BEIRUT, October 31. /TASS/. Massive Israeli strikes on the Lebanese city of Baalbek and its environs pose a serious threat to the ancient monuments located there, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its X page.

According to it, Lebanon's permanent mission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris has been instructed to raise the issue at the international level and seek an emergency meeting of the committee to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"The government is extremely concerned about the continued shelling of Baalbek, home to the famous ancient temple complex, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984," the statement said. "Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the international community to take measures to protect this archaeological treasure, which belongs to all humanity, from Israeli aggression," the Foreign Ministry said.

On October 30, Israeli airstrikes killed 19 civilians near Baalbek. In the city itself, residents were evacuated from a number of neighborhoods after an Israeli army spokesperson took to social network X to warn locals about the impending airstrikes.

Baalbek-Hermel Region Governor Bachir Khodr urged residents not to return to their homes on Thursday as Israel continued airstrikes on eastern and northeastern Lebanon, which serve as strongholds of the Shia group Hezbollah. They have been hit by at least six airstrikes since the morning.