The United Nations Planet Heritage Committee has voted to list the Inform es-Sultan archaeological internet site in Jericho as a “World Heritage Web page in Palestine.” This choice was created at a conference in Riyadh. The newly designated internet site is positioned in Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and includes ruins dating back to the ninth millennium BCE. Jericho itself is a single of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the planet.

The Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomed the choice, stating that it is an acknowledgment of Jericho’s cultural, financial, and political significance. They view it as a testament to ten,000 years of human improvement. PA Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Rula Ma’ayah emphasized the significance of the choice, calling the internet site an integral and useful aspect of diverse Palestinian heritage.

Nevertheless, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disapproval of the choice, seeing it as yet another instance of the Palestinians’ cynical use of UNESCO and politicization of the organization. Jericho is positioned in the Jordan Valley, involving the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. In 2010, it celebrated becoming the oldest walled city in the planet, dating back to the contemporary Stone Age.