A Gush Etzion monument was smashed in an act of desecration to the memory of soldiers killed in a battle during Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Thirty-five soldiers were on a mission to rescue trapped residents of the Judean enclave. The soldiers were surrounded by hostile Arabs and killed.
Head of Gush Etzion Regional Councial Shlomo Ne'eman stated after the incident: "Stone memorials can be broken but not us. We will bring justice to the perpetrators of this act."