The heinous looting and bombing pattern of the Iraqi archeological sites by the U.S was closely followed by Israel in Lebanon. Having scant regards to the rising civilian casualties, the Israelis bombed Lebanon with impunity. It is estimated that the bombing caused almost 1500 civilian deaths (thousands injured) and property loss worth billions of dollars. With immoral war objectives and conflicting victory claims, the Israeli motive remained to permanently decapitate the cultural, social, environmental and economical structure of Lebanon.
The Israeli air-strikes bombed Lebanese archeological remains to the 'modern ages'. Considered as one of the most heritage rich country, Lebanon has remained the seat of several ancient civilizations. The damage assessment team under UNESCO's Mounir Bouchanaki revealed that Israeli bombing has caused severe damages to the World Heritage Sites of Byblos and Tyre. Tyre, having some of the finest examples of Roman architecture, bore the brunt of direct aerial attacks. Byblos, being the oldest human settlement and ancient Phoenician port, suffered due to the tremendous oil spill (largest due to war post-Saddam) caused by Israeli air strikes at Jiyeh. It must be recalled that the 7,000 years old town (which had planned celebrations for the event last month) survived several earth shattering moments in its history - including Roman invasions and the 'crusades'. Having archeological remains from the Venetian period (which includes a 'medieval watch tower' of the crusade era), the ancient city, however, could not stand the moral depravity of Israel. Other sufferers include the town of Baalbek (another world Heritage Site having the Temple of Bachuus), Bint Jabeil, Chamaa, Acre, Haifa and the archaeological sites of Megiddo and Hazor.
The singular motive behind the gruesome move remains to drive a wedge in Lebanese society recuperating from the civil war. With these money spinners of tourism destroyed, the Shiites were to share the blame as much as the Israelis spilling trouble for the Hizbollah. Its actualisation has made Israel to share space with the medieval marauders.