Seven countries and an American donor on Monday pledged $75.5 million to a UNESCO-backed fund aimed at protecting the world's cultural heritage against war and terrorism.

French President Francois Hollande hosted the gathering at the Louvre museum in Paris of influential art patrons and world leaders at the initiative of the U.N. cultural body, the United Arab Emirates and France.

Speaking in the Louvre's Khorsabad courtyard, which houses the imposing remains of a 706 BC palace from ancient Mesopotamia, the land of modern-day Iraq, Hollande said the country was a priority in the global fight against cultural destruction.

After ISIS fighters seized the ancient ruins of Palmyra in May 2015, they systematically destroyed and looted the temples of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

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