The Palestinian Authority municipality of Sebastia posted on its Facebook page that it has paved a ring-shaped road within the territory of the ancient Samaria archaeological park. In doing so, they destroyed a temple-era wall built by King Herod and defiled a Judean cemetary by tossing dead wild boars into the burial caves.
The "Keepers of Eternity" personnel, a right-wing Israeli organization dedicated to preserving Jewish archaeology, together with patrollers from the Lands Department of the Samaria Regional Council, noticed heavy engineering tools that broke through and paved a road in the heart of the archaeological site and ancient site of the castle belonging to the Kingdom of Israel, along a route that extends from Area B and continues for about 400 meters in Area C, according to the Oslo Accords.
PLO activists threw pig carcasses into the ancient graves, desecrating them.
ā Israel Uncovered (@UncoveredIsrael) March 14, 2023
During the works, a Herodian-era wall that was built over 2000 years ago, was destroyed and Jewish burial caves from the Second Temple period were broken into and looted, and vandalized. Palestinian Authority activists threw pig carcasses into the ancient graves, desecrating the graves, apparently in an attempt to prevent Israeli archaeologists from entering to examine the dimensions of the destruction.
#Samaria National Park with amazing historical remnants of the Kingdom of Israel's capital from the 1st Temple period is being destroyed by PA organized crime.@unesco would only intervene when these criminals need help in erasing Jewish history and fabricating a "palestinian". pic.twitter.com/Qf5yRWN3Cm
ā RealPalestina(×"×)š®š± (@LollllllaJR) February 17, 2023
According to evidence, in ancient Samaria, infrastructure and construction work by the Palestinian Authority has been taking place in recent months while heavily destroying the remains on the site. The head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, appealed to the relevant authorities and warned against irreversible damage to the historical site: "An attempt is being made here to completely disconnect the State of Israel and the Jewish people from one of its most important and precious heritage sites. A single remnant of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. This is a disgrace and destruction of Jewish history, right under the nose of the State of Israel.ā
Palestinian Authority Paves Road Over Jewish Antiquities in Samaria National Park | United with Israel https://t.co/EL7AF0Irh6 Succeeding in deleting ant Hebrew history from antiquity?
ā blingblingfling (@blingblingfling) March 18, 2023
Moshe Gutman, another activist for Jewish heritage in the land of Israel added: "We are losing ancient Samaria. The destruction continued for over a month without any real reaction, without arresting any of the perpetrators of the destruction in the authority and the municipality of Sebastia. And now also a desecration of graves. The Israeli government must respond immediately and severely, just as it would have responded if they had invaded the Caesarea National Park."
A land trustee of the Samaria Regional Council who was walking through a National Park discovered Palestinian antiquities robbers destroying important archaeological finds dating back thousands of years.https://t.co/axRTWCR1TA
ā Tel Dan (@TelDan48) March 15, 2023
The Israeli Minister of Heritage, who, following the incident, went to the scene together with the Minister of the Environment Idit Silman, and the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, told about the condition of the site. "When we arrived at the site, we were horrified at the sight of the disgrace, an ugly Palestinian attempt to damage a world heritage site, with a deliberate desire to try to erase any evidence of the inseparable historical connection between the people of Israel and its land, along with a blatant violation of the Oslo Accords and a violation of the Terrorism Law and the Antiquities Law."
