Legendary Arab singer Fairouz, whose ballads have told of love, her native Lebanon and the Palestinian cause, turned 90 on Thursday as her conflict-weary country is wracked by the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Dozens of heritage sites in Lebanon were granted "provisional enhanced protection" by UNESCO Monday, the U.N. cultural body said, offering a higher level of legal shielding as Israel heavily bombed Lebanon.

The 34 cultural sites affected "now benefit from the highest level of immunity against attack and use for military purposes," UNESCO said in a statement, adding that "non-compliance with these clauses would constitute 'serious violations' of the 1954 Hague Convention and... potential grounds for prosecution".