Hamdan added to Sputnik: "The site of Tell al-Sultan shows how to move from the stage of fishing and meeting to agriculture and pottery, and in it the first walled settlement and the first tower for security and observation were built, and the site of Tell al-Sultan is a unique architectural model in ancient times, and precedes the pyramids of Egypt, is an oval-shaped hill and contains prehistoric deposits of human activity, and the site is located 10 kilometers north of the Dead Sea, and 2 kilometers north of the city center of Jericho." "A permanent settlement appears at the site in the period between the ninth to the eighth millennium BC because of the fertile soil of the oasis and easy access to water, and the inhabitants of Jericho in ancient times prepared what looks like ground cisterns to store rainwater for use when needed, and archaeological investigations documented 23 layers of ancient civilizations from the Natufian era (tenth millennium BC) until the end of the Byzantine era (seventh century AD), and included urban centers from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, in addition to great urbanization. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included the ancient city of Jericho (Tell al-Sultan) on its World Heritage List, after the vote of the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations, without objection from any member state of the organization, after an embedded Palestinian project that lasted several years, Hamdan told Sputnik: "Work on the project began in 2018 by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and a number of local partners, and the next delegation was hosted to evaluate Hamdan added: "After Tel al-Sultan, Palestine has 5 sites officially registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List, namely Jerusalem (the Old City and its walls), and Bethlehem (the place of birth of Jesus Christ: Church of the Nativity and Pilgrims' Path), Battir (Palestine, Land of Grapes and Olives: The Cultural Landscape of South Jerusalem), and Hebron (Old City), which is an important part of the diverse Palestinian heritage and has exceptional human value.Israeli rejection and angerThe Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed its disagreement with the decision to include the archaeological site of Tell al-Sultan in Jericho on the list of "World Heritage Sites in Palestine," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "We consider the decision that was taken to be another sign of the Palestinians' cynical use of UNESCO and the politicization of the organization," the statement said, adding that "Israel will work to change all the distorted decisions that have been taken," according to its claim.The Director General of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the West Bank city of Jericho, Iyad Hamdan, points out to "Sputnik" that "Israel is not the first time to express its rejection and anger towards the inclusion of Palestinian archaeological sites on the World Heritage List, as it objected and rejected all previous decisions of the site. "Here we have to emphasize that these sites are purely Palestinian sites, containing traces of ancient Palestinian man, and Tell al-Sultan is a Palestinian site par excellence and we have the right to nominate it for the World Heritage List and manage it." "After the announcement of the inclusion of Tel al-Sultan, we look forward to the arrival of larger tourist delegations to the city of Jericho, especially since the Battir area, which was previously included on the heritage list, used to receive tens of thousands of tourists annually and today about a quarter of a million visit it, and this is what we look forward to in this important archaeological site in Palestine and witness to the presence of Palestinians on this land 10,000 years ago."