Culture Minister Ghassan Salame "made numerous contacts with his counterparts worldwide and relevant international organisations to draw their attention to the huge damage to archaeological sites and heritage districts" in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said.

He highlighted the ancient city of Tyre and Beaufort castle in the Nabatieh district, emphasising that "a large number of these sites enjoy enhanced protection from UNESCO, making it necessary to protect them from any Israeli air or artillery attack".

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on X that "nothing can justify the ongoing attacks on the Tyre and Nabatieh regions and the destruction of their historical landmarks".

Israel has issued repeated evacuation warnings to swathes of the southern coastal city of Tyre in recent days and carried out heavy strikes.

Early Thursday, Israel's military warned it would target a building in Tyre which it showed on an accompanying map as located very close to the city's archaeological area.

Around two hours after the warning, AFP footage showed a fireball followed by smoke as a strike hit the district.

The south Lebanon municipality of Arnoun, where the historic Beaufort castle is located, said in a statement on Facebook that it "condemns in the strongest terms the attack that targeted" the site, blaming Israeli bombardment and urging authorities to protect it "from further damage".

On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw smoke rising near Beaufort castle after what appeared to be artillery fire.

Israeli forces used the castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon which ended in 2000.

In November 2024, during a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, UNESCO granted 34 heritage sites in Lebanon including Tyre and Beaufort Castle "provisional enhanced protection".

"Non-compliance with these clauses would constitute 'serious violations' of the 1954 Hague Convention and... potential grounds for prosecution," it said at the time.

This April, UNESCO added another 39 Lebanese sites to the list.

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