UNESCO announces West Bank city of Hebron a heritage site

The city is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers

WARSAW: UNESCO on Friday declared the Old City of Hebron a protected heritage site in a secret ballot, an issue which has triggered a new Israeli-Palestinian spat at the international body.



The UN's cultural arm voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to Hebron in the occupied West Bank, which is home to more than 200,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers.