Five suspected antiquities robbers were caught red-handed over the weekend using a backhoe to conduct an illegal excavation at Khirbat al-Jahush, which lies in agricultural land between Kiryat Ata and Highway 70 in northern Israel.
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The suspects, residents of the villages I'billin and Tamra, were spotted and attempted to flee, but members of the Israel Antiquities Authority's Robberies Prevention Unit, Israel Police from the Tamra Station, Border Police, rangers from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and volunteers worked together to apprehend them.
In addition to the backhoe, the suspects used hand tools to dig up the site, causing damage.
After being apprehended, they were brought to the police station in Tamra for questioning. The authorities also seized two vehicles and the backhoe, which are likely to be confiscated during legal proceedings after the suspects are indicted.
Nir Distelfeld, an inspector for the Robberies Prevention Unit in northern Israel, explained that the excavation using the backhoe "caused irreparable damage to heritage ruins. Hewn stones that belonged to a public building were torn up, mosaic floors were broken, and so were pottery and glass shards."
According to Distelfeld, the suspects' capture prevented future destruction to the archaeological site.
Gilad Tzinamon, the IAA archaeologist for the western Galilee region, explained that archaeological surveys of the site had identified fragments of hewn stone and pottery shards from the Hellenistic, Byzantine, early Muslim, and Ottoman eras.
Tzinamon said that the illicit dig had exposed a wall constructed of "very high-quality" stonework as well as roof tiles and glass vessels that could indicate that the site was once home to a church. He said that the IAA would conduct a salvage excavation to save the finds that remains, and learn as much as possible about it.
Dr. Eitan Klein, deputy head of the Robberies Prevention Union, said that the site in question has yet to be researched, and therefore "any damage to the archaeological layers and archaeological artifacts there comprise mortal, irreversible damage that makes it difficult for archaeologists to understand the history of the site and the people who lived near it throughout the generations.
"It's incredible that people take the law into their own hands and for the sake of greed, damage and destroy antiquities and prevent the general public in Israel from enjoying its heritage," Klein said.
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