Israeli settlers destroy archaeological site in Aqraba, south of Nablus

Dozens of Israeli settlers began on Sunday extensive excavation work in an illegal outpost built on Palestinian lands south of the town of Aqraba, southeast of Nablus. 

The Al-Baidar Organisation for the Defence of Bedouin Rights said in a statement, the excavation was carried out in a historic archaeological site located on Mount Qarqafah under the Israeli occupation forces’ protection; explaining that the excavation is part of the Israeli systematic destruction of rare archaeological sites whose roots date back thousands of years. 

“This is a clear attempt to erase Palestinian identity and impose a new reality on the ground” the statement said, adding that the serious violation comes within the context of an organised policy pursued by the occupation authorities to empty Palestinian areas of their cultural and historical content and transform heritage sites into areas serving illegal settlement expansion.

The organisation also called on the international community, primarily the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, to shoulder their legal and moral responsibilities to protect the human heritage in the occupied Palestinian territories, take immediate action to halt the bulldozing and vandalism of archaeological sites, and hold the occupying authorities accountable for their repeated violations of historical monuments of universal value.

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