister of Culture had also sent a formal letter on this matter to the Director-General of UNESCO, Dr. Khaled El-Enany.