TYRE, Lebanon, June 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A Lebanese culture ministry official told AFP on Monday that Israeli bombardment had damaged a World Heritage site in the southern city of Tyre, as correspondents there saw debris and damage at the site.

One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre in antiquity was at various times Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine.

The city lies around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Israeli border, and its UNESCO World Heritage-listed ruins include the remains of Roman baths and a second-century triumphal arch and hippodrome, located across two main areas of the city.

Israel's military has been heavily striking Tyre, and the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Sunday reported further Israeli bombardment after its army issued an evacuation warning that covered districts including one of the archaeological areas, known as the city site.

Ali Badawi, the culture ministry's regional director of archaeological sites for south Lebanon, said Sunday's bombardment had had "the worst impact" on Tyre's ancient areas since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began.

"The amount of debris and damage at the site is high," Badawi said, noting both the direct impact, with the site's administrative office struck, and the indirect impact of debris strewn from nearby bombardment.

"Some archaeological artefacts were damaged when rubble fell on them, as debris fell over a large area, impacting a large number of elements at the site -- columns, capitals, column bases, mosaics," he said.

AFP correspondents saw dust and debris close to ancient columns after the previous day's bombardment, as well as twisted metal and broken tree branches near several stone artefacts.

Concrete and metal debris also appeared to have been strewn onto a stone stairway.

Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame told AFP that "I am launching an appeal to avoid the targeting of archaeological sites in the country... in particular the ruins in Tyre which are part of the heritage of humanity."

Israel "does not respect" the Hague convention on the protection of cultural property during armed conflicts, he charged, nor the "blue shields" placed for symbolic protection near the Tyre site and others by an organisation linked to UNESCO after the latest conflict erupted.

- 'Civilian site' -

Salame said authorities would evaluate Sunday's damage "once a ceasefire is in place and we can access the ruins without putting our archaeologists in danger".

Badawi said "this is a civilian site, a World Heritage site, it's not a military site at all, and there are no military activities there."

He said a preliminary damage assessment was underway, noting that Tyre's other archaeological area, known as Al-Bass, had been damaged earlier in the conflict.

The Al-Bass site is centred on a necropolis that dates back three millennia to Tyre's time as a major Phoenician city and was still in use until the Arab conquests of the 7th Century.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when it fired rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with heavy strikes and a ground invasion, killing more than 3,600 people.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah have respected a ceasefire announced in April.

Since a previous round of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in 2023, UNESCO has granted more than 70 heritage sites in Lebanon, including Tyre, "provisional enhanced protection," the organisation's highest level of legal protection, which is intended for sites at risk from conflict.