The United Nations Committee has decided to recognise the ruins near the city of Jericho in the West Bank as a World Heritage Site. This brings the total number of designated Palestinian sites to four. Earlier, UNESCO recognised three other sites in the Palestinian territories: the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route in Bethlehem; the landscape of Battir Hill with vines and olive trees; and the Old City of Hebron.

On 17 September 2023, the World Heritage Committee, under the supervision of UNESCO, held a vote in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, adding the prehistoric site of Ancient Jericho to the UNESCO World Heritage List, The Washington Post reports .

UNESCO's role in identifying, protecting and preserving culturally or naturally significant sites is often fraught with political difficulties and conflicts. This time, the decision drew criticism from Israel due to past conflicts over the identification of sites in the Palestinian territories. In particular, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern about the "cynical use of UNESCO" by the Palestinians and the "politicisation of the organisation".

The fact is that Jericho is located in the West Bank, annexed by Israel during the 1967 war. However, the city is administered by the Palestinian Authority, which proposed the site for recognition. The site is of historical significance as one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the world, with traces of the Neolithic period and materials from the Early and Middle Bronze Age.

The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has emphasised the importance of Ancient Jericho/Tell al-Sultan, stating: "The natural resources and strategic location of Ancient Jericho have made it a major hub of human development for thousands of years." 

As a reminder, Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019 after the agency declared the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the biblical city of Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage Site in "danger". Nevertheless, Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention and participated in the recent meeting in Riyadh.