BEIRUT, June 9. /TASS/. Intensive Israeli air raids on the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on June 7 and 8 damaged its archaeological sites, Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said.

The neighborhoods located in the immediate vicinity of the ancient ruins included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, the shopping plaza (agora) and the Roman colonnade, were bombed, the minister wrote on X.

He called on the international community to protect the antiquities of Tyre from destruction, recalling that earlier the ancient hippodrome and necropolis were damaged during Israeli airstrikes.

It is necessary to avoid shelling the ruins in Tyre, which are part of the heritage of all mankind, Salame said, accusing Israel of non-compliance with the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflicts.

Ali Badawi, Director of the Culture Ministry’s Department for the Protection of Archaeological Sites in Southern Lebanon, said columns, capitals and mosaics in the archaeological park of El Mina in the old part of the city were damaged. According to him, the authorities will assess the damage in full as soon as the fighting stops, and archaeologists will be able to gain safe access to the ruins.