The Ministry of Culture announced on Monday 9 November 2026 an intervention by the Minister of Interior to stop work near the inscriptions of Nahr el-Kalb. At the centre of the controversy: a concrete base designed to carry the Lebanese flag. Culture claims that it has not issued any permits for this construction. The municipality defends a project to enhance the site, while opponents request studies and another location.
Ghassan Salamé requested Ahmad Hajjar to intervene immediately in the archaeological area north of Beirut. According to the press release of Culture and the General Directorate of Antiquities, the Minister of Interior has taken the necessary steps to stop the construction. This text announces an administrative and security intervention. It does not provide a detailed statement of the condition of the site after it.
The controversy goes beyond the presence of a flag. It concerns the concreteing of a historic rock, the protection of the surroundings of the inscriptions and the authorizations to intervene. It also concerns the enforcement of a judgment already taken almost a year earlier.
Nahr al-Kalb: a suspension still in force
The department clearly distinguishes the mast project and the work of its foundation. He states that he did not grant any permits for constructions related to the concrete base. It must bear a hammock bearing the Lebanese flag, near the archaeological site.
Culture recalls a first stop on 15 November 2025. This was in response to concerns about construction near historical inscriptions. The department invokes the preservation of the archaeological integrity of the site and its heritage value.
The press release provides a second clarification: no notice authorizing the resumption of work has been sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Directorate-General of Internal Security Forces has also received a request to prevent their restart. For the department, the suspension decision remains applicable.
The text does not say that an inscription has been destroyed or damaged. Nor does it provide an expert report on the consequences of the project. The fact confirmed is more precise: the authority responsible for antiquities contests the authorisation of the base and demands respect for the cessation of the works.
What the municipality stands for
The project is the responsibility of the municipality of Dbayeh, Zuk al-Kharab, Aukar and Haret al-Bellaneh, chaired by Nabih Tohme. In a press release issued in November 2025, the commune presented the mast as a tribute to the flag and national memory. She wanted to include a colour raising ceremony in an annual tradition.
The municipality was implementing a restoration, lighting and upgrading programme in Nahr al-Kalb. It claimed to have chosen the west side of the crossing, in an area without historical inscriptions. It also maintained that the work followed the restoration of the tunnel.
The municipality then ensured that it had consulted the relevant ministries, obtained prior agreements and had technical inspections carried out. She invoked a management of heritage-friendly engineers. These statements describe his 2025 position. They do not demonstrate that a current permit covers the concrete base covered by the November 9, 2026 press release.
The disagreement therefore also concerns the scope of the agreements invoked: what work do they cover, where and under what conditions? The response of Culture specifically concerns the foundation and the absence of notification to the prosecution for a resumption.
A conditional agreement mentioned a few days earlier
A recent episode sheds light on the confusion surrounding authorizations. On 4 November 2026 Ghassan Salamé had received Nabih Tohmé at the National Library. The Director General of Antiquities, Sarkis Khoury, attended the meeting. The announcement of the meeting mentioned the protection and maintenance of the Nahr al-Kalb archaeological area. It did not detail any construction permits.
The following day, the association Terre Liban reported that the minister had informed him of a conditional agreement to the mast project. According to her, he had specified that the permit would be withdrawn in the event of non-compliance. The association then asked what studies had preceded this agreement.
This version remains the one reported by the association. It does not allow a conditional approval of the mast to be assimilated to an authorization to build the base. The ministerial communiqué of 9 November sets out precisely this last point and maintains the obligation to stop.
Why defenders of heritage challenge concrete
Land Lebanon invokes the possible effects of the installation on the historical value, environment and landscape of the site. In her November 5 press release, she called for the suspension of the project and heritage, visual and environmental impact studies. It also called for a road safety study and work with the competent authorities and UNESCO.
The association claimed to have written to the General Directorate of Antiquities on 5 February 2026. It then requested the withdrawal of the disputed platform, the rehabilitation under supervision and the absence of permanent constructions near the inscriptions. She now proposed to study another location for the mast.
These requests explain why the municipal argument of an area without registration does not close the debate. Concerns also concern the structure of the monument: the appearance of the rock, the presence of a permanent structure and its relationship to neighbouring traffic. Advanced risks require assessments. They alone are not proof of damage already established.
MP Najat Aoun Saliba also criticized the proceedings on 9 November. In an interview with the Lebanese press, she defended a flag raising compatible with the preservation of the place. It called for the intervention of Ministers of Culture and Interior, as well as Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
His objection concerns the way the project is carried out. It considers that an authorization invoked by the Department of Public Works is not sufficient to address cultural issues. Full administrative documents are not included in the releases consulted. It would therefore be premature to present the current versions as a fully established legal file.
A recognized heritage, with a specific UNESCO status
About 15 kilometres north of Beirut, the promontory of Nahr al-Kalb maintains inscriptions related to the armies and powers that crossed it. The file submitted by Lebanon to UNESCO lists 22 steles, reliefs and inscriptions. It includes Egyptian, Assyrian, Roman and contemporary commemorations.
Steles have been on UNESCO’s Memory of the World since 2005. The archaeological site is also on the Lebanese indicative list of world heritage since July 11, 2019. This second registration is a pre-application step. It does not mean that Nahr el-Kalb is already on the World Heritage List.
The sensitivity to construction is not new. On May 15, 2020, UNESCO welcomed the closure of another project at the site, decided by the then Minister of Culture, Abbas Mortada. She then referred to the assessment of the effects of planned developments and to long-term conservation. This precedent is distinct from the current construction site.
The continuation depends on the control of the yard
The decision announced on Monday does not resolve all questions. The communiqué does not specify the fate of the already committed base, nor does it specify any disassembly. Nor does it announce an alternative location or a calendar of expertise. No cost, final size or detail of financing is included.
At this stage, the instruction to the Internal Security Forces remains the concrete measure: to prevent the resumption as long as the arrest decision remains in force. Any development of the project will therefore have to clarify the authorizations, heritage conditions and their translation on the ground.
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